Excavation

There is no formal record of when this offering stand was removed from the Sanctuary of Ningizzida and Gestinanna at Girsu. Further, Girsu, now Tell Telloh in Iraq, was the first Sumerian city to be excavated. At the time there were poor standards of excavation and the site was damaged by multiple excavations; there is also evidence of significant looting. Also, there is no actualy proof that the Neo-Sumerian Offering Stand actually resided in the Sanctuary of Ningizzida and Gestinanna. This making gathering detailed provenance information extreemly difficult. 

However, Francois Thureau-Dangin, the famous French archeologist, published a report that suggests that this offering stand was probably looted in August, 1924. The reason the offering stand has been linked to this excavation site is because in 1929 excavations of the site at Girsu uncovered several other objects dedicated to Gudea and Gestinanna. The fact that Gestinanna was a minor deity coupled with the fact that there was evidence of recent looting in 1929, suggests that the offering stand came from the Sanctuary of Ningizzida and Gestinanna. It therefore seems highly likely that the Offering Stand was looted in 1924 and was most probably sold on the black market.

Tracing where exactly the offering stand went post-excavation is quite difficult however. In 1924 regulations on importing goods of historic and cultural significance was not in existence. Further, the fact that no one knew who looted the object makes it difficult to narrow down where the object might have been sold, or when it was sold. The actual Offering Stand was never seen at the Sanctuary of Ningizzida by a reputable source; it is only conjecture that presumes it was placed there. However, logic seems to dictate that this is a good educated guess.

If this is true, it means that the offering stand was in the Sanctuary of Ningizzida for over 4000 years before it was uncovered. The Neo-Sumerian Empire collapsed in about 2000 BCE. 

Text Sources

Genouillac, H. Fouilles de Telloh II. Paris, 1936

Thureau-Dangin, Francois. "Monuments et Memoires" Fondation Eugene Piot 27 (1924): 97