Tell Asmar Sculpture Hoard

Tell Asmar Sculpture Hoard (Iraq)
By K. Kris Hirst, About.com Guide
See More About: mesopotamia hoards mesopotamian sculpture archaeology of iraq tell asmar
Alabaster Figurine from Tell Asmar 2750-2600 BC rosemanios
Ads Archie Scott Brown,SpaLister Jaguar Stunning Bronze The last race, sculpture, paintingwww.autos-uk.co.uk The Book of TruthCrop Circles, UFOs, Religions Get Answers! Free eBook Download.www.rael.org Class 1 to Class 12Free NCERT Solutions, Test Papers, Lessons, Animations, Videos, Puzzlewww.MeritNation.com Definition: The Tell Asmar sculpture hoard is a collection of 12 human effigy statues, discovered at the Mesopotamian site of Tell Asmar. The hoard was discovered during Henri Frankfort's Oriental Institute excavations in the 1930s. They were stacked in several layers within an 85x50 cm hole 1.25 meters (about 4 feet) below the floor of the structure known as the Square Temple. The statues average about 42 centimeters in height. They are of men and women with large staring eyes, upturned faces, and clasped hands, dressed in the skirts of the Early Dynastic period of Mesopotamia. They are believed to represent gods and goddesses and their worshipers. The largest male figure is thought to represent the god Abu, based on symbols carved into the base.
The Asmar statues were modeled from processed gypsum (calcium sulphate). The ancient technique involves firing gypsum at about 300 degrees Fahrenheit until it becomes a fine white powder (called plaster of Paris). The powder is then mixed with water and then modeled and/or sculpted.
The exact location of the hoard with regard to the temples is somewhat in question. Most sources refer to it as either below the Abu or Square temples at Asmar. Evans (cited below) believes the hoard, discovered well beneath the floors of the Square Temple, predates both temples.
Sources
Statues of Gudea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Diorite Statue I, Louvre
Statue O in Copenhagen
Statue P at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
For the cylinders of Gudea, see Gudea cylinders. So far twenty-seven statues of Gudea, a ruler (ensi) of the state of Lagash in Southern Mesopotamia who ruled ca. 2144 - 2124 BC, have been found, and numbered A-AA. A-K were found during Ernest de Sarzec's excavations in the court of the palace of Adad-nadin-ahhe in Telloh (ancient Girsu). Statues M-Q come from clandestine excavations in Telloh in 1924; the rest come from the art trade, with unknown provenances and sometimes of doubtful authenticity. Figures L and R do not represent Gudea with reasonable certainty. The statues were to represent the ruler in temples, to offer a constant prayer in his stead; offerings were made to these. Most of the statues bear an inscribed dedication explaining to which god it was dedicated. Gudea is either sitting or standing; in one case (N), he holds a water-jug au vase jaillissant. He normally wears a close fitting kaunakes, maybe made of sheep-skin, and a long tasseled dress. Only in one example (M, Soclet-statue) he wears a different dress, reminiscent of the Akkadian royal costume (torso of Manishtushu). On the lap of one of them (statue B) is the plan of his palace, with the scale of measurement attached. Statue F is similar to statue B; both are missing their heads, and have on their lap a board with a measuring scale and a stylus, only statue F doesn't have a ground plan. It seems that the early statues are small and made of more local stones (limestone, steatite and alabaster); later, when wide-ranging trade-connections had been established, the more costly exotic diorite was used. Diorite had already been used by old Sumerian rulers (Statue of Entemena). According to the inscriptions, the diorite (or gabbro, na4esi) came from Magan. The dedication of the diorite statues normally tell how ensi Gudea had diorite brought from the mountains of Magan, formed it as a statue of himself, called by name to honour god/goddess (x) and had the statue brought into the temple of (y). Most of the big (almost lifesize, D is even bigger than life) statues are dedicated to the top gods of Lagash: Ningirsu, his wife Ba'u, the goddesses Gatumdu and Inanna and Ninhursanga as the "Mother of the gods". Q is dedicated to Ningiszida, Gudea's personal protective deity more properly connected to Fara and Abu Salabikh, the smaller M, N and O to his "wife" Gestinanna. The connection between Ningiszida and Gestinanna was probably invented by Gudea in order to effect a closer connection to Lagash.
