OBJECT DESCRIPTION

“Manistusu Obelisk,” cdli, http://cdli.ucla.edu/dl/photo/P213189.jpg.

Title: The Obelisk of Manishtushu

Description: The obelisk is a diorite, pyramidal-form stele with lapidary Akkadian writing of an excellent and imperial quality on all four faces, totaling 1,519 registers of text. The inscription was commissioned by Manishtushu, son of Sargon the Great, king of Akkad to commemorate and validate a large-scale land purchase in northern Babylonia involving eight parcels of land from four regions. Though the land was purchased by Manishtushu, it was likely given to various civil and military officials and dependents who supported his reign. It was excavated from Susa in Elam (where it was brought after the sacking of Babylonia by Shutruk-Nahunte in the 12^th century) around the turn of the 20^th century, but the location of its original deposition is disputed (though it could have simply been Akkade).

Date: Akkadian (ca. 2260 BCE)

Provenance: Susa, Elam (modern-day Iran)

Dimensions: Maximum height of 144 cm. (including a 10–20 cm. plaster base) with widths ranging from ca. 40–50 cm.

Current Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris