Alabaster plaque (door handle backplate). The door handle fit into the square hole.
Sumerian, from the city of Girsu. Early Dynastic III period
(ca. 2600 BC to 2340 BC). Dimensions: 10 x 10 inches (25.4cm), 1.3 inch wide (3.3cm).
From the collection of the Barakat Galleries. Enlarge.
For reasons that I will later explain, I call this plaque
"The Queen’s Banquet."
The plaque shows a religious festival, a kind of
thanksgiving celebration for the Sumerians. The plaque is divided into three
registers:
Top: A king and queen
enjoy a feast while being attended by their servants.
Middle: Other servants
bring more food and wine.
Bottom: Animals are led
to the sacrifice.
During the religious festival, the commoners were also
feasting.
There are many other examples of decorative door plaques that show
Sumerian kings and queens at a banquet. It was a common motif. The plaques were
used to adorn temples and palaces. Five other examples are shown on a separate
page. However, none of them are anywhere near as beautiful as the one from the Barakat
collection.
At the banquet, a Sumerian king and queen are attended by
their servants. We know they
are a king and queen, and not just a lord and lady, because both of them hold date clusters. As described on a separate page, the date cluster was
a symbol of royalty and the divine right to rule. It was used exclusively by kings and queens. Mere lords and ladies were not entitled to carry this exalted symbol of rank.
The crown of a Sumerian queen.
This plaque is different from all the others because it shows
the queen wearing her crown. As explained on the page about Sumerian Queens,
this is a very rare example of a Sumerian queen wearing a crown. Her
crown is a variation of the "shepherd crown," the crown of a Sumerian
king.
A "shepherd priest." At the very beginning of Sumerian civilization, the cities ruled by priests. Their shepherd hat later became the crown of Sumerian kings.
The queen’s crown was a feminine version of this one. Her
crown was meant to look similar the king’s crown, but not the same. Her crown
was taller and more rounded. It also resembled a polos, the headdress of a high-priestess.
The crown is smaller than a polos and the hair is worn loose
beneath it. The polos is larger and it covers the hair.
On the left is the headdress of a Sumerian princess.
I've always thought it originated from the kind of headdress that was
worn by the wife of the original shepherd priest (shown above) at the
beginning of Sumerian civilization. It was thus the headdress of a
priestess. Note the headband and the covering for the hair. "Inflate"
the headdress and it becomes a polos (right) the headdress of a latter
day Sumerian queen in her role as a high priestess. This, and the prominence of female goddesses in the Sumerian pantheon, suggests that women were always intricately involved in the religious life of the Sumerians.
Apparently, women were also involved in governing the kingdom, more than anyone has ever realized.
In the above banquet scene, it’s somewhat surprising that the
queen is wearing her crown.
On all the other plaques, neither the king nor the queen wears
a crown.
On this plaque, the queen wears a crown, but her husband does not.
That can only mean one thing: She clearly outranks her
husband, the king.
She is the ruling monarch in this relationship, not her
husband.
Although both of them hold a date cluster, the symbol of
royalty, she is the only one wearing a crown, symbolizing her right to rule. She also wears a regal robe.
The queen of Girsu or Lagash?
This plaque was found in Girsu, so it’s natural to assume that
the woman is the queen of Girsu. On the other hand, Girsu was the holy city for
the larger city-state of Lagash. Many important temples in Girsu were supported
by the kings of Lagash, so the woman may actually be the queen of Lagash.
There’s just one problem:
There is no evidence that a Sumerian female ruler ever existed −
not in Girsu, Lagash, or any other Sumerian city.
An unknown Sumerianfemale ruler?
More than three years ago, on the page about the Akkadian
queen Ku-Baba, I had written:
“There is no historic record of a Sumerian queen who ruled
by her own right. Sumerian queens were always the wives of kings. They never
governed on their own. Sumerian queens had considerable power and influence,
but they did not rule the kingdom."
“A ruling queen would be a notable exception to the hundreds
of kings in Sumerian history.
It seems there should be some record of her existence – many records, in fact.
