Sumerian ‘Mask Of Warka’ From Uruk: Sculptured Face May Depict Goddess Inanna

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Famed “Mask of Warka” also known as the "Lady of Uruk" (due to its resemblance to the Sumerian goddess Inanna) is dated to about 3100 BC. It is a limestone sculpture discovered by the German archaeologists excavating in southern Iraq in the 1939.

The artifact - the first accurate depiction of the human face – is one of the earliest representations of the human face. Researchers believe that carved out of marble female face is a depiction of Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of love, fertility, and warfare, and the most prominent female deity in Mesopotamia.

The face is approximately 20 cm (8 inches) tall, and was probably part of the goddess’ larger statue standing in one of her temples.

See also:

Uruk: The First City Built By King Gilgamesh 4,500 Years Ago

The temple at Uruk was mentioned in the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, in Tablet One:

“He carved on a stone stela all of his toils, and built the wall of Uruk-Haven, the wall of the sacred Eanna Temple, the holy sanctuary….”

Inanna was the goddess of the E-Anna temple at the city of Uruk (modern name: Warka) in the Eanna District dedicated to her (the other part of the city of Uruk was the older Anu District dedicated to Inanna’s grand-father-god Anu); this district was earlier called “Kullaba”

It is not exactly known whether the city of Uruk was divided for ceremonial purposes or the wall was built because of Inanna, who perhaps wanted to have more private dwelling place.

The “Mask of Warka” was one of the most important pieces in the Baghdad Museum's collection, after being looted with the thousands of other artifacts in 2003; it finally undamaged returned to the National Museum of Iraq.

Written by A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com Staff Writer

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