Historical Context
Editorially reviewedFoundation pegs in Lagash II record a named temple rebuild. This animal-in-reeds subtype belongs to Nanshe’s local cult at Sirara, not to the contest-frieze bull and not to the kneeling-god or basket-bearer peg series. Keep first-millennium animal foundation figures out of the type.
Provenance: Type-object British Museum 1974,0119.1, copper, with tablet 1974,0119.2. Inscribed for Gudea’s temple of Nanshe at Sirara (Tell Surghul/Niğin). Published by Edmond Sollberger, Syria 52 (1975).
Research status: reviewed · reviewed 02/09/2026
Sources
4 referencesBritish Museum copper foundation peg 1974,0119.1
British Museum, peg; foundation-deposit, registration 1974,0119.1: copper bull calf in a reed marsh, Lagash II, Gudea, temple of Nanshe at Sirara. (British Museum)
Supports: Type-object for the bull-in-reeds peg.
British Museum limestone foundation tablet 1974,0119.2
British Museum, registration 1974,0119.2: limestone tablet deposited with the copper peg, inscribed for Gudea’s rebuilding of Nanshe’s temple at Sirara. (British Museum)
Supports: Paired tablet naming Nanshe and Sirara; keeps the type local, not a generic sacred bull.
A foundation deposit from the temple of Nanse
Edmond Sollberger, “A foundation deposit from the temple of Nanse,” Syria 52.3–4 (1975): 175–180. (Syria / Persée)
Supports: Publication of the BM peg-and-tablet pair as a Nanshe/Sirara deposit of Gudea.
Foundation Deposits in Ancient Mesopotamia
Richard S. Ellis, Foundation Deposits in Ancient Mesopotamia (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968). (Yale University Press)
Supports: Separates third-millennium animal pegs from later foundation-figure classes.
How to cite this page
Bull-in-Reeds Foundation Peg — Documented Sumerian Motif, Lagash II. Sanctum Hex Vault. Reviewed 02/09/2026. https://vault.sanctumhex.com/symbols/historically-documented-sumerian-and-early-akkadian-visual-motif-types-from-southern-mesopotamia-c-3500-1800-bce-drawn-from-cylinder-seals-votive-plaques-temple-fittings-and-royal-standards-motif-types-only-exclude-modern-anunnaki-claims-invented-occult-seals-and-later-neo-assyrian-palace-types-presented-as-sumerian-bull-in-reeds-foundation-peg-documented-sumerian-motif-lagash-ii
https://vault.sanctumhex.com/symbols/historically-documented-sumerian-and-early-akkadian-visual-motif-types-from-southern-mesopotamia-c-3500-1800-bce-drawn-from-cylinder-seals-votive-plaques-temple-fittings-and-royal-standards-motif-types-only-exclude-modern-anunnaki-claims-invented-occult-seals-and-later-neo-assyrian-palace-types-presented-as-sumerian-bull-in-reeds-foundation-peg-documented-sumerian-motif-lagash-iiArchaeological Motifs
Bull-in-Reeds Foundation Peg — Documented Sumerian Motif, Lagash II
Lagash II copper peg topped by a bull calf standing in a reed marsh, inscribed for Gudea’s rebuilding of Nanshe’s temple at Sirara.
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