Rock relief of Iddin-Sin, King of Simurrum

This relief is one of a group of similar rocks carved on the high cliffs of the eastern border of Mesopotamia. It commemorates the victories of Iddin-Sin, King of Simurrum, probably located along the Little Zab river, which flows westward from the Kurdistan Mountains into the Tigris. This area was marked by numerous battles between the Mesopotamian cities, outstanding among them is Ur, and their opponents, during the last two hundred years of the third millennium. Despite the long and well-documented rivalry between Ur and Simurrum, the rock relief exhibits features typical of the Mesopotamian tradition, namely, the depiction of an apparently young king trampling his enemy in front of a goddess and carrying a scepter surmounted by two volutes. The inspiration for this theme of a victorious ruler was the stele of Naram-Sin, King of Akkad (2254-2218 BCE). The scene occurs not only on later rock reliefs, but also in miniature art, such as cylinder seals. The seven-column inscription in the background ends with a call to the great gods to curse anyone daring to erase Iddin-Sin's name from the monument.