1) The Standard of Ur
Narratives are the condensed versions of my previous pages, the
Standard of Ur: War and the Standard of Ur: King. You may want to refer
to those pages if you
have any questions.
2) Click on any image. If an enlargement is available, it will display in a separate window.
The Royal Standard of Ur.
As previously stated, this royal standard belonged to a Sumerian king of Ur. He defeated the Akkadian
king of Kish in battle to thus become the new King of Kish, the ruler of Sumer and Akkad, the “King of Kings.”
At first it may seem odd that a Sumerian king made such a big deal about being the ruler of a single foreign city-state, but there's a reason for this.
Kish was the most powerful city-state in Akkad. Throughout Akkad,
the king of Kish was considered to be the “King of Kings” because he held hegemony over all the other Akkadian kings and they owed him at least a nominal
allegiance. The title “King of Kings” was coveted by many ambitious Sumerian
kings during this period of history. They figured if they conquered Kish then
they would be the new King of Kings. Of course, it wasn’t enough for a Sumerian
king to merely conquer the city of Kish. To truly deserve the title, to be the king who ruled other kings, he needed to conquer the Kish allies as well, so their kings would also owe him
allegiance. To conquer the Akkadian allies, he needed his own Sumerian allies. Therefore,
when a Sumerian king assumed the title of “King of Kish” (King with a capital
K) he was proclaiming that he was the new King of Kings, the ruler of both Sumer
and Akkad.
The Akkadian allies
The Akkadians wear a
distinctive “angled-skirt."
We know this is the allied army of the Akkadians, and not
just the army of Kish, because the Akkadians wear three different types of
skirts − depending on which city they are from. The hems of the skirts are slightly-angled or sharply-angled, as shown on the left. These skirts have
a fine fringe on the bottom (see an enlargement). A third kind of skirt is pleated. The Akkadian
allies are from neighboring city-states. This means there are at least three
different Akkadian armies fighting against the Sumerians. These are the three main armies. There may have been
more. Some of the other smaller armies may not be represented on the Standard of Ur.
Generally, the Akkadian allies spent most of their time
fighting among themselves, but now they have put aside their differences (for
a while) and they are united together in helping the king of Kish to repel this foreign
invasion by the Sumerians.
The Sumerian
allies
Like Akkadians, the Sumerians wear different skirts
depending on which city they are from. The Sumerian soldiers wear four
different skirts (but all of them wear the spotted cloak, the uniform of the
army of Ur). This means the king of Ur has Sumerian allies from at least three other city-states (perhaps more). He needed all the allies he could get if he ever hoped to defeat the
powerful king of Kish and the Akkadian allies.
This highlights the second part about being a Sumerian King of
Kish. It wasn’t enough to conquer Kish and the Akkadian allies. To truly be the
King of Kings, to be the ruler of Sumer and Akkad, he needed to control most of
Sumer as well. He probably had some willing Sumerian allies who supported his
bid for the Akkadian throne (in exchange for a share of the loot) but most of
his “allies” were Sumerian city-states that he already conquered, so their
“support” was guaranteed. Both Eannatum and Lugalzagesi, two other Sumerian
kings of Kish during this period of history, conquered most of Sumer before
they even considered attacking the mighty king of Kish and his Akkadian allies.
All told, there are at least seven different armies on the field − four Sumerians armies and
three Akkadian armies – and probably more. It wouldn’t be a bit surprising if
there were a dozen armies on the field during the actual battle. This is not
just a local dispute between two neighboring lords in the region. It is an epic
battle between two great nations. Basically, all the armies of Sumer are
fighting against all the armies of Akkad. The fate of both nations hangs in the
balance.
A narrative of the
events portrayed on the Standard of Ur
The battle shown on war side of the Standard of Ur starts with
the ending. It begins with the surrender ceremony, after the battle is over.
This is an awkward place to start the narrative, so I rearranged the standard
into chronological order.
