Sumerian Foundation Peg – museum-grade replica, metal core for Sale

Sumerian Foundation Peg – museum-grade replica, metal core For Sale

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Sumerian Foundation Peg – museum-grade replica, metal core:
$240.00

This is a museum-grade handmade replica of a SumerianFoundation Peg, suitable for museum use when the original is removed forcleaning. It is indistinguishable from the original artifact under closescrutiny. This artifact was hand-made to be a faithful recreation of theceremonial pegs buried beneath temples during the Early Dynastic to Ur IIIperiods (c. 2900–2000 BC) in ancient Mesopotamia—modern-day Southern Iraq.

These pegs were ritually embedded at the foundations oftemples to sanctify the ground, invoke divine protection, and assert royallegitimacy. They often depict a standing or kneeling king holding a peg orspike, symbolizing the act of physically founding the temple. The originalsrecord dedications to gods and commemorate temple construction by city rulers.

Only a few dozen examples of these pegs have survivedantiquity. They are displayed in The British Museum in London, the Louvre, theIraq Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Oriental Institute Museumin Chicago.

This replica is 32 centimeters in length (over one foot),and is very heavy, at more than a pound (484 grams; see photo for weight comparison).It has a copper and zinc core over which a layer of Czech-imported Prusament ishand-shaped. Known for its exceptional hardness, the Prusament is furtherfinished with oxidized sand patina. It is identical in touch and feel to theoriginal oxidized copper alloy original. Though the original pegs were notdesigned as display pieces that could stand vertically by themselves, thisreplica can do so, precariously—museum putty is recommended if you intend todisplay it in this fashion.

Museum display tag included.

Made in the USA. You may return it if you’re not happy.

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