Lapis lazuli, 3.96 grams, 23.25 mm. Circa 3rd millennium BC. A deep blue Lapis Lazuli figurine of a bull with one prominently displayed horn, in a reclining posture and with a pierced lobe at the shoulder for suspension. The moulding is very deep but the reverse of the figure is flat so that it may lie comfortably on the wearer's body. Sumerian culture is today best known through the sacred text The Epic of Gilgamesh, in its Babylonian version, but the Sumerians were among the first adopters of agriculture as a way of life. They were powerful from circa 5000 BC to 2600 BC, when their power began to decline due to population movement. Sumerian religion was originally animistic, but became increasingly anthropocentric as Sumer made contact with other peoples of the ancient Near East such as the Akkadians. The bull appears to have had associations with royalty, and a harp with bull-head decoration was found in the tomb of Paubi, from circa 2600 BC. Reference: for ancient Near Eastern bull cults, see Rice, M. Power of the Bull, London, 1997. Very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection formed in the 1930's.