Bull Calf Polemount
Unknown Artist
c. 2700 BCE
Medium
basalt
Dimensions
7.7 × 5.1 × 13.1 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1970.61
About this artwork
Like most Mesopotamian sculptures in the round, this small bull was an object of worship in a temple. Its eyes, the triangle on the forehead, and the stripes in the rope were originally embellished with contrasting colored stones, or bone. The inlays are lost, but the sculpture itself is one of the very few original cult statues that have survived.