The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Head of Gudea, ensi of Lagash

2144–2124 BCE

Mesopotamia, Iraq, Lagash

(Tello)
dolerite
Overall: 21 x 17.8 x 20.4 cm (8 1/4 x 7 x 8 1/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1963.680
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

This head was originally on the body of 1963.154; however, they were separated in 1974 when it was realized they did not belong together.

Description

Gudea was an ensi or ruler of the southern Mesopotamian city-state of Lagash in the 22nd century BCE. Archaeologists have found over 30 complete and fragmentary statues of his likeness and over 2,400 inscriptions mentioning his name. Gudea was both a political and religious leader, and most of the statues depicting him were housed in temples.
  • 1924-1938
    I. E. Gejou or Elias S. David
    1932-1946
    Feuerdent Collection
    1946-1963
    Elias S. David
  • Scheil, Vincent. "Nouvelles Statues de Gudea." Revue d'Assyriologie et d'Archeologie Orientale, volume 27, no. 4 (1930): 161-166. pl. V. Mentioned on page 161-166, reproduced on plate 5
    Parrot, André. Tello; Vingt Campagnes de Fouilles (1877-1933). Paris: A. Michel (1948): 167-169. Mentioned on 167, reproduced on 169, pl. XVI, b
    Shepherd, Dorothy G. “Gudea, Patési of Lagash.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 50, no. 9 (1963): 243–248. Mentioned on 244-248, reproduced on 244-246
    A. P. "Gudéa, Patesi de Lagash, dans The Cleveland Museum of Art, novembre 1963, pp.243-248." Syria 41, no. 1/2 (1964): 146–47. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4197449. Mentioned on 146-147
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 10 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 10 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Weisberg, Gabriel P., and Janson, H. W. Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art (1975): 29. Reproduced on page 29
    Johansen, Flemming. Statues of Gudea, Ancient and Modern. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag (1978): 27, 97-98.8-99. Mentioned on page 27, reproduced on page 98-99.
    Tortora, Phyllis G., and Keith Eubank. A Survey of Historic Costume: A History of Western Dress. New York: Fairchild Publications (1989): 21.
    Reade, Julian. "Early monuments in Gulf stone at the British Museum, with observations on some Gudea statues and the location of Agade." Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 92 (2002): 276-284. Mentioned on 281 and 284
  • Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).
  • {{cite web|title=Head of Gudea, ensi of Lagash|url=false|author=|year=2144–2124 BCE|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1963.680