Top: The Sumerian soldiers attack in a
phalanx formation. There is a brief battle and the Akkadian soldiers begin to
retreat. Middle: The retreat becomes a rout when the Sumerian king
leads a chariot attack to run down the fleeing Akkadians. Bottom: The king has dismounted from his chariot and he presides over the
formal surrender ceremony.
Imagine a battlefield somewhere in Akkad, moments before the
battle begins. The two great armies of Sumer and Akkad stand on opposite sides
of the field, staring at each other. The stage has been set for one of the greatest battles in Mesopotamian history.
The narrative on the Standard of Ur, like so many Sumerian
narratives, begins with a Sumerian attack.
This picture is usually interpreted as "the Sumerian
soldiers march to war" because they seem to march in a measured cadence.
However, a close-up of the picture reveals that their spears are leveled
forward (the spear point of each soldier is outlined on the cloak of the
soldier in front of him). Soldiers don't carry their spears
this way when they are marching. They march with their spears held vertically. The leveled
spears is an attack stance. The soldiers are not marching to the battle, they
are already engaged in combat, in a phalanx, on the attack.
This is the world’s first depiction of a modern
professional army. Every man is in uniform. They are identically armed and
equipped, as supplied by the state, rather than each man bringing his own
weapons to the battle, as occurs in tribal warfare. Their helmets and spearpoints are made of copper. The soldiers wear spotted cloaks. The spots are the
identifying insignia of the army. The uniforms of each city-state had different
markings to make the soldiers easy to identify on the battlefield.
The soldiers attack in a tight, disciplined formation, with
many men acting as a single unit. This isn't the disorganized mob of individual
combatants that is typical of primitive warfare. These men are not just
warriors, they are soldiers. They are professionals.
In the actual battle, the soldiers carried shields, like the
ones shown on the Vulture Stele, but the artist omitted this detail to
concentrate on the soldiers’ uniforms.
On the Royal Standard of Ur, the soldiers in the Sumerian phalanx are commoners, men of the
rank and file. Ahead of them, their noble lords lead the attack.
The battle of the noble
lords
The Sumerian lords fight at the front of the line. They
fight against the Akkadian lords. In ancient battles, opposing lords of the
nobility often sought out each other to engage in personal combat. Ever
conscious of their rank, they preferred to fight against other lords, while letting
the common soldiers kill each other. Bravery in battle is highly esteemed among
the nobility. Throughout all of ancient history, the greatest glory for any nobleman was to kill or capture an enemy
lord in individual combat, up close and personal.
A Sumerian
charioteer.
Sumerian noblemen (and kings) were distinguishable by their
shoulder armor (the garment may be fleece, or leather armor made to resemble
fleece). It's the same kind of armor worn by the king in the surrender
ceremony. As part of an elite fighting force, all of the charioteers also wear
this type of armor. Chariot warfare was always the domain of the wealthy
nobility, since the chariots were costly to build and the horses were expensive
to buy and to maintain.
On the Standard of Ur, bleeding wounds are
drawn with a few wavy lines. There are at least 21 bleeding wounds on the enemy
soldiers. This doesn’t include many other wounds that do not show up on some of
the badly damaged figures. This is a very bloody battle, at least for the Akkadians. No Sumerians are killed or wounded in the attack.
A Sumerian lord captures an Akkadian lord. The captive lord
has bleeding wounds on his chest and legs. He has been stripped of his
clothing. This was a common practice in ancient Mesopotamia. A captured soldier
was immediately stripped of his clothes to deprive him of his personal identity
and his dignity. It was meant to humiliate the prisoner and to demonstrate that
he has no rights and no status, at all. The nakedness of the prisoners on the
Standard of Ur symbolizes their newly degraded condition and their inferiority
to the victorious Sumerians.
A Sumerian lord uses his spear to dispatch a fallen enemy. As
will later be explained, the fallen enemy is an Akkadian king.
The Sumerian king of Ur personally captures
the king of Kish
This is the most
important part of the battle on the Standard of Ur.
