Two magico-religious plaques Not only tablets are found in the housesof the ScribalQuarter from the First Dynasty of Babylon. Very expressiveworks of art are thesemagicoreligious plaques, molded in clay and then baked. An outstanding find this seasonis the plaque showinga winged and bird-footed goddess adoring a figure broken away at the right. The goddess is not only beautifully proportioned,but the unusual pose,partly frontal, partly sideways, adds much to her grace. The wings and horned crown, symbol of divinity, are both painted a rich red. Of equal quality is the more fragmentary piece showing a man carrying a lamb or kid slung around his shouldersand clutchingits rear and fore feet in his right hand. Parts of this figure were also painted red. Such piecesillustrate the high quality of art at this period from which few examples of marked aesthetic merit are known. Plaques and figurines of supernatural beings are so rarely found intact, that there is little doubt that they were intentionally broken once their purpose had been 72 served. That purpose can not yet be preciselydefined,for a deeper understanding of their function will come only as collectionsenlarge and it is possible to relate individual figures and scenesto literary and ritual texts. Such plaques not only provide one of the best sourcesfor the iconographyof the time but will some day form the basis for an understandingof the popular religion of the periods in which they occur. Left plaque about 2% inches high; right about 5 inches. ARCHAEOLOGY