Suggestive data for comparative study is afforded in this connection
by ancient Egypt. Sokar, the primitive Memphite deity, retained until
the end his animal and composite monster forms. Other gods were
depicted with human bodies and the heads of birds, serpents, and
crocodiles, thus forming links between the archaic demoniac and the
later anthropomorphic deities. A Sumerian example is the deified
Ea-bani, who, like Pan, has the legs and hoofs of a goat.

The earliest representations of Sumerian humanized deities appear on
reliefs from Tello, the site of Lagash. These examples of archaic
gods, however, are not bearded in Semitic fashion. On the contrary,
their lips and cheeks are shaved, while an exaggerated chin tuft is
retained. The explanation suggested is that the Sumerians gave their
deities human shape before they themselves were clean shaven, and that
the retention of the characteristic facial hair growth of the
Mediterranean Race is another example of the conservatism of the
religious instinct. In Egypt the clean-shaven Pharaohs, who
represented gods, wore false chin-tuft beards; even Queen Hatshepsut
considered it necessary to assume a beard on state occasions.
Ptah-Osiris retained his archaic beard until the Ptolemaic period.

It seems highly probable that in similarly depicting their gods with
beards, the early Sumerians were not influenced by the practices of
any alien people or peoples. Not until the period of Gudea, the Patesi
of Lagash, did they give their gods heavy moustaches, side whiskers,
and flowing beards of Semitic type. It may be, however, that by then
they had completely forgotten the significance of an ancient custom.
Possibly, too, the sculptors of Lagash were working under the
influence of the Akkadian school of art, which had produced the
exquisite stele of victory for Naram-Sin, and consequently adopted the
conventional Semitic treatment of bearded figures. At any rate, they
were more likely to study and follow the artistic triumphs of Akkad
than the crude productions of the archaic period. Besides, they lived
in an age when Semitic kings were deified and the Semitic overlords
had attained to great distinction and influence.

The Semitic folks were not so highly thought of in the early Sumerian
period. It is not likely that the agricultural people regarded as
models of gods the plunderers who descended from the hills, and, after
achieving successes, returned home with their spoils. More