This is the Sumerian king, heroically leading his troops
from the front. He carries a curved sickle sword, a symbol of royalty. He has
just defeated the king of Kish in personal combat. He has wounded the king, taken
him captive, and stripped him of his clothes. He has the skirt of the enemy
king draped over his arm and he holds the king’s robe in his hand. The
"dis-robing" of the enemy king is symbolic of victory.
Notice the position of the prisoner’s left hand, tucked
inside his right armpit. This isn't just the way he fell. The defeated king performs
the universal gesture of submission and obedience. This gesture occurs three times on the Royal Standard of Ur (and on other Sumerian works of art). In
this particular case, it is also the gesture of surrender. In this way, the captured
king of Kish formally acknowledges his defeat.
Look at the square box between the legs of the enemy king. This
is his royal standard, just like the Standard of Ur. The fallen standard
symbolizes the abject defeat of the captive king of Kish.
On the Standard of Ur, the presence of a standard is an
artistic device that is used to identify a king.
Referring back to the previous picture:
A Sumerian soldier (lord) dispatches a fallen Akkadian king with his spear. This soldier is right behind the Sumerian king during the battle. Interestingly, he is the only person on the Standard of Ur who doesn't have both feet planted flat on the ground. He is shown kicking something as he drives his spear into the belly of the enemy. Notice the square area where he is kicking. It is another fallen battle standard, which is now missing due to damage. The standard broke off along the straight outlines where it was deeply incised into the figure. This isn't just erosion like the rest of the damage done to the inlays. Above the missing standard is the broken staff that was used to hold it aloft. Click here to clarify the picture.
The enemy retreats
The scene has always been described as "the enemy
prisoners are led away." This seems to be a likely explanation since some
of the men (the prisoners) are naked, and some of the men (the guards) are
clothed and carrying weapons. However, this interpretation was based on the assumption that the men in the angled-skirts were the allies of the Sumerians, the auxiliary troops that were fighting in the Sumerian army. As previously explained, the men in the angled-skirts are not the friends of the Sumerians, they are the enemy. In this context the meaning of the scene is clear:
The Sumerians attack the enemy. They defeat the
enemy in battle. The enemy runs away.
The Akkadians flee before the Sumerian king (left).
This is the pivotal moment of the battle. Right here, at the
point of the king's sword, is where the Akkadians lose the battle, and the war.
In the above scene, some of the men are wounded and some of
them are not. Some of the men still have their weapons, while others have
thrown theirs away in panic. One soldier glances back in horror at what’s
happening to his king, while his comrades face in the opposite direction,
looking to escape. In the middle, an enemy soldier supports a wounded comrade and
helps him to hobble away from the battlefield. Behind them, a soldier clutches
at a chest wound with one hand and he tries to cover his nakedness with his
other hand. He is followed by another soldier with a sword. This is the only
soldier (other than the Sumerian king) who carries a sword, indicating he
is a high-ranking officer, probably a general.
On the right, three soldiers “lead” the Akkadians in ignominious retreat.
They were the first to run away. Click here to enlarge the picture.
An Akkadian king, third from the right in the retreat scene.
This Akkadian king is carrying his royal standard under his
arm. He has detached the standard from its shaft (the hole in the middle is
where the pole was inserted). This is the equivalent of a "furled
standard," indicating defeat. This standard, which the king proudly
carried aloft while marching into the battle, is now carried in disgrace under his
arm while he flees from the battle in headlong retreat. It is the perfect
symbol of a defeated enemy.
After seeing what happened to their king, the Akkadians lost
heart and fled in panic.
Did it really happen this way? Or is this scene just a
symbolic representation of victory? Many ancient kings portrayed themselves personally killing an enemy king to symbolize their victory in battle, whether or not it really happened this way. So the question is: Did the king of Ur actually defeat the
king of Kish in individual combat?
Personally, I think he did, given the kind of man he was.
This is back in the day when men were men, and kings were kings, and they led
their troops from the front. He had been dreaming of this moment for years,
when he could finally face the king of Kish in battle. He was a
warrior king, he had been in numerous battles, and he had proven himself in combat
many times. This is why he had the respect of his soldiers and the confidence
of the nobility, who valued bravery in battle above all else, and this is why
he was in command of a great Sumerian army.
