er, the bust
rising squarely from the hips, the hands crossed upon the breast, in a
posture of submission or respectful adoration. The mantle passes over
the left shoulder, leaving the right free, and is fastened on the right
breast, the drapery displaying awkward and inartistic folds: the latter
widens in the form of a funnel from top to bottom, being bell-shaped
around the lower part of the body, and barely leaves the ankles exposed.

[Illustration: 112.jpg STATUES FROM TELLOH. and HEAD OF ONE OF THE
STATUE OF GUDEA.]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Heuzey-Sarzec.

All the large statues to be seen at the Louvre have lost their heads;
fortunately we possess a few separate heads. Some are completely shaven,
others wear a kind of turban affording shade to the forehead and eyes;
among them all we see the same qualities and defects which we find in
the bodies: a hardness of expression, heaviness, absence of vivacity,
and yet withal a vigour of reproduction and an accurate knowledge of
human anatomy. These are instances of what could be accomplished in a
city of secondary rank; better things were doubtless produced in the
great cities, such as Uru and Babylon. Chaldaean art, as we are able
to catch a glimpse of it in the monuments of Lagash, had neither the
litheness, nor animation, nor elegance of the Egyptian, but it was
nevertheless not lacking in force, breadth, and originality. Urningirsu
succeeded his father Gudea, to be followed rapidly by several successive
vicegerents, ending, it would appear, in Gala-lama. Their inscriptions
are short and insignificant, and show that they did not enjoy the same
resources or the same favour which enabled Gudea to reign gloriously.
The prosperity of Lagash decreased steadily under their administration,
and they were all the humble vassals of the King of Uru, Dungi, son of
Urbau; a fact which tends to make us regard Urbau as having been the
suzerain upon whom Gudea himself was dependent. Uru, the only city among
those of Lower Chaldaea which stands on the right bank of the Euphrates,
was a small but strong place, and favourably situated for becoming one
of the commercial and industrial centres in these distant ages. The
Wady Eummein, not far distant, brought to it the riches of Central and
Southern Arabia, gold, precious stones, gums, and odoriferous resins for
the exigencies of worship. Another route, marked out by wells, traversed
the desert to the land of the semi-fabulous Ma