Piece of Brick

This brick was the first object acquired by the museum. Archaeologists excavated it in Telloh, Iraq, during a dig co-sponsored by the Nelson-Atkins trustees and the Louvre in 1929. It formed part of a temple built by Gudea, a Mesopotamian ruler, to the Sumerian god Ningirsu. The brick was positioned with the inscription face down to prevent desecration of the sacred text. It reads: "For Ningirsu, the hero of Enlil, Gudea, ruler of Lagash, who makes things function as they should. I built for him his Eninnu (Fifty House), the White Thunderbird, and restored it to its proper place." The trustees were unsure if the stone and clay fragments, bowls, and bronze figurines from the dig were suitable for the museum's collection. Their advisor Harold Woodbury Parsons reassured them, calling the objects "very interesting material from both an artistic and archaeological standpoint."

Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust