The Sumerian city-states of Girsu and Lagash were once located on the territory of modern Iraq (Ancient Mesopotamia). They were closely linked by allied relations between themselves and other nearby cities. Lagash dominated this union. The Sumerians were engaged in agriculture, built sacred temples and statues, and made pottery. Many ancient artifacts from those settlements are still of great interest to scientists.
A French group of scientists and researchers came to the territory of the ancient Sumerian city of Girsu in 1877. For several years, extensive archaeological work was carried out here, as a result of which numerous artifacts were found. Sometimes, however, treasure hunters also visited the site.
Cities arose between the 5th and 4th millennia BC. Lagash was located twenty kilometers from the modern Iraqi city of Shatra and was a settlement with an area of almost 500 hectares. Scientists still know little about the history of these two cities: Lagash and Girsu. Gudea, the ruler of Lagash, built a temple to the patron god Ningirsu in Girsu. The exact location of the temple is unknown, but scientists have established that it had an unusual design, and the material for its construction was delivered from different countries.
So, cedar trees were brought from the Aman mountains, stones and the rest of the forest from Phenicia, copper and golden sand from the Melukhhi mountains, and diorite for statues from Magan. These detailed descriptions are contained in the inscriptions of Gudea, which have survived to this day. Inscriptions were applied to statues of the ruler, large ceramic cylinders and small objects such as vessels and votive nails.
In total, about 30 statues of Gudea near the cities of Girsu and Lagash were found, 13 of them contained the full text of the ancient epistles. In addition, a number of fragments of statues were found, which also contained text, but it was not complete. The Sumerians portrayed Gudea in a sitting position and standing in a prayer position. Also, of the artifacts discovered by scientists, there are 40 thousand clay tablets with signs and drawings applied to them.
Gudea himself presented himself in the texts as one of the most important representatives of Sumerian culture and history. He was indeed one of the most prominent personalities in the ancient history of the Near East. He ruled in about 2142 - 2122 BC, was a representative of the second dynasty of Lagash.
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The amount of literary and artistic heritage left after the reign of Gudea is many times greater than most of the other rulers of ancient Mesopotamia. The ruler's name means "Called." At the end of the 22nd-21st century BC, Gudea was declared a deity, it was now necessary to bring sacrifices to the statues in his honor, around these places there were places of remembrance and afterlife feeding of the ruler.
In the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, you can see five fragments from two Sumerian statues found on the territory where Girsu used to be located. Among these fragments are the fingers of the right hand and the wrist of the left hand, as well as two fragments of a headdress, characteristic of the rulers. Therefore, scientists are sure that these fragments belong to the statue of Gudea.