Nimrud Ivories (Cont.)

Fig. 1 - Human-headed Sphinx from Nimrud

     Sphinxes are a common theme in the Nimrud ivories. Some of the ivories show a sphinx with a lion's body and a ram's head (see the previous post) while others show a human headed lion (figure 1) or a hawk-headed lion.

Figure 2 - Two Hawk-headed Sphinxes Trampling Asiatics

     Like other examples from Nimrud, these ivories look Egyptian in their general motifs, but the details show clearly that they were not carved by Egyptian artists. In figure 1, the sphinx's double crown is represented in a way that shows the artist had never seen the Egyptian original. The sphinx wears a broad collar on his chest that also looks like the artist has never seen one in real life. Also note that the stripes on the "Nemes" headdress shows stripes that are vertical, unlike a "real" Nemes that had horozontal stripes. As noted in the previous post the foliage surrounding the sphinx looks very little like anything shown in Egyptian art.

     Figure two shows two hawk-headed sphinxes trampling Asiatics. This is interesting in that the artist that carved this ivory was himself an Asiaitic. The broad collar that adorns the body of the sphinx is shown much more accurately in this work of art, but the Nemes headdress is still all wrong. The solar disk on the head of the leftmost sphinx is a bit squat and looks more like an oval than a circle.

     These two pieces are beautiful works of art, and it is clear why the Assyrian kings were at pains to loot these carvings from the palaces of the cities they conquered. But these are not examples of Egyptian art.

The Nimrud Ivories (Cont.)

Ivory Sphinx from Nimrud

     The Nimrud ivories commonly show sphinxes that look Egyptian at first glance, but when you take a close look at the sphinx, it becomes clear that the artist was not Egyptian.

     For instance, look at the photo to the left. On the surface it looks like a fairly normal Egyptian ram-headed sphinx, but there are a number of details that show us that the artist was non-Egyptian. For instance, look at the floral decoration on this panel, and particularly look at the tree to the right of the sphinx. Also notice the ram's headdress; it is not a "nemes", although the artist seems to have tried to make it look like one. Also note that the sphinx does not have an "Egyptian" eye. One last incorrect detail is the "double crown" on the sphinx's head. An Egyptian artist would not have represented the crown in this way.

     Having said all that, this is a beautiful work of art, but it is clearly not Egyptian art.

The Nimrud Ivories

     The Metropolitan Museum has a large collection of carved ivory plaques that were found in the Assyrian capital of Nimrud. These plaques were no doubt used as decorative devices on furniture in the royal palace.

     Nimrud, called Kalhu in ancient times, is first mentioned by Shalmaneser I (1272 - 1243 B. C.). Portions of the city were re-built by Ashurnasirpal II (883 - 859 B. C.). Later kings (Sargon and Sennacherib) built palaces at Nimrud.

Fig. 1 - Egyptianizing Carved Ivory from Nimrud

     The first excavator of this city was Austen Henry Layard, who spent several years working at the site between 1845 and 1851. Max Mallowan started excavating at Nimrud in 1949, and it was he who found a large percentage of the famous ivories that are now in the museums of the world.

Fig. 2 - Egyptianizing Carved Ivory from Nimrud

     While some of the ivories found were made by Assyrian artists and used Assyrian decorative motifs, many others were clearly made by non-assyrian artists. These plaques probably got to Nimrud either as tribute paid by foreign princes or as plunder from conquered cities. Many of these ivories have Egyptian themes, although they were not carved in Egypt. In fact, Phoenicia is a more likely origin for these particular ivories.

    If you take a look at the ivory shown here, which dates to the 9th or 8th century B. C., you can see the winged sun disk above the woman's head. The sun disk itself, has a uraeus (cobra) on both sides of it. This is, of course, a very common motif in Egyptian art. The woman herself holds a lotus flower in one hand; this is also a common motif in Egyptian art. In her other hand she holds a lion (?), which is not a common motif in Egyptian art. Also, her head dress sort of looks egyptian, but was clearly carved by a non-egyptian artist.

   

New Reference to Nefertiti Found

     KMT magazine (Volume 24, Number 1, Spring 2013, p. 34) is reporting this month that a special exhibit in Berlin is displaying a copy of a gaffito found at Dier el Bersheh, a few miles away from Akhenaten's capital of Amarna. This gaffito has a reference to Queen Nefertiti and is dated to year 16 of Akhenaten's reign.

