Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Meskalamdug's Helmet: One of the world's oldest helmets depicts a Mesopotamian prince's man bun
Live Science ^ | July 28, 2025 | Kristina Killgrove

Posted on 09/09/2025 9:56:26 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

This gold helmet, painstakingly decorated to look like the wavy hairdo and ears of its wearer, was found in 1927 by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley during excavations at Ur, an ancient city in Mesopotamia that is now part of Iraq.

The artifact was recovered from a tomb in the Royal Cemetery along with alabaster vases, gold daggers and golden bowls -- one of which listed the name Meskalamdug, meaning "hero of the good land." But since the tomb was not as big or as richly furnished as other royal tombs, Woolley suggested the deceased was probably a prince rather than a king of Ur.

Two copies of the helmet were made within a few years of discovery, one going to the British Museum and one to the Penn Museum. The original helmet, which was hidden before the First Gulf War and protected from looting until it was recovered in late 2003, is at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad...

Meskalamdug's helmet is quite different from the ordinary copper helmets that private soldiers wore, Woolley wrote in a 1928 report on Meskalamdug's tomb. But it is similar to the hairstyles and helmets worn by the Mesopotamian rulers Eannatum and Sargon the Great, also known as Sargon of Akkad, in the 25th and 24th centuries B.C. Meskalamdug's helmet is one of the oldest ever found.

While there is evidence from the Royal Cemetery that a man named Meskalamdug was a Sumerian king, this particular Meskalamdug was not identified as a king by the artifacts in his grave. The helmet may therefore have belonged to the eponymous son or grandson of King Meskalamdug, part of Ur's First Dynasty, whose second wife was Queen Puabi.

(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; meskalamdug; mesopotamia; sumerians
The photos in the LiveScience article are from Getty, which we can't post on FR.

1 posted on 09/09/2025 9:56:27 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...

2 posted on 09/09/2025 9:57:17 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv
"This 15-karat gold helmet was discovered in a royal tomb at Ur, but it may only have been worn for ceremonial purposes."

Ya think??

The article states this helmet was probably made about 2600 BC and uncovered in 1927. That's pretty amazing it was undiscovered for so long and (based on the picture) in great condition.

"The hand-beaten gold was modeled and engraved to represent hair that was tied back with a ribbon and pulled into a small bun in the back."

He must not have got the memo:


3 posted on 09/09/2025 10:10:01 PM PDT by fidelis (Ecce Crucem Domini! Fugite partes adversae! Vicit Leo de tribu Juda, Radix David! Alleluia!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Toshiro Mifune?


4 posted on 09/09/2025 10:12:40 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: fidelis

LOL!


5 posted on 09/09/2025 10:13:16 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

6 posted on 09/09/2025 11:04:56 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie ( O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and his mercy endures forever. — Psalm 106)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: fidelis
I wouldn't argue with John Belushi having one, either.

7 posted on 09/10/2025 3:41:11 AM PDT by jmcenanly (You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.” ― Winston)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Meskalamdug. So mellifluous it rolls right off the tongue.


8 posted on 09/10/2025 4:50:56 AM PDT by ComputerGuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Thanks for posting. Amazing design. Fascinating detail. That long ago. How did an individual accomplish that? Just to think about doing that, let alone finding the materials and tools to do it. WOW!


9 posted on 09/10/2025 5:07:12 AM PDT by PGalt (Past Peak Civilization?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: fidelis

Only soi-bois....


10 posted on 09/10/2025 6:40:21 AM PDT by Bigg Red ( Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: ComputerGuy

😊


11 posted on 09/10/2025 6:50:50 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: PGalt
Practicing a craft, almost anyone will get better at it, but some people are just better at ****. High status people have the resources to make such skills pay off. IOW, it was good to be king, but it was also good to develop rare skills.

12 posted on 09/10/2025 6:52:51 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: fidelis; Larry Lucido
😊 King M probably couldn't get a haircut because he didn't trust someone with a blade (no hairs scissors until the Middle Ages or Renaissance) to walk around behind him.

13 posted on 09/10/2025 7:20:47 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

I tried reviving the Egyptian sidelock during the pandemic nl but it never caught on. I went back to the Caesar.


14 posted on 09/10/2025 5:59:58 PM PDT by Sawdring
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sawdring; Larry Lucido

I’ve wound up with the Larry Fine.


15 posted on 09/10/2025 6:10:34 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson