Model

CBS Register: clay relief. Front part of a chariot. 2 buckled lances on either part of Ninib emblem

PBS XVI: Front shield of a chariot decorated with a stamped relief inside toward the driver. The hole below served to adjust the pole below the box. The two holes above were not bored to look through under cover, but to reinforce the upper part of the shield by a strap or thwart attached to the high curve of the pole. The upper edge has a hollow in the middle to receive the reins, passing from the hands of the driver, through the rein ring fixed on the pole, to a ring attached tin the nose of each animal. On the horns right and left were strapped quivers full of darts and arrows. The relief stamped on the shield for good luck and protection, shows a caduceus between two buckled lances surmounted by crescents and stars. The caduceus is the emblem of war gods, Ishtar or Nin-urta. The buckled lances are the usual decoration at the entranced of a shrine. The votive weapon in the middle is the symbol of the god a substitute for his statue, like the hammer of Thor of Nordic tribes. Crescent and evening star add their note of astral mythology. The panoply and shrine seem very appropriate on a war chariot.