The earliest known depiction of a phalanx-like formation occurs in the so-called Stele of the Vultures, a fragmented limestone stele found in Telloh, (ancient Girsu) Iraq, in 1881.

Here the troops seem to have been equipped with spears, helmets, and large shields covering the whole body.

Ancient Egyptian infantry were known to have employed similar formations.

The Stele of the Vultures, now in the Louvre, is reconstructed as having been one point eight meters (five feet, eleven inches) high and one point three meters (four feet, three inches) wide and was set up between about 2500 and 2400 BCE.

It was erected as a monument of the victory of Eannatum of Lagash over Enakalle of Umma.

On it are represented various incidents in the war.

In one register, the king stands in his chariot with a curved weapon in his right hand, formed of three bars of metal bound together by rings, while his kilted followers, with helmets on their heads and lances in their hands, march behind him.

In another register, a figure, presumed to be that of the king, rides on his chariot in the thick of the battle.

On the other side of the stele is an image of Ninurta, a god of war, who holds the captive Ummaites in a large net.

This implies that Eannatum attributed his victory to Ninurta, and thus that he was in the god's protection (though some accounts say that he attributed his victory to Enlil, the patron deity of Lagash).