She would be famous, or infamous, but there are no references to a female ruler
in Sumerian history.
More importantly, there is no mention of a Sumerian female monarch on the King
List,
the definitive compilation of the kings who ruled in Mesopotamia. For some
reason, none
of the kings of Girsu/Lagash are included on the King List, but neither does a
Sumerian
female ruler show up on the separate list of the Rulers of Lagash.”
No suspected she even existed...
Yet here she is. She sits on her throne, presiding over the kingdom.
It doesn’t matter if she isn’t mentioned on any king list. She is
clearly a reigning monarch.
She rules the kingdom by her own right. In effect, she is
the king.
Interestingly, Queen Ku-Baba, the only female monarch named on
the King List, is called lugal (king), and not eresh (queen).
It’s not just the crown that makes her a queen.
There is additional evidence that proves she is a ruling
monarch.
In ancient art, it was common practice to draw a king taller
than other men to symbolize his greater importance.
However, on all the other plaques, the king and queen are roughly
same size.
On this plaque, and on all the others, the king and queen
are the same height. There is no need to make the king taller than his wife. He’s
the king, he is obviously more important, so it isn’t necessary to belabor the
point by making him noticeably larger than his wife.
On this plaque, the queen is intentionally drawn taller than
her husband, the king. Physically, she is slightly shorter than her husband,
but her crown makes her taller, giving her greater stature (and status). She noticeably
exceeds the border of the frame. Her husband only slightly exceeds the border.
In Sumerian art, it means something when a person is drawn large
enough to actually exceed the picture frame. It is a deliberate effect that tells
the viewer, “This is the most important person in the picture.” In other words,
“This is the king.”
The
king on the Standard of Ur.
We know this is a king because he wears the royal kaunakes
(a skirt of woolen leaf petals), he is drawn taller than everyone else, and he
exceeds the border of the frame.
The queen at the
banquet.
We know this is a queen because she holds a date cluster, she wears a robe and a crown, she is drawn larger than everyone else, and
she exceeds the border of the frame.
This is the first time in ancient history that a woman is
drawn taller than her husband to emphasize her greater importance. It might also
be the only time.
Clearly, she was born with the titles of nobility that gave
her the right to rule. Her husband was a nobleman who became a king when he married her. It wasn't the other way around. She didn’t become a queen by marrying a
king. She was already a queen. What’s more, she didn’t relinquish her power
after marriage. She maintained her royal prerogatives.
There’s no doubt about it, this is a powerful Sumerian queen.
She didn’t just reign, she ruled. She wasn’t just the wife of the king, she
ruled by her own right.
The first female ruler in history?
As a ruling queen in the ED III period (2600 – 2340 BC), she
automatically qualifies as one of the first female rulers in all of history. However, she does not predate Ku-Baba, the first known female ruler and the only one
mentioned on the Sumerian King List. Ku-Baba died 31 years before the end of the ED III
period. Judging by the artistic merit of this plaque, I suggest it was created at the very end of the ED III period, when humans were portrayed more natural and realistic.
Who is she?
We don’t know her name. It is awkward to refer to a woman
without knowing her name, so I call her Nin-lugal.
Nin means “a Lady, a noblewoman.” The monarchs of Lagash commonly referred to themselves as ensi, which means “a
ruler or a governor” but it basically
means “king.” The Sumerian word for king is lugal. Therefore, Nin-lugal is the Lady King.
This is not a generic portrayal of “some queen.” This is a portrait of an extraordinary woman, a real-life monarch who
lived and reigned more than 4,000 years ago.
She was a woman of wealth and power, and judging by this plaque, she was a woman with exquisite taste in art.
This plaque may have decorated the door in a temple, or perhaps a door in her palace, possibly the throne room.
The Queen's Banquet. This is the queen at the height
of her power and glory.
As a female monarch who lived and reigned at the dawn of civilization, she is one of the most important women in all of human history.
A "shepherd priest." At the very beginning of Sumerian civilization, the cities ruled by priests. Their shepherd hat later became the crown of Sumerian kings.
The
king on the Standard of Ur.