number
material
size posture
provenance
dedicated to
today at
museum catalogue number
diorite
excavations E. 1,24 standing de Sarzec, Telloh excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh
Ninhursanga/Nintu Louvre
AO 8
diorite
0,93 sitting
Ningirsu
Louvre
AO 2
diorite
Inanna
Louvre
AO 5
diorite
1,57 sitting
Ningirsu
Louvre
AO 1
diorite
Ba'u
Louvre
AO 6
diorite
0,86 sitting
Gatumdu
Louvre
AO 3
diorite
excavations E. 1,33 standing de Sarzec, Telloh excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh
Ningirsu
Louvre
AO 7
diorite
0,77 sitting
Ba'u
Louvre
AO 4
diorite
0,45 sitting
Ningishzida
Louvre
AO 3293 + AO 4108
diorite
--
--
--
--
--
diorite
excavations E. 1,24 standing de Sarzec, Telloh
Ningirsu
--
--
diorite
--
--
--
--
(Kudurru)
--
alabaster or paragonite
clandestine 0,41 standing excavations, Telloh 1924 clandestine 0,61 standing excavations, Telloh 1924 clandestine 0,63 standing excavations, Telloh 1924 clandestine excavations, Telloh 1924 clandestine excavations, Telloh 1924
Geshtinanna
Detroit Institute of Arts
--
dolerite, calcite or steatite
Geshtinanna
Louvre
AO 22126
steatite
Geshtinanna
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art
NCG 840
diorite
0,44 sitting
Ningishzida
59.2
diorite
0,33 sitting
Ningishzida
body in Baghdad, body: 2909, head in head: CBS Philadelphia 16664 Harvard Semitic Museum Louvre Golenishev collection
diorite
0,185 sitting
art trade
Namhani
HSM 8825
limestone
--
standing --
--
--
--
1,24 --
--
--
--
U V W X Y Z AA
dolerite diorite diorite diorite limestone diorite limestone
1,01 standing -0,74 standing -----------------
Ninhursanga/Nintu British Museum --Meslamta'ea Ningirsu --British Museum ------
--------
Ancient Civilizations History Web Site

Ancient Civilizations / Mesopotamia / Mesopotamian Art and Architecture
Mesopotamian Art and Architecture

History of Mesopotamia was characterized by numerous invasions and conquests which also greatly influenced art and architecture. New peoples and rulers introduced their own sociopolitical systems or adopted the established one, while similar process also took place in art and architecture. Thus art and architecture in Mesopotamia are commonly divided into different periods: Sumerian period, Babylonian period, Assyrian period, etc.
Statue of a man, possibly priest-king Religion and religious organization played very important role in both art and architecture in Mesopotamia. Monumental sacral buildings - the temples were the centers of Sumerian city-states and were both religious and administrative centers throughout the Sumerian period. Leading role of the religion in Sumerian society and political system was also noticeable in Sumerian art which was dominated by religious motifs, deities, mythological beings and priests. Stone and wood as natural sources were very rare and the Sumerian artists and artisans mostly used clay which explains the soft and round appearance of the Sumerian sculptures in compare to the Egyptian statues.
Cylinder seal and seal impression About the same time as the Sumerian cuneiform script also emerged Sumerian cylinder seal, a cylinder engraved with different images, text and sometimes even a picture story which was used as a mark, signature or confirmation. Impressions of cylinder seals can be found on a wide range of surfaces such as pottery, doors, clay tablets, bricks, etc. The cylinder seals remained popular for a long period after decline of Sumerian city-states. Greek historian Herodotus reports that everyone in Babylon carries a seal in his work The History of the Persian Wars (c. 430 BC).
Fragment of Stele of Vultures Sumerian art and architecture at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC reveal the signs of decline but Sumerian culture, art and architecture entered into a new era after the arrival of the Semitic peoples during the Early Dynastic Period. The arrival of the Semitic peoples which took place slowly also resulted changes in the Sumerian language but latter was used in literature until the 1st millennium BC. The Early Dynastic Period is notable for the worshippers, small statues of individuals were placed in front of the deities in the temples. Majority of the statues of worshippers has been found in northern Mesopotamia which was settled by Semitic peoples in greater extend than other parts of Mesopotamia. The finest examples of Sumerian art from the Early Dynastic Period were found in Tell Asmar (site of the ancient Sumerian city of Eshnunna), Iraq in the 1930s. The period that followed the Early Dynastic Period reveals greater tensions towards naturalism although the fragments of the so-called Stele of Vultures found in Telloh, Iraq, depicting victory of Eannatum of Lagash over Enakalle of Umma from about 2500 BC indicate move towards stiffness.