I’m sure that as the battle raged
around him, he made a beeline straight for the king of Kish, in the same way that Alexander
made a beeline for Darius at the battle of Gaugamela 2,000 years later. Like Alexander, the
king of Ur was personally very aggressive. He had been on military
campaigns for years (mostly against the Sumerians, possibly against the
barbarians, and probably against several Akkadian cities to get the war started and to force the king of Kish to come out and fight). He was more a warrior
than a king.
On the other hand, the king of Kish was probably more of an administrator, like
Darius, accustomed to running the kingdom from his palace, more of a king than
a warrior. Darius had once proven his courage in battle when he was young, but when he was older, he didn't feel compelled to prove it yet again. The
same is probably true for the king of Kish. He probably proved his courage when he was younger. He didn't have to do it again. Both kings showed up at their respective battles
expecting their armies to duke it out while they commanded the action from a
safe remove. Alexander and the king of Ur made the battles personal by rushing
straight toward their adversaries. Darius was lucky enough to escape (at least for a while). The king
of Kish was not so fortunate.
I suggest this was the Sumerian king’s plan all along: to charge
straight at the king of Kish and kill him, and thus resolve the matter (once and for all) with a single
stroke of the sword. He knew this would break the Akkadians’ will to fight. I further suggest
that he would have killed the king of Kish right then and there, had the king
not quickly surrendered.
When they saw the capture of their king, the Akkadians knew
the battle was over. The issue had been decided. They no longer had a king to
fight for. Now the only thing left to do was to get away as fast as possible
and not be killed, wounded, or captured in a battle that was already lost.
Rout
After the Sumerian infantry has defeated the Akkadian infantry,
the retreat becomes a complete rout when the Sumerian king calls for his
chariot and he leads the attack to run down the fleeing Akkadians. Like Eannatum on the Vulture Stele, the king of Ur personally leads his troops into battle, both on foot and in a chariot.
In ancient battles, when an army formation broke ranks and
turned its back on the enemy, it became ineffective as a fighting force because
the soldiers could no longer provide mutual support for each other. Individual
men, or groups of men, could then be surrounded and killed. Once the ranks were
broken, a retreat easily became a rout, with disproportionately high casualty
rates for the losing side. This is what is happening on the Standard of Ur.
The Sumerian chariot
attack
Some of the chariots have been photographically restored. See Sumerian War Chariots.
At first glance, the driver looks rather portly to be a charioteer. A charioteer cannot be too overweight. A heavy driver would slow down the chariot and tire out the horses.
Actually, he just looks this way because he is sitting on top of the railing with his leg slung to the inside of the chariot. He seems rather nonchalant going into
combat sitting down, but that's because this is the last chariot in the battle
line and it hasn't yet reached "attack speed" like the other
chariots. As explained below, this telling detail adds to the realism of the chariot attack scene.
In the next scene, the chariot attack begins to pick up
momentum. The horses break into a run. Their legs stretch further apart and
their heads are leaning forward.
Taken altogether:
The chariot attack begins slowly. The soldiers carry
their weapons "at shoulder arms" and the driver
is casually sitting down. The horses are walking. Then they
break into a run, thus demonstrating the increasing impetus of the
attack. Now the driver is standing up while the passenger brandishes his weapon. The horses trample over a fallen enemy
soldier. The Sumerian prepares to finish him off with a spear…
Now the horses are at a full gallop, piling up more bodies. Their
heads strain further forward the faster they run. Then the horses rear up
victoriously over the vanquished enemy. (It’s easy to imagine that it is
just one chariot at four different stages of the attack.) Compare the dynamic
realism of this chariot attack to the stilted and formalized chariot
scene of Ramses II, which was done 1,200 years later.
The king, of course, is in the first chariot, leading the
attack. His chariot has a peak on the front panel to differentiate it from the
other chariots. The others have a straight edge along the top.