     This is an interesting development as the previous last known reference to her was from year 12, which has led egyptologists to speculate for years that she died several years before her husband, Akhenaten.

     Other egyptologists have speculated that she "disappeared" around year 12 because she became her husband's co-regent under the name Smenkhare.

DNA Testing on Arsinoe IV (?) Fails

Once again, the alleged body of Arsinoe IV (the sister or half-sister of Cleopatra) is in the news. Hilke Thur, an archaeologist at the Acadamy of Sciences in Austria had a DNA analysis done on a body believed to be that of Arsinoe IV, but the body has been touched too many times for an uncontaminated DNA sample to be obtained.

Arsinoe's murder was ordered by Cleopatra after Arsinoe opposed Julius Caesar's conquest of Egypt.

More details are available here:

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/02/27/bones-cleopatra-murdered-sister-found/?intcmp=features

The Mesopotamian Winged Genie

Figure 1 - a winged genius from the palace of Ashurnasirpal II

     I have long been fascinated with the representations of winged "geniuses" (or spirits or demons depending on the person describing the reliefs) carved on the walls of the palaces of Assyrian Kings. Sometimes they are portrayed as winged humans, while at other times they are shown as lion-headed or bird-headed humans (see figure 1).

     The iconography of these carvings is not always obvious even to expert assyriologists, but here is a summary of what is known.

     The pine cone held by the genius seems to be used to drip some sort of oil or magical "potion" on the Assyrian King or upon a sacred tree. The oil or potion is contained in the bucket held in the genius' other hand.

Figure 2 - detail of the cloak of the relief in figure 1

     The "demon" wears a fringed cloak (see figure 2) similar to the ones that Assyrian court officials are portrayed as wearing.    
When the genius is shown as a "winged human", he often wears a horned crown that designates him as "divine". Notice also the two handled dagger (a symbol of divinity) tucked into the top of the cloak (figure 2). Also note the rosette worn on a bracelet (on the arm that carries the bucket). This rosette symbolizes the divine source of the spirit's power (even if a friend of mine does jokingly refer to them as assyrian "wrist-watches", see figure 3).

     If you get a chance to view one of these reliefs up close take the time to look at them in detail. The carving of them is often exquisite. The highly detailed carving of the cloak's fringe and of the hair and beards of the human figures is remarkable. Note also how the muscles in the arms and legs are clearly delineated (perhaps too the point of looking a little unrealistic). Also look at the detail work in the feathers of the genius' wings.

Figure 3 - the bucket and "wrist watch"

     One thing to remember about these carvings is that they were once very brightly painted, so we are really not seeing them as they would have originally appeared. Given the great detail-work done on these carvings, it almost seems to be a shame to have painted them as this no doubt partially obscured the beautiful work of some great master sculptors.

Photos copyright (c) 2013 by John Freed

Gudea, Ensi of Lagash

Figure 1 - Statue of Gudea, Metropolitan Museum

     Gudea was the King of Lagash, and possibly a large amount of territory around that city, somewhere around 2150 - 2125 B. C. He styled himself "Ensi" (Governor) of Lagash.

     There are more than twenty statues of Gudea in the museums of the world, so he certainly seems to have been a major King, but little is actually known about his life. We know that he successfully battled the Elamites and constructed a temple for Ningirsu. He also seems to have repaired or added on to the temples of a number of other gods and goddesses.

Figure 2 - Profile view of the status

     In the photos we see a statue portraying Gudea wearing a toga-like garment and a skull-cap crown. The skull-cap is covered with curls that may indicate that the cap is made of the fur of an animal (a sheep?). The King clasps his hands in front of him; archaeologists think that this shows his devoutness to the gods and goddesses of the region. The King's eye-brows bear a herring-bone decoration and the eyes have a clearly delineated eyelids.

     The lower portion of the "toga" that Gudea is wearing is covered with an inscription dedicated to Ningishzida, the King's personal deity. Ningishzida is a god of the underworld and is thought to be portrayed as a serpent on a libation vase that Gudea dedicated during his reign.

     The statue is made of diorite, which is a very hard stone that was possibly imported from what is now Oman.


Photos Copyright (c) - John Freed, 2013