Sargon of Akkad With the conquest of the Sumerian city-states by Sargon of Akkad about 2340 BC Mesopotamia entered a new period, commonly known as the Akkadian Period during which occurred major changes in virtually all aspects of life including art. Changes in art which were probably influenced by non-Sumerian artists can be noticed already during the reign of Sargon of Akkad (c. 2334 - c. 2279 BC) although very little art works remained preserved. However, two notable heads of Akkadian statues discovered so far suggest great progress in portrait sculpture. Little also remained preserved of Akkadian architecture. It is known that Akkadians built palaces and fortresses and that they also reconstructed many Sumerian temples but due to paucity of architectural remains it is difficult to determine the architectural style during the Akkadian Period. In greater extent remained persevered only Akkadian cylinder seals which introduced new standards and are widely considered the zenith of the ancient Middle East art of cylinder seals. The Akkadian Empire was short-lived and collapsed two centuries after its establishment but it greatly influenced the Mesopotamian art and according to some authors established the basis of the classical Mesopotamian art which flourished until the collapse of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 BC.
Head of Gudea Period following the collapse of the Akkadian Empire was characterized by full-scale Sumerian revival. The Sumerian revival can be noticed already in the votive statues of Gudea of Lagash (c. 2150 BC) found in the court of the palace of Adad-nadin-ahhe in Telloh, Iraq, although some authors consider them an intermezzo between the last Akkadian ruler and Ur-Nammu, the first king of the Third Dynasty of Ur. However, the inscriptions on Gudeas robes are in Sumerian language and mention that Gudea built several temples which clearly indicates the revival of the Sumerian culture. Several Sumerian literary hymns and prayers were also created during the rule of Gudea and his son Ur-Ningirsu. Opinions of scholars about the statues of Gudea might be divided but there is no doubt that Sumerian revival was in full-scale during the rule of the Third Dynasty of Ur. The period of Sumerian revival which dominated Mesopotamian art and architecture until the conquests of Hammurabi resulted in the creation of some of the greatest masterpieces including some of the most significant literary works such as the Epic of Gigamesh which is believed to be written about 2000 BC. Architecture was the predominant art during the period of Sumerian revival and is notable for the construction of the oldest terraced temples known as the ziggurats which probably inspired the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel. One of the finest examples of ziggurats from that period is the Great Ziggurat of Ur which was built by Ur-Nammu and his son Shulgi in 21st century BC (see picture below).
Ziggurat of Ur
Detail of kudurru of king Melishipak I The Sumerian language was slowly replaced by the Old Babylonian dialect following the rise of the First Dynasty of Babylon, while the art works reveal a synthesis of the Akkadian art and the Sumerian revival. The First Babylonian Dynasty which reached its height during the rule of Hammurabi began to decline already under his successor Samsu-iluna, while the power in Babylon was assumed by the Kassites about 1532 BC. The only surviving artworks from the Kassite period are the kudurrus, stone documents used as boundary stones
containing symbolic images of the gods and kings who granted the land as fiefs to their vassals. The kudurrus are mostly of poor artistic value but they are important sources for social, political and cultural history of the Middle Babylonian Period. The symbolic images of the gods present almost exclusively the Babylonian deities which means the Kassite adopted the Babylonian culture, while the images of kings granting the land to their vassals clearly indicate that the feudal system became the predominant social and political system in Mesopotamia. Mittani Kingdom which emerged in Northern Mesopotamia about 1500 BC did not significantly contribute to the Mesopotamian art and architecture. Little is known about the Mittani culture and art, while the cylinder seals reveal influence of Babylon, Syria and Asia Minor. Like in Babylon, deities and worship are not longer the main motif which gave place to different animals, mythological creatures and so-called trees of life which represent a supernatural world. Hittite Empire emerged in Asia Minor about the same time as Mittani Kingdom in northern Mesopotamia. Hittite Empire became one of the most powerful states in the ancient world by the 14th century BC and successfully competed with Egypt even under Rameses II, the Egypts greatest, most powerful and most celebrated of all pharaohs. The remains of the Hittite capital city of Hattusa, Yazlkaya (both in todays Turkey) and many other sites reveal magnificent monumental architecture as well as very impressive art which was dominated by portal sculpture and othostat reliefs.
