The study deals with the representation of war and warrior figures (gods, heroes, kings) in Mesop... more The study deals with the representation of war and warrior figures (gods, heroes, kings) in Mesopotamian iconographic and textual sources from the second half of the 4th millennium to the first half of the 1st millennium BCE. Chapter I is dedicated to the history of the studies on war and kingship in Mesopotamia and to the methodology used in the research. Chapter II is devoted to the most important Mesopotamian warrior gods, heroes, and kings. In Chapter III the documentation is historically contestualised, with a special attention to the Late Chalcolitic, Protodynastic, Akkadian and Neo-assyrian periods, which appear to have been especially creative phases as far as the elaboration of the “war imagery” is concerned. The remaining chapters are devoted to the analysis of the images used for the representation of the moment before the battle (Chapter IV), the conflict (Chapter V), and the triumph (Chapter VI). A detailed description of all iconographic documents used in the analysis is contained in the attached catalogue, while only the elements connected to the individual iconographic themes analysed in each chapter are discussed in the text. Selected textual sources are only mentioned in the text. Chapter VII offers a summary of the study and some final considerations. It is suggested that the precise correspondences in the way the king, supernatural heroes, and warrior gods were represented mirror the “cosmovision” of ancient Near Eastern cultures, according to which “war” (i.e. the conflict between opposite elements), often visualised as a storm, represents the driving force of life, and violence against the evil enemy was necessary in order to restore order, justice and wealth. As a consequence, the resulting imagery reflects a traditional code of expression (hence the persistence of some of these images over the centuries and millennia), while having had, at the same time, propagandistic and/or “magical” functions as well.
This article deals with the symbolism of fire in war, according to Mesopotamian tex- tual and fig... more This article deals with the symbolism of fire in war, according to Mesopotamian tex- tual and figurative sources dating from the 3rd until the first half of the 1st millenium BC. Fire is discussed as an energy element aimed not only at destruction, but also at transformation, purification and regeneration. Fire is simultaneously a symbol and a tool of an ambivalent violence, an ideal and real manifestation of a terrible violence destined to restore order and peace. Fire could also be the hypostasis of gods’ and kings’ power, of their energy that is the reason and the agency of their superiority over the cosmos.
The glyptic production at the beginning of the III millennium BC in “Great Mesopotamia” is marked... more The glyptic production at the beginning of the III millennium BC in “Great Mesopotamia” is marked by a passage from an international style to a development of regional and local styles. This process could mirror a redefinition of cultural identities in this territory. The aim of this paper is on one hand to investigate the cultural identities of these ancient people through the study of the iconographies attested in cylinder seals, considered as forms of self-representation; on the other, to recognize the mechanisms of definition of these identities consisting in assimilation or refusal of others’ symbolic elements.
This paper proposes a translation of ancient artwork characterized by untemporalized and fixed sl... more This paper proposes a translation of ancient artwork characterized by untemporalized and fixed slab images into a motion picture video. The video, which is visible on the Web, shows a guided vision of the reliefs from Ninive commemorating the battle of Til Tuba and the triumph of Ashurbanipal over the Elamites. Pictures of these slabs have been placed into chronological sequence following the historical order of the represented episodes, including an audio commentary based on ancient inscriptions. The first part of the article analyses the slabs, while the second outlines the video editing. The aim of the project is to show analogies and differences between past and modern visual languages and to highlight the unexpressed potentials of these reliefs, connected to the attempt of narrating the events in their temporal and spatial development. Furthermore, some considerations are given about the role and functioning of visual language as a communication tool.
Giornata dell'archeologia: scavi e ricerche del Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici a cura di Luigi Sperti, 2017
The paper summarises the main research activities of the Near Eastern Archaeology team of Ca’ Fos... more The paper summarises the main research activities of the Near Eastern Archaeology team of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in the course of the last few years. Research on Early Bronze Age Upper Mesopotamia concentrated on the study of the results of the 1992-1010 Syro-Europaean excavations in Tell Beydar: the stratigraphy of Field I (Northern Building and North-Eastern Inner City Gate), 3rd millennium pottery, metallurgy and metal objects, and glyptics (seals and seal impressions). The Southern Caucasus was the object of field investigations in the Shida Kartli region of Georgia, where the sites of Natsargora and Aradetis Orgora and the Okherakhevi kurgan field were excavated, and unpublished material from old Georgian excavations at Natsargora was analysed and published. Important results were achieved, in particular, regarding the Kura-Araxes and Bedeni cultures (late 4th-3rd millennium BC) and the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age period (second half of the 2nd, early 1st millennium BC).
