# @gettymuseum on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CYwgXj1ov4o
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/34228674-gettymuseum-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/880ffb772e.jpg
- **Posted:** 2022-01-15T16:45:19.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Getty (@gettymuseum) — https://gondola.cc/gettymuseum

## Caption

We're exploring ancient artifacts from the new immersive experience "MESOPOTAMIA." 

Meet Gudea. 

Gudea was the ensi (ruler) of the city of Lagash in Sumer around 2120 BC. Gudea's image has survived in a group of over twenty statues found at Tello, Iraq (ancient Girsu). 

Many of Gudea's statues show him in a prayerful pose, fulfilling his duty of worshipping the gods. He is beardless and has a shaved head, and usually wears a brimmed cap decorated with rows of spiral curls, perhaps representing lamb wool. His serene, steady gaze conveys clear-eyed leadership. 

In the first statue pictured, Gudea holds a vessel from which flow stylized streams of fresh water, inhabited by tiny fish. The inscription on his garment tells us that the statue was a dedication to Geshtinanna, a goddess of life-giving water. It would have been placed in a temple to Geshtinanna in Girsu, where Gudea's statues were found. 

The seated statue in the second image, despite missing its head, can also be identified as Gudea from an inscription on his bare upper arm. Here, Gudea is shown as an architect and builder. On his lap he holds a tablet, ruler, and stylus with which he will draw the plan for a temple to Gatumdu, a goddess of Lagash. The inscription covering his garment further details how Gudea built and dedicated the temple. 

Tap the #LinkInBio to journey through the ancient world of Mesopotamia and discover the symbolic, religious, meanings and purposes of these works of art.

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🏷 #Getty #GettyMuseum #Art #ArtHistory #Ancient #AncientWorld #AncientMesopotamia #Mesopotamia #MesopotamianArt #MesopotamianHistory #Immersive

## Stats

- **Views:** 8,300
- **Likes:** 1,618
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- **Comments:** 16

## Tags

mesopotamianart, getty, immersive, gettymuseum, art, arthistory, ancientworld, ancient, mesopotamianhistory, mesopotamia, ancientmesopotamia, linkinbio

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