During the chariot attack, the Akkadians are not in
formation, they carry no weapons, and they offer no resistance. They are utterly
defeated, ”run to ground” by the charging chariots.
The battle is over. The Sumerian king has won a glorious victory.
The surrender
ceremony
The victorious king has dismounted from his chariot. He
wears a long regal robe and he carries his royal standard. A close-up reveals
that he holds a weapon on his shoulder (probably the sickle sword, which is now
lost due to damage). His generals are lined up behind him. They wear their
armor in the Sumerian fashion, draped across one shoulder. They carry spears
and battleaxes. We know they are generals, and not common soldiers, because this is the formal surrender ceremony, so the generals would naturally
be in attendance. According to the rules of royal precedence, they stand
behind the king in the order of their rank and their titles of nobility. In art,
as in life, the most important men are the ones standing closest to the king.
Look at the "little man" beneath the horses' heads.
He has been described as a groom, the kind that takes care of horses. There's
no direct evidence that he's a groom, except for the fact that he walks in
front of the horses. He has also been called a commoner or a slave, drawn
smaller than usual to denote his lowly status. Actually, he is not a man at all, but just a boy. He is a royal prince, the son of the Sumerian
king. He is accompanying his father on the campaign, following in his father's
footsteps, as it were, and learning how to become a warrior and a king. This
has always been the royal tradition.
The royal prince
The mark on the back of his head suggests a royal diadem or
perhaps a youthful haircut, like a "topknot." This mark is not seen
on any of the images of the men on the standard, nor is the mark seen on
any other Sumerian depictions of boys. In his left hand he would have carried a
spear or battleax (now lost due to damage) like the soldiers in front of him. The weapon would be toy-like. The prince is "playing soldier,"
imitating the men that are standing with the king. But he's not really a soldier; he is
too young to fight.
The
young prince “playing soldier.”
(At the risk of sounding un-scholarly, I think it's rather cute.)
The object that the prince carries on his shoulder is a
royal scepter. It of course belongs to his father, since a royal scepter
symbolizes the right to rule, and the prince is too young to be a reigning
monarch. The unexpected appearance of the royal prince, playing soldier and
carrying his father's royal scepter, is part of a rather surprising and
touching family vignette here on the field of carnage.
This raises the possibility that the three generals lined up
behind the Sumerian king may also be his sons, arranged in descending order
from oldest to youngest.
The prisoners
The right half of the top register shows the victorious
Sumerian king inspecting the prisoners captured in battle.
The king on the Standard of Ur is drawn larger than the
other men to symbolize his great importance. In fact, he actually exceeds the
decorative border of the panel.
He carries his royal standard. It is just like the Standard
of Ur, shown from the side. Despite its damaged and eroded condition, it
clearly has the same trapezoid shape as the end panels of the Standard of Ur.
See a high-resolution photograph of the standard. Of course, it is not The Royal Standard of Ur. It is the
king’s previous standard.
The king will soon have a new standard made, one that
commemorates the glorious victory that he won here today, when he became the King of
Kish.
Standing In front of him is the former king of Kish. His
clothes have been restored to him for the surrender ceremony, to make him identifiable
to the viewer. Notice how small he is in relation to the Sumerian king.
The captive king of Kish (left). He is guarded by a Sumerian.
Like the Sumerian king, the king of Kish also wears a robe
(see the outlines of the robe in a separate picture). They are the only two men
on the standard who wear robes, so the robes are symbolic of kingship.
The captive king (probably) has a rope around his neck, like
the other prisoners behind him, but the figure is too damaged to be certain.
It’s also possible that the Sumerian soldier presents to his king the captured
standard of the king of Kish. The presentation of the captured standards was
part of the traditional surrender ceremonies in the ancient world. This would
perfectly symbolize the victory of the Sumerian king. He imperiously holds
aloft his own standard while being presented with the captured standard of his
defeated enemy. Unfortunately, the figure is too damaged to tell if a standard
is being shown.
Standing behind the captive king of Kish are the captured
Akkadian lords.