Tablet of Zimrilim Assyria first rose to prominence under Shamshi-Adad I (c. 1818-1781) who was one of the greatest Hammurabis enemies. His son and successor Zimrilim initially supported Hammurabi but later turned against him as well. Zimrilim is better known for building himself a palace in the city of Mari which became famous for its enormous size and splendid wall paintings already in ancient world. However, the Assyrian art from that period does not resemble the classical Assyrian art in the later period and was still under Babylonian influence.
Shedu-Lamassu, Palace of Tikulti-Ninurta I Assyrian art and architecture greatly progressed by the middle of the 13th century BC. Tukulti-Ninurta I (c. 12331197 BC) who conquered Babylon and made Assyria one of the leading powers in the Middle East is also renowned for his building activities in Ashur as well as for constructing a new capital Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta which represents a prototype of Assyrian architecture. The art works and especially the cylinder seals from the Middle
Assyrian Period almost achieved the quality and perfection of the Akkadian art although Babylonian influence (Sumerian revival) is still noticeable. However, for the first time can be noticed the distinctive Assyrian characteristics - animal motifs in first place lions and horses. Assyrian art at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC still reveals different influences including Hittite, Hurrian, Syrian and Aramaean. Hittite influence in Assyrian art is obvious in portal sculpture and orthostat reliefs which are Hittite invention from the 14th century BC. Inscriptions on Assyrian art works in that period are written in cuneiform, and pictographic Hittite and Phoenician scripts what clearly indicates that Assyrian art which began to manifest itself in its distinctive forms in the 9th century BC has been greatly influenced by several different styles.
Ashurnasirpal II and his squire The distinctive Assyrian artistic and architectural forms developed in the 9th century BC during the rule of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC) who is best known his successful military campaigns as well as for building a palace in Nimrud (the biblical city of Kalakh) which was chosen as the new capital city. The Palace of Ashurnasirpal II was organized around three courtyards, while the palace walls were decorated with elaborate pictorial reliefs portraying the king on a military campaign, hunting, etc. containing inscriptions which reveal that he founded Nimrud and built the palace, and record his military achievements and other important events during his rule. The Palace of Ashurnasirpal II also contained portal sculptures and orthostat reliefs which were not placed outside like in Hittites but within the palace. There is also evidence that the palace was equipped with furniture decorated with ivory panels. Both reliefs and sculpture were glorifying the king and his achievements but an important feature were various animal forms such as lions, horses and winged beasts with bearded human faces.
Relief of winged genie, Palace of Sargon II The remains of the city and palace at Khorsabad (ancient Dur-Sharrukin or Fortress of Sargon) from the late 8th century BC built by Sargon II (721-705BC) who was one of the greatest rulers of Assyrian Empire reveal certain stylistic changes which are characterized by greater formality. The court moved to the new capital before the construction works were completed but after Sargons death in 705 BC his son and successor Sennacherib (704681 BC) abandoned the city and moved the Assyrian capital to Nineveh where he built a palace which he named The palace without rival. The relief carvings in the Sennacheribs palace are often considered the zenith of Assyrian relief carvings. Huge stone slabs were fully covered with relief carvings of important military and political
events, while the landscape is an integral part of the scheme. Reliefs also feature inscriptions which record significant contemporary events.
Relief of Ashurbanipal hunting Ashurbanipal (668 - c. 627 BC), the last great Assyrian king build a new palace in Nineveh which is commonly known as the North Palace and is notable for impressive relief carvings depicting his military expeditions, hunting scenes, political events, court scenes, etc. Ashurbanipal is better known for the Library of Ashurbanipal, a collection of thousands of clay tablets which is an important source for the Assyrian as well as for Sumerian, Akkadian and Babylonian history.
Model of the Ishtar Gate Mesopotamia after the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC flourished for the last time during the period of the NeoBabylonian Empire which reached its zenith during the reign of Nebuchadrezzar II (604-562 BC) who was also a great builder. Nebuchadrezzar II built new temples, a palace for himself, massive fortifications, the famous Ishtar Gate and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon which are considered one of the original Seven Wonders of the World. Art works during Neo-Babylonian period remained mostly limited to the cylinder seals and terra-cotta figurines. Read More from this category...
