Research

Sumer, the earliest civilization, existed between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers from 3200 BCE. It occupied the southern portion of Mesopotamia. The Sumerians were not an indigenous people (from the local area) but probably came from the Indus Valley.

Sumer may very well be the first civilization in the world (although there are sites which predate it). Sumerian civilization was a sophisticated urban culture. From its beginnings as a collection of farming villages around 5000 BCE, to the founding of Sumer at around 3200 BCE, through its conquest by Sargon of Agade around 2370 BCE and its final collapse under the Amorites around 2000 BCE, Sumer was influential on later civilizations. Sumerian cuneiform, the earliest written language, was borrowed by the Babylonians, who also took many of their religious beliefs. A striking similarity of the Sumerian flood myth can also be found in Genesis.

They were skilled in developing irrigation systems, using canals and dikes to transform their frequently flooded lands. They also became fine metal artists as this headdress attests.

The earliest known literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh came from Sumer. This work began in an oral tradition and was written finally on tablets in cuneiform. It told the story of Gilgamesh, the hero king of Uruk who traveled the world in an attempt to understand and defeat death.

The Code of Hammurabi was one of the first codifications of law, and is one of the significant achievements of the ancient Babylonians.

Pictured at left - 2500 BC Sumerian statue from Khafaje, next to Sumerian scribe circa 2350 BC from Lagash.

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Appraisal

The Sumerian head was appraised for $455,000 (US) in 1982 and re-appraised in 2010 for an estimated value of $3,500,000 (US). The 2010 appraisal, by Sands of Time Appraisals in Washington DC, provided the following information —

Appraised Item: A Sumerian Stone Head of a Man, Third Dynasty of Ur, ca 2100-1901 BC

Description: Life sized with naturalistic features, the head bald, the face with large wide-set eyes are recessed to receive inlays, now missing. His eyebrows, also recessed for inlays, form a fine arch that meets on the bridge of his nose. With prominent nose and a wide, straight mouth that tilts upwards at the side to suggest a slight smile and well carved ears.

Condition: Heavy patination to most areas of the head, inlaid eyes and eyebrows now missing, minor shallow chips and slight loss to patination to the side and lower back of the head. Intact and in excellent condition overall.

Dimensions: Height: 10 1/2 inches (26.7 cm)

References: D. Collon, “Ancient Near Eastern art “ (London, The British Museum Press, 1995)”; H.R. Hall and C.L. Woolley, “Ur Excavations, vol. I: Al-Uba” (London, Oxford University Press, 1927); J .E. Reade, Mesopotamia (Lon- don, The British Museum Press, 1991); T.C. Mitchell, Sumerian art: illustrated by o (London, The British Museum Press, 1969);

Provenance: From the private collection of George Karam, acquired by his father in the early 1960’s and then by descent to his son.

Appraised value: $3,500,000

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