The study deals with the representation of war and warrior figures (gods, heroes, kings) in Mesop... more The study deals with the representation of war and warrior figures (gods, heroes, kings) in Mesopotamian iconographic and textual sources from the second half of the 4th millennium to the first half of the 1st millennium BCE. Chapter I is dedicated to the history of the studies on war and kingship in Mesopotamia and to the methodology used in the research. Chapter II is devoted to the most important Mesopotamian warrior gods, heroes, and kings. In Chapter III the documentation is historically contestualised, with a special attention to the Late Chalcolitic, Protodynastic, Akkadian and Neo-assyrian periods, which appear to have been especially creative phases as far as the elaboration of the “war imagery” is concerned. The remaining chapters are devoted to the analysis of the images used for the representation of the moment before the battle (Chapter IV), the conflict (Chapter V), and the triumph (Chapter VI). A detailed description of all iconographic documents used in the analysis is contained in the attached catalogue, while only the elements connected to the individual iconographic themes analysed in each chapter are discussed in the text. Selected textual sources are only mentioned in the text. Chapter VII offers a summary of the study and some final considerations. It is suggested that the precise correspondences in the way the king, supernatural heroes, and warrior gods were represented mirror the “cosmovision” of ancient Near Eastern cultures, according to which “war” (i.e. the conflict between opposite elements), often visualised as a storm, represents the driving force of life, and violence against the evil enemy was necessary in order to restore order, justice and wealth. As a consequence, the resulting imagery reflects a traditional code of expression (hence the persistence of some of these images over the centuries and millennia), while having had, at the same time, propagandistic and/or “magical” functions as well.
This article deals with the symbolism of fire in war, according to Mesopotamian tex- tual and fig... more This article deals with the symbolism of fire in war, according to Mesopotamian tex- tual and figurative sources dating from the 3rd until the first half of the 1st millenium BC. Fire is discussed as an energy element aimed not only at destruction, but also at transformation, purification and regeneration. Fire is simultaneously a symbol and a tool of an ambivalent violence, an ideal and real manifestation of a terrible violence destined to restore order and peace. Fire could also be the hypostasis of gods’ and kings’ power, of their energy that is the reason and the agency of their superiority over the cosmos.
The glyptic production at the beginning of the III millennium BC in “Great Mesopotamia” is marked... more The glyptic production at the beginning of the III millennium BC in “Great Mesopotamia” is marked by a passage from an international style to a development of regional and local styles. This process could mirror a redefinition of cultural identities in this territory. The aim of this paper is on one hand to investigate the cultural identities of these ancient people through the study of the iconographies attested in cylinder seals, considered as forms of self-representation; on the other, to recognize the mechanisms of definition of these identities consisting in assimilation or refusal of others’ symbolic elements.
This paper proposes a translation of ancient artwork characterized by untemporalized and fixed sl... more This paper proposes a translation of ancient artwork characterized by untemporalized and fixed slab images into a motion picture video. The video, which is visible on the Web, shows a guided vision of the reliefs from Ninive commemorating the battle of Til Tuba and the triumph of Ashurbanipal over the Elamites. Pictures of these slabs have been placed into chronological sequence following the historical order of the represented episodes, including an audio commentary based on ancient inscriptions. The first part of the article analyses the slabs, while the second outlines the video editing. The aim of the project is to show analogies and differences between past and modern visual languages and to highlight the unexpressed potentials of these reliefs, connected to the attempt of narrating the events in their temporal and spatial development. Furthermore, some considerations are given about the role and functioning of visual language as a communication tool.
Giornata dell'archeologia: scavi e ricerche del Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici a cura di Luigi Sperti, 2017
The paper summarises the main research activities of the Near Eastern Archaeology team of Ca’ Fos... more The paper summarises the main research activities of the Near Eastern Archaeology team of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in the course of the last few years. Research on Early Bronze Age Upper Mesopotamia concentrated on the study of the results of the 1992-1010 Syro-Europaean excavations in Tell Beydar: the stratigraphy of Field I (Northern Building and North-Eastern Inner City Gate), 3rd millennium pottery, metallurgy and metal objects, and glyptics (seals and seal impressions). The Southern Caucasus was the object of field investigations in the Shida Kartli region of Georgia, where the sites of Natsargora and Aradetis Orgora and the Okherakhevi kurgan field were excavated, and unpublished material from old Georgian excavations at Natsargora was analysed and published. Important results were achieved, in particular, regarding the Kura-Araxes and Bedeni cultures (late 4th-3rd millennium BC) and the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age period (second half of the 2nd, early 1st millennium BC).
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