The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

"Foundation Nail" of Gudea

"Foundation Nail" of Gudea

c. 2100 BCE
Overall: 17.5 x 4.5 x 7.3 cm (6 7/8 x 1 3/4 x 2 7/8 in.); with base: 20.9 x 6.3 x 9.1 cm (8 1/4 x 2 1/2 x 3 9/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The ruler Gudea placed one of these special nails in every temple he built in order to commemorate it.
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 3 archive.org
    Kozloff, Ariellé P. "Notable Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 3 (1991): 63-147. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 66 www.jstor.org
    Quenet, Philippe. Ana ziqquratim: sur la piste de Babel. Strasbourg: Presses Universitaires de Strasbourg, 2016. Reproduced: p. 188, fig. 6A
  • Notable Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 15, 1991).
  • {{cite web|title="Foundation Nail" of Gudea|url=false|author=|year=c. 2100 BCE|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1990.31