Hair Comb

2600-2450 BCE

Details

Title: Hair Comb
Date Created: 2600-2450 BCE
Location Created: Ur, Iraq
Physical Dimensions: 30.6 x 27.8 x 11.7 cm
External Link: Penn Museum online collection
Medium: Lapis Lazuli, Gold
Object Number: B16693
Descriptive Note: Shubad, now Puabi. CBS Register: gold comb of Queen Shubad and 7 gold flowers. Broad hair comb of solid gold found behind the skull of Queen Puabi in grave 800 in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. This would originally have been fastened in amongst the hair at the back of the head to stabilize a large coiffure. The seven gold flowers that spring from it would have jutted above the hair-do to form a dazzling display. Each of the gold flowers has eight petals and a lapis center that is then topped by a gold disk. The two cuneiform signs that compose her name were initially read as "Shub-ad" in Sumerian. Today, however, we think they should be read in Akkadian as "Pu-abi."
Credit Line: British Museum/University Museum Expedition to Ur, Iraq, 1928

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