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Stele of the Vultures

c. 2450 BCE · 25th century BCE

The Stele of the Vultures is a fragmentary limestone monument erected around 2450 BCE by Eannatum, ruler of Lagash, to celebrate his victory over the neighbouring city of Umma. It shows the god Ningirsu holding Lagash's enemies in a net and Eannatum leading a phalanx of soldiers, while vultures carry off the dead. Found at Girsu (Tello), it is now in the Louvre and is one of the earliest known war monuments.

Stele of the Vultures
Image: Background: Kikuyu3 Elements: Eric Gaba (Sting) Composite: पाटलिपुत्र 10:52, 30 April 2020 (UTC) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 profile

Akkadian EmpireMilitary

Mentioned in 2 state histories

UmmaLagash

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Stele of the Vultures. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/stele-of-the-vultures
MLA
“Stele of the Vultures.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/stele-of-the-vultures. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Stele of the Vultures.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/stele-of-the-vultures.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Stele of the Vultures’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/stele-of-the-vultures (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