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Introduction to Mesopotamia Old Sumerian Period (c. 3000 BC - c. 2340 BC) Akkadian Empire and Neo-Sumerian Period (c. 2340 BC - 1932 BC) Old Babylonian Period and Old Assyrian Period (1932 BC - 1500 BC) Old Hittite Kingdom and Hittite Empire (1600 BC - 1200 BC) Middle Babylonian Period (1532 BC - 1000 BC) Mitanni Kingdom and the Middle Assyrian Period (1500 BC - 934 BC) Late Babylonian Period and Neo-Assyrian Period (1000 BC - 606 BC) Neo-Babylonian Empire (626 BC - 539 BC) Achaemenid Period or Persian Empire (550 BC - 330 BC) Mesopotamian Art and Architecture Life and Society in Mesopotamia Form of Government in Mesopotamia Religion in Mesopotamia and Primary Gods Burial Practices in Mesopotamia Science and Technology in Mesopotamia (Mathematics, Astronomy and Astrology, and Medicine) Law in Mesopotamia Cuneiform Script Home
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Seated statue of Gudea, 21502100 B.C.; Neo-Sumerian period Probably Tello (ancient Girsu), southern Mesopotamia Diorite
H. 17 3/8 in. (44 cm) Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1959 (59.2)
ON VIEW: GALLERY 403 Last Updated September 14, 2012
The Akkadian empire collapsed after two centuries of rule, and during the succeeding fifty years, local kings ruled independent city-states in southern Mesopotamia. The city-state of Lagash produced a remarkable number of statues of its kings as well as Sumerian literary hymns and prayers under the rule of Gudea (ca. 21502125 B.C.) and his son Ur-Ningirsu (ca. 21252100 B.C.). Unlike the art of the Akkadian period, which was characterized by dynamic naturalism, the works produced by this Neo-Sumerian culture are pervaded by a sense of pious reserve and serenity. This sculpture belongs to a series of diorite statues commissioned by Gudea, who devoted his energies to rebuilding the great temples of Lagash and installing statues of himself in them. Many inscribed with his name and divine dedications survive. Here, Gudea is depicted in the seated pose of a ruler before his subjects, his hands folded in a traditional gesture of greeting and prayer. The Sumerian inscription on his robe lists the various temples that he built or renovated in Lagash and names the statue itself, "Gudea, the man who built the temple; may his life be long."
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Mother goddess
"Earth Mother" redirects here. For other uses, see Mother Earth.
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Upper Paleolithic, Venus von Willendorf, estimated to have been carved 24,00022,000 BCE
Mother goddess is a term used to refer to a goddess who represents motherhood, fertility, creation, or who embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother. Many different goddesses have represented motherhood in one way or another, and some have been associated with the birth of humanity as a whole. Others have represented the fertility of the earth.
Contents
[hide]
1 Paleolithic figures 2 Neolithic figures 3 Old Europe 4 Examples
o o o o o o o o o o o
4.1 Egyptian 4.2 Indigenous people of the Americas 4.3 Aztec 4.4 Sumerian and Mesopotamian 4.5 Anatolia 4.6 Cucuteni-Trypillian culture 4.7 Greek 4.8 Roman 4.9 Celtic 4.10 Germanic 4.11 Turkic Siberians
5 Hinduism
5.1 Shaktism
6 Christianity
o o o
6.1 Depictions in churches 6.2 Blessed Virgin Mary 6.3 Mormonism
7 Neopaganism 8 Earth Mother
8.1 In various cultures
9 In fiction 10 See also 11 Notes 12 Further reading 13 External links
[edit]Paleolithic
figures
See also: Venus figurines
The Venus of Doln Vstonice, one of the earliest known depictions of the human body, dates to approximately 29,000 25,000 BC (Gravettianculture of the Upper Paleolithic era)
Several small, corpulent figures have been found during archaeological excavations of the Upper Paleolithic, the Venus of Willendorf, perhaps, being the most famous.[1] This sculpture is estimated to have been carved 24,00022,000 BCE. Some archaeologists believe they were intended to represent goddesses, while others believe that they could have served some other purpose. These figurines predate, by many thousands of years, the available records of the goddesses listed below as examples of mother goddesses, so although they seem to conform to the same generic type, it is not clear whether they, indeed, were representations of a goddess or whether, if they are, there was any continuity of religion that connects them with Middle Eastern and Classical deities. The Paleolithic period extends from 2.5 million years ago to the introduction of agriculture around 10,000 BCE. Archaeological evidence indicates that humans migrated to the Western Hemisphere before the end of the Paleolithic so cultures around the world share its characteristics. It is the prehistoric era distinguished by the development of stone tools, and covers the greatest portion of humanity's time on Earth. While most Paleolithic figurines are from the Upper Paleolithic, the Venus of Berekhat Ram found at Berekhat Ram on the Golan Heights is a Middle Paleolithicartefact of the later Acheulian, possibly was made by individuals identified as, Homo erectus.
