The Mask of Warka, also known as the Lady of Uruk, dating from 3100 BC, is one of the earliest known representations of the human face. The carved marble female face is probably a depiction of Inanna. It is approximately 20 cm tall, and was probably incorporated into a larger wooden cult image, though it is only a presumption that a deity is represented. It is without parallels in the period. It is in the National Museum of Iraq, having been recovered undamaged after being looted during the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Mask of Warka, National Museum of Iraq
The Mask of Warka in the National Museum of Iraq today
Mask of Warka
The Mask of Warka, in profile, the Iraq Museum in Baghdad
Uruk, today known as Warka, was a city in the ancient Near East situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates River on the dried-up ancient channel of the Euphrates. The site lies 93 kilometers northwest of ancient Ur, 108 kilometers southeast of ancient Nippur, and 24 kilometers southeast of ancient Larsa. It is 30 km (19 mi) east of modern Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq.
Devotional scene to Inanna, Warka Vase, c. 3200–3000 BC, Uruk. This is one of the earliest surviving works of narrative relief sculpture.
Uruk King priest feeding the sacred herd
An Uruk period cylinder-seal and its impression, c. 3100 BC. Louvre
Partially reconstructed facade and access staircase of the Ziggurat of Ur, originally built by Ur-Nammu, Neo-Sumerian period, circa 2100 BC