The Royal Tombs of Ur 1.0: The Bull-Headed Lyre [Closed Captioned]

I finally saw The Bull-Headed Lyre.

My life is complete. My mind was racing and skipped over some talking points. I'll have to clear those up later.

Iraq's Ancient Past: Rediscovering Ur's Royal Cemetery tells the story of the discovery and excavation of the Royal Cemetery at Ur in modern-day Iraq. The collection includes the famous gold and lapis lazuli bullheaded lyre.

The imagery used in the lyre represent significant parts of Early Mesopotamian funerary rituals. The bearded bull on the front represents the sun god Shamash, depicted in cuneiform texts as the golden bull with lapis lazuli beard. Shamash is the divine judge who shines light on all things. Only Shamash can descend into the underworld and emerge again at sunrise.

The front panel of the lyre tells the story of the funeral ritual itself. At the top, the nude hero grapples with two rampant human-headed bulls, representing royal control over nature. Beneath are three scenes that show the ritual with otherworldly actors. A hyena carries butchered meat on a table. Behind his is a lion, holding a jar and a pouring vessel identical to ones found in the graves. The third register depicts music-making: an equid plays a lyre while a bear supports it, nearby a small animal shakes a rattle. The lyre depicted is similar to the very lyre to which it was attached. On the bottom is the last stage of the ritual, where the deceased meets the scorpion man, the guardian of the entrance to the underworld. Showing this ritual in the symbolic language of animals acting as humans was borrowed from the Elamites in Iran. Taken as a whole, the lyre imagery shows the human cycle of the kings' control over nature, the funerary ritual and entry into the underworld. All of this is presided over by the god of judgment and destiny, the sun god Shamash.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Mesopotamia
• Ur
• Iraq
• Upenn
• University
• of
• Pennsylvania
• Museum
• Bull
• Cow
• Head
• Harp
• Gold

[1clinttorris]

Thanks so much for sharing. Your enthusiasm is inspiring. The Blue Beard(?) makes me think of the Waters of Life held by the Goddess Ishtar and also of the River of Life flowing from a mouth in a Mayan Picture. I'm not an Archeologist nor Historian so please don't rip me a new one for not being able to be more specific as to the names of the things the Bull reminds me of. Thanks again for taking time and resources to share this with the world.

[TheFaustianMan]

@1clinttorris And thank you for you comment. LOL it's all good. you're actually right too.

It would be interesting to note that both the field of history and archaeology has been pushed forward by significant contributions by people with no background or training in either field, but a love for it. Arguably the most important too. But, shhhh... we'll keep that between us! ;)

[habib080]

This really helped me with my art presentation research. Thanks. !

[TheFaustianMan]

@habib080 And thanks for the sub!

[qiranger]

Thanks for the lesson!!! I found it great. Please post this as a video response to my Jongmyo Daejae - I hope that helps you get a few more views!

[TheFaustianMan]

@qiranger Hey thanks! will do! Gotta get my subtitles on first!

[TheJillkill]

Fascinating stuff! I never knew anything about Ur before, but now you've piqued my curiosity.

[TheFaustianMan]

@KristinSpradling It's really incredible when you think about all the man made inventions that we take for granted today like language, a writing system, a written history, art and science. All started from these cats. Thanks for the comment.

[TheFaustianMan]

@davidVbarron Thank you.

[TheFaustianMan]

@EvannRachel I know. Especially when you have people going around the deserts blowing up really old statues because they are a slight against their god, etc. Really sad. Thanks for stopping by.