[edit]Neolithic
figures
Ceramic Neolithic female figurine Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, ca. 5500-2750 BCE, Piatra Neamt Museum
"Bird Lady" a Neolithic Egyptian ceramic, Naganda IIa Predynastic 3500-3400 BCE, Brooklyn Museum
Diverse images of what are believed to be Mother Goddesses have been discovered that also date from the Neolithic period, the New Stone Age, which ranges from approximately 10,000 BCE, when the use of wild cereals led to the beginning of farming and, eventually, to agriculture. The end of this Neolithic period is characterized by the introduction of metal tools as the skill appeared to spread from one culture to another, or arise independently as a new phase in an existing tool culture, and eventually, became widespread among humans. Regional differences in the development of this stage of tool development are
quite varied. In other parts of the world, such as Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, independent domestication events led to their own patterns of development, while distinctive Neolithic cultures arose independently in Europe and Southwest Asia. During this time, native cultures appear in the Western Hemisphere, arising out of older Paleolithic traditions that were carried during migration. Regular seasonal occupation or permanent settlements begin to be seen in excavations. Herding and keeping of cattle, goats, sheep, and pigs is evidenced along with the presence of dogs. Almost without exception, images of what Marija Gimbutas interpreted as Mother Goddesses have been discovered in all of these cultures.[2]
[edit]Old
Europe
James Frazer (author of The Golden Bough) and others (such as Jane Ellen Harrison, Robert Graves and Marija Gimbutas) advance the idea that goddess worship in ancient Europe and the Aegean was descended from Pre-Indo-European neolithic matriarchies. Gimbutas argued that the thousands of female images from Old Europe (archaeology) represented a number of different groups of goddess symbolism, notably a "bird and snake" group associated with water, an "earth mother" group associated with birth, and a "stiff nude" group associated with death, as well as other groups. [3] Gimbutas maintained that the "earth mother" group continues the paleolithic figural tradition discussed above, and that traces of these figural traditions may be found in goddesses of the historical period.[4] According to Gimbutas' Kurgan Hypothesis, Old European cultures were disrupted by expansion of Indo-European speakers from southern Siberia. In 1968 the archaeologist Peter Ucko proposed that the many images found in graves and archaeological sites of Neolithic cultures were toys.[5] The graves he was describing dated from Predynastic Egypt and Neolithic Crete, and mostly, contained adults, however.[citation needed]
[edit]Examples [edit]Egyptian
Dendera Temple, showingHathor on the capitals of a column
Statuette of MutA late representation (c. 664-525) of one of Egypt's earliest mother goddesses
Mother goddesses are present in the earliest images discovered among the archaeological finds in Ancient Egypt. An association is drawn to the early goddesses of Egypt with animals seen as good mothers the lioness, cow, hippopotamus, white vulture, cobra,scorpion, and catas well as, to the lifegiving primordial waters, the sun, the night sky, and the earth herself. Even through the transition to a paired pantheon of male deities matched or "married" to each goddess and during the male-deity-dominated pantheon that arose much later, the mother goddesses persisted into historical times (such as Hathor and Isis). Advice from the oracles associated with these goddesses guided the rulers of Egypt. The Two Ladies, Wadjet and Nekhbet, remained patron deities of the rulers of Ancient Egypt throughout every dynasty, including that of Akhenaten (who often is described as having abandoned all but one solar deity), and they all bore their images on their crowns and included special names associated with these goddesses among their titles. The image of Isis nursing her son was worshiped into the sixth century A.D. and has been resurrected by contemporary "cults" of an Earth Mother. That imagery may have been adopted by early Christians as well.
