GUDEAS INSCRIBED STATUES:

Performativity Liminal Surface Enculturation

Rick HAUSER
Research Associate, International Institute for Mesopotamian Area Studies
Senior Staff, Archaeological Expedition to Urkesh (Tell Mozan)
Graduate student, University of Minnesota
beyond.broadcast@mindspring.com

An extraordinary perfection of finish, says Henri Frankfort (1970 [1954]) when describing the
gleaming diorite surface of Gudeas statues, monuments whose originality he tends otherwise to
dismiss. He doesnt find it remarkable that this surface is violated with the bold ductus of
scarificationinscriptions that carry a message implicating monument, ruler and the citizens of
ancient Girsu in a round of messaging (Schiffer and Miller 2008) that has not really been placed
in full context despite repeated consideration.
Inscriptions lend substance to much ancient Near Eastern scholarship and often illuminate the
finds of archaeological fieldwork, yet scant attention has been given to exactly how they get
their message across. What is the audience expected to do upon viewing (reading, hearing) the
inscribed messages?
In this brief essay, I will present a model for interactivity in an ancient setting. I will describe the
nature of the interaction among public and the inscribed statues of nsi Gudea. The approach to
this investigation will be resolutely interdisciplinary, using tools derived from:

narratology and performance studies;

psychoanalytic metaphor for the living organism, the self and crowd formation and
extended by
current studies in neurophysiology (Benthien 2002; Dagognet 1993; Anzieu 1989);
provocative research on the skin,
o the (body) surface turned towards the external world, in Freuds formulation
(1961 [1920]),
o that plane which constitutes the physical boundaries of the (royal) body,
o where inner becomes outer,
o a component of habitus as Bourdieu (1973) might describe rules and meanings
that delimit space.

Gudea himself must have seen the royal body as a place for inscription, a site where messages
are bodied forth concretely, as in psychogenesis (Turner 1995). Reference other studies in
anthropologies of the body such as (especially) Thass-Thienemann (1968), but also Enders
(2002), and Douglas (1969).
These varied and provocative perspectives are summoned here for a single reasonin order to
determine what is, in fact, the dominant narrative (Berdahl 1994) of the 26 (or so) statues and
fragments that the inscriptions on Gudeas representations project. I will maintain that it is more
than a physicalization of Michalowskis (1991) charisma, and nuance and extend a notable
figuration by Winter (1989) that foregrounds aspects of the rulers body. Russells admirable
chapter (1991) on the audience for Sennacheribs royal inscriptions (Who was visiting the

Palace?) is a useful point of departure although it will be necessary to turn our attention to the
narrative contained within the inscriptions themselves and their performative content.
Most importantly, I return in this study to the original site reports of the excavators of Telloh
(ancient Girsu) where Gudeas statues were found (de Sarzec, Cros/Heuzey, de Genouillac,
Parrot, each in turn), revisiting missing findspots of the monuments. I also will consider the
manner of their destruction.
Taken collectively, the above activities, observations and performances comprise the
integration of body and social relations as parts of a single continuum of material activity
(Turner 1995). This continuum is the ongoing elaboration of the city of Laga as embodied in
Gudeas consuming building project, the construction of Ningirsus temple, the E-ninnu.
A revitalized image of familiar artifacts should emerge.

Reference List
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