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Феномен охоты на монстра

2022, Кунсткамера. 3(17)

https://doi.org/10.31250/2618-8619-2022-3(17)-121-133

Abstract

evidence of the influence of cultures is usually traced by researchers at the level of compositional or technological techniques, borrowing material objects. among the subjects related to the theme of torment or hunting, monster hunting is distinguished by the author for a number of reasons listed in this article. the analysis of the currently known translated narrative sources (fragments of cuneiform tablets) suggests the presence of a pictorial series with a similar plot and its transformation over the centuries. a hypothesis about probable interpretation of these stories at a later time and in a different territory was formulated. to confirm the hypothesis, the corpus of archaeological finds presented in the electronic catalogues of the archaeological collections of the largest museums was used, which made it possible to bring together all types of the known images of the humwawa (humbaba), which is the focus of this study. Materials from the Pazyryk burial mounds of the altai Mountains, stored in the state hermitage Museum, the connection of which with the civilizations of Mesopotamia is not disputed by researchers at the level of iconography, suggest the presence of unity at the level of the semantic field. taking into account the widespread practice of placing fearsome masks as a talisman, it can also be assumed that the head of a humwawa (humbaba) or some similar monster that performs its protective functions is a cultural borrowing. the possibility of creating images based on an oral poetic description in the absence of a canonical image is not excluded. in this case, such samples could be replicated by other masters as a standard. an earlier plot of “torment” as a way to clarify the hierarchy magically transformed into a “fight with a demon strangler”, and “hunting a monster” can be interpreted as a claim to exclusivity.