A figure often interpreted as a depiction of a mother goddess from Samarra, ca 6000 BCE (Louvre Museum)
[edit]Indigenous
people of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Andes worship the fertility goddess Pachamama. In Inca mythology, Pachamama presides over planting and harvesting and she causes earthquakes. After conquest by Catholic Spain her image was masked by the Virgin Mary, behind whom she is invoked and worshiped in the Aboriginal rituals in some parts of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru.[6] The religion centered in the Pachamama is practiced currently in parallel form to Christianity, to the point that many families are simultaneously Christian and Pachamamistas.[7] Pachamama is sometimes syncretized the Virgin of Candelaria, [8] of the Canary Islands. Chaxiraxi is the native sun goddess of the Guanche religion and associated with statues of a mother and child dated to before exploration by Europeans. The imagery and concepts may have been introduced to South American and Caribbean cultures by emigrants from there. The mother goddess figure they worship often is syncretised with the Yoruba goddess called by the names Iansan and Oyas. The Hopi people of North America (Turtle Island), Arizona, USA, refer to the Earth as Tuuwaqatsi-Earth Mother. According to the knowledge they have carefully preserved down the ages, the Earth is our "Land and our Life," which is remembered in their first law: Tutskwa I'qatsi - Land and Life are one. The GoddessEarth has a male counterpart representing the inner life or core of the Earth. This inner life-soul-mind-womb is sometimes referred to as Maski, or spirit-home, the place where people go following death. This place is sometimes referred to as the "underworld."
[edit]Aztec
In Aztec mythology, Toci is the "Mother of the Gods". She is often associated with Tlazolteotl, a central Mesoamerican goddess of both purification and filth, healing, and midwifery.
[edit]Sumerian
and Mesopotamian
Ninsun is the Mother Goddess in general Mesopotamian mythology. She is Asherah in Canaan and `Ashtart in Syria. The Sumerians wrote erotic poetry about their mother goddess Ninhursag.[9]
[edit]Anatolia
Seated Woman of atalhyk
Numerous female figurines from Neolithic atalhyk in Anatolia have been interpreted as evidence of a mother-goddess cult, c.7500 BC. James Mellaart, who led excavation at the site in the 1960s, suggests that the figures represent a Great goddess, who headed the pantheon of an essentially matriarchal culture. A seated female figure, flanked by what Mellart describes as lionesses, was found in a grain-bin; she may have intended to protect the harvest and grain.[10][11] Reports of more recent excavations at atalhyk conclude that overall, the site offers no unequivocal evidence of matriarchal culture or a dominant Great Goddess; the balance of male and female power appears to have been equal.[12][13] The seated or enthroned goddess-like figure flanked by lionesses, has been suggested as a prototype Cybele, a leading deity and Mother Goddess of later Anatolian states.
[edit]Cucuteni-Trypillian
culture
From 5500 to 2750 BC the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture flourished in the region of modernday Romania, Moldova, and southwestern Ukraine, leaving behind ruins of settlements of as many as 15,000 residents who practiced agriculture and domesticated livestock. They also left behind many ceramic remains of pottery and clay figurines. Some of these figurines appear to represent the mother goddess (see images in this article).
[edit]Greek
Cybele
Rhea
Juno
In the Aegean, Anatolian, and ancient Near Eastern culture zones, Cybele, the primordial deity Gaia, and Rhea were worshiped as Mother goddesses. In Mycenae the great goddess often was represented by a column.[citation needed] Olympian goddesses of classical Greece with mother goddess attributes include Hera and Demeter. "The goddesses of Greek polytheism, so different and complementary, are nonetheless, consistently similar at an earlier stage, with one or the other simply becoming dominant in a sanctuary or city. Each is the Great
Goddess presiding over a male society; each is depicted in her attire as Mistress of the Beasts, and Mistress of the Sacrifice, even Hera and Demeter"[14] The Minoan goddess represented in seals and other remains many of whose attributes were absorbed into Artemis, seems to have been a mother goddess type, for in some representations she suckles the animals that she holds.[citation needed] The archaic local goddess worshiped at Ephesus, whose cult statue was adorned with necklaces and stomachers hung with rounded protuberances by Hellenes with Artemis, was probably also a mother goddess.[citation needed]
[15]
who was later also identified
[edit]Roman
In ancient Roman religion, Tellus or Terra Mater ("Mother Earth") was a goddess of the earth and agriculture. Her festivals and rituals often connected her to Ceres, goddess of grain, agriculture, fertility, and mothering.[16] Venus was regarded as a mother of the Roman people through her half-mortal son Aeneas, who led refugees from the Trojan War to settle in Italy. The family of Julius Caesar claimed to have descended from Aeneas, and hence Venus. In this capacity she was given cult as Venus Genetrix (Venus the Begetter). In the later Imperial era, she was included among the many manifestations of a syncretised Magna Dea (Great Goddess), who could be manifested as any goddess at the head of a pantheon, such as Juno or Minerva.
