Historical Context
Editorially reviewedThe lintel was found at the base of a mud-brick temple platform at Tell al-‘Ubaid, near Ur, and is restored as a doorway or façade fitting. It records an Early Dynastic III temple badge, not a first-millennium Anzû combat myth and not a Neo-Assyrian palace creature.
Provenance: Copper relief excavated in 1919 at Tell al-‘Ubaid, temple of Ninhursag; British Museum 114308 / 1919,1011.4874.
Context note: Title the type Imdugud. Anzû is a later Akkadian name, not a modern occult seal.
Research status: reviewed · reviewed 02/09/2026
Sources
3 referencesThe Imdugud Relief (Tell al-‘Ubaid copper lintel)
British Museum. Copper-alloy relief, Early Dynastic III, Tell al-‘Ubaid. Museum number 114308; registration 1919,1011.4874. (The British Museum)
Supports: Type-object for the lion-headed eagle with spread wings and flanking stags; excavated at the Ninhursag temple, Tell al-‘Ubaid; dated Early Dynastic III.
Utu/Šamaš (god) — Adda Seal note on the Zu bird
British Museum. The Adda Seal, BM 89115; registration 1891,0509.2553. Catalogue text identifies an eagle as “probably the Zu bird who stole the tablets of destiny.” (The British Museum)
Supports: Documents the later Akkadian Anzû/Zu tablet-of-destinies narrative as a separate identification applied to an eagle on an Akkadian seal, not as the title of the Early Dynastic al-‘Ubaid lintel.
The Adda Seal, BM 89115 (CDLI)
Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. CDLI Seals 005353 (physical), P458063. British Museum 089115, Old Akkadian, Sippar. Inscription: Adda, scribe. (Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative)
Supports: Independent catalogue record for the Akkadian Adda Seal, anchoring the later Zu/Anzû narrative association to a dated Akkadian object rather than to the ED III lintel.
How to cite this page
Imdugud (lion-headed eagle) — Documented Sumerian Motif, Early Dynastic. 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-imdugud-lion-headed-eagle-documented-sumerian-motif-early-dynastic
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-imdugud-lion-headed-eagle-documented-sumerian-motif-early-dynasticMythic Beasts
Imdugud (lion-headed eagle) — Documented Sumerian Motif, Early Dynastic
Early Dynastic lion-headed eagle with spread wings, the Sumerian Imdugud type; Anzû is a later Akkadian name for the same bird.
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