The prisoners and their captors: The Sumerian lords proudly
present to their king the enemy noblemen that they personally captured in
battle. The Sumerian in the middle has captured two prisoners; the other Sumerians captured one apiece. All of the prisoners have bleeding wounds, their
hands are bound, and they have ropes around their necks. The prisoners are
displayed for the king in the descending order of their rank, with the most
important ones being shown first. The presence of the Sumerian noblemen, identifiable by their shoulder armor, confirms the fact that the prisoners are indeed high-ranking Akkadian lords. The Sumerian noblemen would not proudly display for their king a few piddling privates that they captured, nor would these haughty lords stoop to performing guard duty for mere common soldiers. Everyone in the top
register of the Royal Standard of Ur, Sumerians and Akkadians alike, are high-ranking
noblemen.
Since all of the captured Akkadian lords are naked, cinched
up with ropes, and displayed in a humiliating manner, there can be little doubt
as to their fate. The victorious Sumerian king wasn't the kind of man who would
execute common soldiers that were captured (because he wanted to make allies of
his former enemies, as will later be shown on the peace side of the standard).
The opposing noblemen, on the other hand, might not be so lucky. Although in
ancient warfare a conquering king sometimes pardoned the defeated lords who
fought against him, more often than not they were executed. They would thus be
held accountable for the war and for the casualties suffered by the king's army.
Then their estates, titles, and land could be confiscated by the king, to defray
his expenses and to distribute among his allies as the spoils of war. Besides, if allowed to live, the lords could
lead another attack against the king.
Look at the way the Akkadian noblemen are being paraded
before the victorious king. The fact that they are naked, bound, and cruelly
displayed, without deference to their high rank, does not bode well for their
immediate future. Another ominous sign is the fact that all of the Sumerian soldiers
still carry their carry weapons. This is not entirely necessary since the
prisoners are securely tied up and they are no longer a threat. Nor would it be
necessary if they are about to be pardoned by the king.
The king intends to be conciliatory
to the Akkadians in peacetime, and he expects their loyalty in return. On the peace side of the standard, he accepts the allegiance of the Akkadian lords who did not fight against him.
As for the lords seen here, they can expect no mercy. He wouldn't dishonor them this way if he intends to pardon them. He knows he can't humiliate lords of the realm in this manner, then expect them to turn
around and become his faithful retainers. So he has no intention of sparing the
lives of the Akkadian noblemen. This scene occurs just moments before all of
them were put to death.
The
king of Ur, face to face with the king of Kish.
As for the captured king of Kish, there has never been any
doubt as to his fate. It didn’t do him any good to surrender. His death is a
foregone conclusion, because there cannot be two Kings of Kish. There cannot be
two “King of Kings.”
The Sumerian king risked everything on this battle,
including his own life. Had he not been victorious in combat, he’s the one who would
have been executed, not the king of Kish.
In addition to a new standard, the king will also get a new
helmet. Here he wears a plain military helmet (that was made of gold). From now
on, he will wear a different helmet, the helmet of a Sumerian King of Kish, which features the
hairstyle of Akkadian royals. See The Gold Helmet of the King of Kish on this
website.
The helmet of a Sumerian King of Kish, with a knotted bun on
the back.
This battle was the king’s greatest victory and the proudest
moment of his life. That is why it is immortalized on the Royal Standard of Ur.
It was an epic, bloody battle, involving at least seven different armies. The
standard shows us how the battle was fought and how it was won. The battle
began when the Sumerians attacked in a phalanx formation, marching inexorably
forward. The opposing lords of the nobility sought out each other to engage in
individual combat. The battle was won when the Sumerian king charged straight
for the king of Kish and defeated him in personal combat. Seeing this, the Akkadians lost heart and began to retreat. The retreat became a complete rout when the
Sumerian king led the chariot attack that ran to ground the fleeing soldiers.
The king on the Standard of Ur.
The
King of War
Also see the Narrative of the Standard of Ur, peace side.
A Sumerian
charioteer.
On the Standard of Ur, bleeding wounds are
drawn with 
