20th-16th century B.C. A fired clay plaque in the form of a sheep with a woolly fleece expressed as a dense series of annulets, pinched muzzle and circular eyes; blank reverse; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 223 grams, 10.5 cm high including stand (4 1/8 in.). Acquired 1979-1999. London collection of the late Mr S.M., thence by descent. Apanied by a copy of a previous illustrated catalogue sheet. Flocks of sheep and cattle were vital to the survival of the earliest Mesopotamian societies. Hence the image of the shepherd and his flock came to symbolise the relation between Mesopotamian kings and their people. Sheep were represented throughout the history of Mesopotamian art, with known examples dating between the late 4th millennium B.C. (Uruk period) and the 1st millennium B.C., as in the example of the Tiglath-Pileser III reliefs.