Breastplate
Lapis-lazuli, gold, copper, bitumen
2500 BC

There are three holes in this lapis lazuli breastplate engraved with the body and wings of an eagle. This suggests that it was intended to be worn. The eagle's head and tail per wire, with the whole set on a bitumen core. The eagle-headed lion was a common image in the land of Sumer, blem for the god Ningirsu. The divinity may have been imported to Mari. However, some researchers, on studying this unique Mesopotamian object, have argued that the animal represented is, in fact, a bat. However it is interpreted, the breastplate is clearly an exceptional ornament and must have been worn by a hight-ranking Mari dignitary who was probably male, since the object is extemely heavy. The breastplate was also part of the "Treasure of Ur."

Tell Hariri, Ancient Mari: Pre-sargonic Palace
13 x 12 x 1 cm
National Museum, Damascus
M2399 SMC 114;
Baal 104

_{© Musée de la civilisation, 1999}