Historical Context
Editorially reviewedLagash II votive weapons dedicated to Ningirsu are temple fittings, not battlefield arms and not first-millennium royal sceptres. The inscribed three-lion-head type is a named object (šita ur-sag eš), distinct from Imdugud mace-heads and from literary Sharur. Keep Kassite Nergal lion-maces and stela-scale giant maces out of the type.
Provenance: Type-object Louvre AO 133 B (Heuzey 1902 no. 117), Girsu (Tello), breccia, high relief. Inscription RIME 3/1.1.7.56 / CDLI P234436. De Sarzec excavations, 1877–1881.
Research status: reviewed · reviewed 02/09/2026
Sources
4 referencesLouvre AO 133 B Masse d'armes de Gudea à têtes de lions
Musée du Louvre, AO 133 B (Heuzey 1902 no. 117): votive mace, Girsu, Neo-Sumerian Gudea, c. 2120–2110 BCE; breccia, high relief; Sumerian votive inscription. (Musée du Louvre)
Supports: Type-object for the three-lion-head Ningirsu mace.
Dietz Otto Edzard, Gudea and His Dynasty, RIME 3/1 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997), pp. 150–151, E3/1.1.7.56: Gudea fashioned a šita2 ur-sag 3 for Ningirsu. (University of Toronto Press / CDLI)
Supports: Period inscription naming the object as a mace with three lion-heads, dedicated to Ningirsu.
Catalogue des Antiquités chaldéennes no. 117
Léon Heuzey, Catalogue des Antiquités chaldéennes (Paris, 1902), no. 117, mace with lion heads from Tello. (Musée du Louvre)
Supports: Catalogue identity AO 133 B / Heuzey 117 used in the approved brief.
Gudea’s Temple Building (discriminator)
Claudia E. Suter, Gudea’s Temple Building: The Representation of an Early Mesopotamian Ruler in Text and Image (Groningen: Styx, 2000), giant-mace readings of stela fragments — narrative relief, not this compact head. (Styx)
Supports: Negative evidence: stela-scale mace scenes are not AO 133 B.
How to cite this page
Triple-lion-head mace (šita ur-sag eš) of Ningirsu — 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-triple-lion-head-mace-ita-ur-sag-e-of-ningirsu-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-triple-lion-head-mace-ita-ur-sag-e-of-ningirsu-documented-sumerian-motif-lagash-iiObject
Triple-lion-head mace (šita ur-sag eš) of Ningirsu — Documented Sumerian Motif, Lagash II
Lagash II votive mace-head with three lion heads in high relief, inscribed by Gudea as šita ur-sag eš for Ningirsu.
Own this Symbol
£0.99
Final price payable in GBP.
Commercial Licence Included · Lifetime file updates
Finished examples
Example photography shows the finish and construction; the purchased plaque uses the selected symbol design.
Made-to-order physical piece
Sanctum Hex Archive Plaque
£21.99
UK shipping included. UK delivery only.
- Size:
- 140 × 270 mm · 3 mm thick
- Dispatch:
- within 14 working days
Product details & made-to-order terms
Description: Crafted from 3 mm walnut plywood, chosen for its rich natural grain and warm tone, with a layered 3D laser-cut symbol and coloured inserts that bring the design to life. Each plaque is finished with a clear gloss varnish to deepen the wood’s colour and help protect the surface.
Preview is representative. Colours, materials and minor dimensions may vary slightly during production.
Made-to-order product: Each Archive Plaque is individually produced from natural and manufactured materials. Colour, grain, engraving tone, layer alignment and minor dimensions may vary slightly from the preview. Sanctum Hex may make small production adjustments to artwork scale, spacing, colour or construction where required to produce a durable finished piece while preserving the character of the selected design.
Associated meanings
Purchase & Download
Purchase this symbol or a collection containing it to unlock the downloadable files.
Related Symbols
Shared tradition: ancient near eastern
Kneeling God Foundation Peg — Documented Sumerian Motif, Lagash II
Lagash II copper foundation figurine of a kneeling god in a horned cap, the lower body forming the burial spike.
Shared tradition: ancient near eastern
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.
Shared tradition: ancient near eastern
Basket-Bearer Foundation Peg — Documented Sumerian Motif, Lagash II–Ur III
A peg-shaped copper figurine of a shaven man carrying a brick-basket on his head: the Lagash II-Ur III royal foundation type, not a generic basket motif.
Shared tradition: ancient near eastern
Multiple-Horned Crown / horned miter — Documented Sumerian/Akkadian Motif, Early Dynastic–Old Babylonian
A cap or tiara stacked with one or more pairs of bull horns, worn on a divine head, not a royal brimmed cap.
Shared tradition: ancient near eastern
Eight-Pointed Star — Documented Sumerian/Akkadian Motif, Early Dynastic–Old Babylonian
An eight-pointed field-star used as a celestial mark on Early Dynastic through Old Babylonian seals, later often enclosed in a disc.
Shared tradition: ancient near eastern
Twin Serpents on Staff (Ningishzida) — Documented Sumerian Motif, Lagash II / Ur III
Two snakes in opposed coils around a vertical staff, heads meeting at the top, as on Gudea's chlorite libation vase for Ningishzida.