Hurrian foundation pegs

Hurrian foundation pegs
The Louvre lion and accompanying stone tablet
Material	Copper, limestone
Size	Louvre lion: 12.2 cm × 8.5 cm (4.8 in × 3.3 in) Limestone tablet: 10 cm × 9 cm (3.9 in × 3.5 in) Met lion: 11.7 cm × 7.9 cm (4.6 in × 3.1 in)
Writing	Cuneiform inscription in Hurrian
Created	c. 2300 – c. 2159 BCE
Period/culture	Akkadian/Hurrian
Discovered	Unknown
Place	Temple of Nergal, Urkesh, Syria
Present location	Musée du Louvre, Paris Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Identification	Louvre lion: AO 19938 Louvre tablet: AO 19937 Met lion: 48.180

The Hurrian foundation pegs, also known as the Urkish lions, are twin copper foundation pegs each in the shape of a lion that probably came from the ancient city of Urkesh (modern Tell Mozan) in Syria. The pegs were placed at the foundation of the temple of Nergal in the city of Urkesh as mentioned in the cuneiform inscriptions on them. The inscription on the two pegs and the associated stone tablet is the oldest known text in the Hurrian language. One of the lions is now housed, along with its limestone tablet, in the Musée du Louvre in Paris. The second lion is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.^[1]