The Stele of Meli-Šipak is an ancient

Mesopotamian Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

fragment of the bottom part of a large rectangular stone edifice engraved with reliefs and the remains of

Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...

and

Elamite Elamite, also known as Hatamtite and formerly as Susian, is an extinct language that was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It was used in what is now southwestern Iran from 2600 BC to 330 BC. Elamite works disappear from the archeological record ...

inscriptions. It was taken as spoil of war by

Elam Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...

ite king Šutruk-Naḫḫunte I during his invasion of

Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...

which deposed

Kassite The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC (short chronology). They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon ...

king Zababa-šuma-iddina. It was one of the objects found at

Susa Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...

between 1900 and 1904 by the French excavation team under

Jacques de Morgan Jean-Jacques de Morgan (3 June 1857, Huisseau-sur-Cosson, Loir-et-Cher – 14 June 1924) was a French people, French mining engineer, geologist, and archaeologist. He was the director of antiquities in Khedivate of Egypt, Egypt during the 19th ...

that seems to have formed part of an ancient Museum of trophies, or ''ex-voto'' offerings to the deity Inšušinak, in a courtyard adjacent to the main temple.

The stele

The limestone stele is engraved with towers, crowning battlements and separating a crenelated wall fortification below, where there is an archway in the lower of perhaps three

register Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), the ...

s. At least one row of divine symbols appears in an upper register. A human figure dressed in an ornate fringed robe and a high crown of feathers, faces a ship. A standing nude figure has been intentionally chiseled away. The object was first published by

Jean-Vincent Scheil Father Jean-Vincent Scheil (born 10 June 1858, Kœnigsmacker – died 21 September 1940, Paris) was a French Dominican scholar and Assyriologist. He is credited as the discoverer of the Code of Hammurabi in Persia. In 1911 he came into possessi ...

in 1902 and is currently kept in the

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

in Paris, with excavation reference Sb 14 and Museum reference AS 6049. It is the colophon added by Šutruk-Naḫḫunte (one of several, but which is very similar to that inscribed on the Victory stele of Narām-Sîn), written perpendicular to the Middle Babylonian cuneiform and up one of the carved towers, which identifies it as an artifact of Meli-Šipak, as the remnants of the original inscription do not provide any historical information: The royal name preserved is given by Brinkman as ^m˹''Me-''x˺ which he described as providing “little support for such an interpretation” S.5.1. while Slanski observed that the faint traces following ˹''Me''˺ conform rather well to the sign ''–li-''. Little more of the text other than the tail end of the curse formula is preserved: This is reminiscent of the curses which appear on column seven of the Land grant to Marduk-apal-iddina I kudurru, and provides the main reason for identifying this object within the genre of kudurrus, the Babylonian entitlement ''narûs''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stele of Meli-Shipak Kassites Kudurru boundary stones Sculpture of the Ancient Near East