Foundation nail, Mesopotamia, 3rd millennium BC. Provenance: - Lot 41

Lot 41
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Estimation :
1200 - 1500 EUR
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Result : 1 400EUR
Foundation nail, Mesopotamia, 3rd millennium BC. Provenance: - Lot 41
Foundation nail, Mesopotamia, 3rd millennium BC. Provenance: Former Belgian private collection. We attach a letter dating back to the 70s in which our copy is described as rare and dating back to the 3rd dynasty of Our (2300-2000 BC) and more precisely as having been a foundation nail of a Palace of Prince Urbawu which had the particularity of planting only one foundation neck per temple, which makes them extremely rare. This document explains to us that the history of the temple of Urbawu is engraved in the Sumerian language on the back of its statue preserved in the Louvre. The foundation nails filled with cuneiform characters had a spiritual vocation. It was a question of making sure that the palace would be built on a healthy earth, but the earth is reputed to be defiled by the habitation of the gods below. The nail planted points downwards, the top of the nail sanctified the power from above, the place was thus protected. The translation results from the work of Monsieur Duval at the Palais du Louvre, who was a curator in the 1970s. Ht: 17 cm.
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