Statue of Iddi-Ilum, Governor of Mari
Unknown · Shakkanakku period, c. 2090 BC
A headless man stands with his hands clasped at his chest in prayer, wrapped in a long robe draped over one shoulder and edged with fringes and braided bands. His beard, which survives below the break, is twisted into thick curls that fall over the garment. The right arm is missing. The stone is a smooth dark steatite, and the sculptor lavished attention on the textures of the fabric, tracing every strand of the fringe. Along the lower edge of the robe runs the inscription that names him: Iddi-Ilum, shakkanakku, that is governor, of Mari, who dedicated his statue to the goddess Inanna.
The text ends with a curse: whoever removes this inscription, may Inanna wipe out his descendants. It did not save the statue from being broken. The two fragments were found in the palace of Zimri-Lim at Mari, one on the surface of a courtyard and the other on the paving of a great gateway, and they were joined after André Parrot's excavations. Iddi-Ilum belonged to the line of shakkanakku who governed Mari after the fall of the Akkadian empire, around 2090 before our era, and his statue came to the Louvre through the 1937 partage.
Did You Know? The inscription curses anyone who erases it with the destruction of his family line, a threat that failed to stop later hands from smashing the statue in two.
Unlock the Full Guide
Read every room and listen to every work in all museums with premium.