Here are some examples of Sumerian door plaques. They are backplates for door handles. The handle was inserted through the hole in the middle. They all have the same motif. In the top register, a king and queen enjoy a feast while being attended by their servants. In the other registers, servants bring food and wine while animals are led to the sacrifice (this was a religious holiday).
The king and queen hold a date frond/cluster, a symbol of royalty.
On all the plaques shown on this page, every king and queen holds a date frond.
Holding a date frond would be a peculiar affectation while
sitting at the dinner table, so it clearly has a symbolic or ceremonial
meaning.
It has been suggested that the date frond was a symbol of
fertility, but this isn’t correct, for the simple reason that Inanna is sometimes
shown holding a date frond. Inanna was not a goddess of love, marriage,
childbearing, or fertility. She was the goddess of lust and war (the very
opposite of fertility) and she had no children. In the context of Inanna, a
date frond has nothing to do with fertility.
Inanna
holds a date frond while her brother the sun god rises above the
mountains.
Inanna was the most important goddess in Sumer. She was “The
Queen of Heaven”, and in her role as a goddess of war, she was praised in
connection with royal power and military might.
I therefore suggest that the date frond was a symbol of power
and royalty. In Sumerian art, showing a king or queen holding a date frond associates them with
Inanna and it symbolizes their divine right to rule.
At the top, a queen sits on her throne. She is holding a date frond. On many of the plaques, the date frond/cluster is simplified to make it easier to carve.
The man in front of the queen has his hand under his armpit. This was the gesture of submission and obedience. It occurs on many of these plaques, and on many other Sumerian works of art.
A female musician plays a bull-headed lyre. A servant performs the gesture of obedience.
Kings and queens holding a date frond also appear in other examples of Sumerian art.
This woman is a Sumerian queen. She sits on a throne that has carved animal legs. She wears a kaunakes, a flounced dress with woolen leaf
petals, the official attire of royals. She also wears a polos, the headdress of a Sumerian queen in her role as a high-priestess. On her lap she holds a
date frond.
The date frond as a symbol of royalty also occurs in Akkadian works of art.
This is Lamgi-Mari, the king of Mari in Akkad. He wears the royal kanukes.
He wears his hair in a knotted bun, the hairstyle of Akkadian royals.
An older, bearded Lamgi-Mari appears at the top left. A battle scene occurs at the bottom of both seals.
On each seal, Lamgi-Mari sits on a throne. He wears the royal kanukes. His hair is worn in the knotted bun of Akkadian royals. He holds a royal scepter, symbolizing his right to rule.
In both cases, King Lamgi-Mari holds a date frond.
In Akkad, Inanna was known a Ishtar. With the date frond, Ishtar bestows upon Lamgi-Mari the divine right to rule.
