NUZI AND THE HURRIANS — PFEIFFER 547 



The pottery ware of Ga-sur is of three types, domestic, sepulchral, 

 and sacred. The first type exhibits such practical devices as handles, 

 spouts, and holes for the insertion of rope holders, as well as decora- 

 tions and burnishings, that are totally lacking in the more archaic 

 and severe vessels buried with the dead. The temple vessels are 

 more consciously artistic both in ornament and shape. The decora- 

 tion is rarely in relief but consists usually of designs, made with 

 incised lines, and of stippling. The most characteristic in shape 

 among the vessels for ritual use are the theriomorph (or animal- 

 shaped) containers, representing birds, and jars with spouts in the 

 shape of a ram's head or having a snake in relief on the outer sur- 

 face. One of the large storage jars has a border showing a wolf, in 

 relief, attacking nine heads of cattle guarded by a man and a dog, 

 all of which are outlined with incised lines. 



Comparatively few clay figurines were found on the Ga-sur levels. 

 One represents, i,n low relief, a god and a goddess seated side by side. 

 Animal figurines are rare, whereas models of beds and of chariots are 

 common. Eeliefs of female figures in white marble are more common 

 than clay ones, whereas the opposite is true in the Nuzi period. Three 

 cylinder-seal impressions on clay are known: one has a geometric 

 design, another represents the familiar scene of a worshipper led to 

 a deity, and the third one represents a pair of intertwined standing 

 bearded bulls and a pair of intertwined standing lions. This last 

 impression is on a bulla, which, according to the inscription, sealed a 

 receptacle containing a " balance of sesame." Among metal objects, 

 copper ones are the most varied : a small standing figure, sun disks, 

 crescents, pins, bracelets, a small football-shaped bell, daggers, and 

 sickles. One of the sickles has the puzzling inscription " an ud za " — 

 possibly the name of a deity otherwise unknown. 



The culture of Ga-sur is fundamentally Aldiadian. However, a 

 well-written Sumerian catalog of occupations and professions and the 

 common use of Sumerian ideograms in the tablets indicate a decided 

 Sumerian influence at Ga-sur. The culture of Ga-sur presents 

 striking similarities with that of Ashur. Near the end of the third 

 millennium Ga-sur had close commercial relations with the trading 

 posts that Ashur had established in Cappadocia, as shown conclu- 

 sively by the Cappadocian letters found at Ga-sur; the unexpected 

 discovery of typically Hittite double axes at Ga-sur corroborates this 

 evidence of the relations of Ga-sur with Asia Minor. 



THE BUILDINGS OF NUZI 



Nuzi proper is really an acropolis rather than a city. There is no 

 reason to assume that Nuzi extended appreciably beyond the edges of 

 Yorghan Tepe, a square mound measuring 200 meters on a side, with 



36923—36 — :-36 



