CHAPTER XXI. 
THE EXPEDITION SCENE. 
The single royal cylinder which carries the Migration Scene (fig. 390) is such 
a peculiar and extraordinarily fine one that it well deserves a chapter to itself. 
There is no other with which it can be compared, except in single features. It is 
cut with extreme care and vigor, and might well be taken for a work of Greek art 
of a good period, so far as its technique is concerned. The inscription proves that 
it belongs to the early empire, being older than Gudea, and probably about the 
age of Sargon I. The inscription reads: “ Bil-gur-akhi, King of Urukh, thy servant” 
(“Keilinsch. Bibl.,” 111, p. 84). 

There are seven figures in the design, besides the inscription. The leader 
carries in one hand a bow, in the other what may be an arrow; and a quiver with 
weapons hangs on his back. He wears a short garment reaching not quite to his 
knees. On his feet are buskins, strongly curved up at the toes and the legs of which 
reach above the ankles. He is bareheaded, and his hair and beard are short and 
straight. Herein he differs from the other three bearded figures, whose hair and 
beard are short and curled. The leader’s head is turned back towards his followers. 
The remaining figures are all barefoot. Four of them are of full size and most 
carefully and minutely drawn. These are clothed alike, in a single garment reach- 
ing to the knees, hanging from one shoulder, leaving the other shoulder and arm 
free. The material of the garments Heuzey calls kaunakes, but it may consist sim- 
ply of strips of the fleece of the sheep. Usually this material is distinctly flounced, 
but in this case the flounces are distinct in only one of the three figures. The three 
have short, curly hair and curly beard, but their features are distinctly not negroid 
and might pass for good Caucasian. The curl of the beard quite differs from the 
straight, though short, beard of the leader. Like the leader, the second figure 
turns his head back to see those who follow. His head is bare, his arms are folded, 
and in one hand he carries a rather long rod, which is not a knobbed club. Between 
the two, in a space almost too narrow for it, is a short dagger with a handle. The 
next figure, with distinctly flounced garment, wears a low cap, not a turban. His 
beard is short and closely curled, but his hair is long and is turned back and tied 
in a band, as is found with male and especially female figures in early art. But 
he is remarkable for the weapon he carries, resting on his shoulder. It is an ax, 
140 
