Late Fourth Millennium B.C.E. Coinciding with the emergence of the first cities in southern Mesopotamia during the Late Uruk period (circa 3300 - circa 2900 B.C.E.) are some of the earliest images of kings. The so-called priest-king is distinguished in sculpture and relief by his fillet (a narrow headband worn high on the forehead and above the ears) and by wearing his hair in a bun and a beard without a mustache. Writing, which was invented in the same period, is often combined with imagery, either indirectly when cylinder seals were impressed on clay tablets or directly such as on the "Blau Monuments" that show the image of the priest-king alongside proto-cuneiform signs describing the transfer of goods.

Early Dynastic Period, circa 2900 - circa 2340 B.C.E. As royal inscriptions developed they combined traditional and new stylistic techniques to extol the...