[edit]Celtic
The Irish goddess Anu, sometimes known as Danu, has an impact as a mother goddess, judging from the D Chch Anann near Killarney, County Kerry. Irish literature names the last and most favored generation of deities as "the people of Danu" (Tuatha De Danann). The Welsh have a similar figure called Dn who is often equated with Danu and identified as a mother goddess. Sources for this character date from the Christian period, however, so she is referred to simply as a "mother of heroes" in theMabinogion. The character's (assumed) origins as a goddess are obscured. The Celts of Gaul worshipped a goddess known as Dea Matrona ("divine mother goddess") who was associated with the Marne River. Similar figures known as theMatres (Latin for "mothers") are found on altars in Celtic as well as Germanic areas of Europe.
[edit]Germanic
In the first century BC, Tacitus recorded rites amongst the Germanic tribes focused on the goddess Nerthus, whom he calls Terra Mater, 'Mother Earth'. Prominent in these rites was the procession of the goddess in a wheeled vehicle through the countryside. Among the seven or eight tribes said to worship her, Tacitus lists the Anglii and theLongobardi.[17] Among the later Anglo-Saxons, a Christianized charm known as cerbot survives from records from the tenth century. The charm involves a procession through the fields while calling upon the Christian God for a good harvest, that invokes 'eoran modor' (Earth Mother) and 'folde, fira modor,' (Earth, mother of men).
In skaldic poetry, the kenning, "Odin's wife", is a common designation for the Earth. Bynames of the Earth in Icelandic poetry include Jr, Fjrgyn, Hlyn, and Hln. Hln is used as a byname of both Jr and Frigg. Fjrgynn (a masculine form of Fjrgyn) is said to be Frigg's father, while the name Hlyn is most commonly linked to Frau Holle, as well as to a goddess, Hludana, whose name is found etched in several votive inscriptions from the Roman era.[18] Connections have been proposed between the figure of Nerthus and various figures (particularly figures counted amongst the Vanir) recorded in thirteenth century Icelandic records of Norse mythology, including Frigg. Due to potential etymological connections, the Norse god Njrr has been proposed as the consort of Nerthus.[19] In the Poetic Edda poem, Lokasenna, Njrr is said to have fathered his famous children by his own sister. This sister remains unnamed in surviving records. Due to specific terms used to describe the figure of Grendel's mother from the poem Beowulf, some scholars have proposed that the figure of Grendel's mother, like the poem itself, may have derived from earlier traditions originating from Germanic paganism.
[edit]Turkic
Siberians
Yer Tanr is the mother of Umai, also known as Ymai or Mai, the mother goddess of the Turkic Siberians. She is depicted as having sixty golden tresses, that resemble the rays of the sun. She is thought to have once been identical with Ot of the Mongols.
[edit]Hinduism
Goddess Durga is seen as the supreme mother goddess by Hindus
In Hinduism, Durga represents the empowering and protective nature of motherhood. From her forehead sprang Kali, who defeated Durga's enemy,Mahishasura. Kali (the feminine form of Kaal" i.e. "time") is the primordial energy as power of Time, literally, the "creator or doer of time" -- her first manifestation. after time, she manifests as "space", as Tara, from which point further creation of the material universe
progresses. The divine Mother, Devi Adi parashakti, manifests herself in various forms, representing the universal creative force. She becomes Mother Nature (Mula Prakriti), who gives birth to all life forms as plants, animals, and such from Herself, and she sustains and nourishes them through her body, that is the earth with its animal life, vegetation, and minerals. Ultimately she re-absorbs all life forms back into herself, or "devours" them to sustain herself as the power of death feeding on life to produce new life. She also gives rise to Maya (the illusory world) and to prakriti, the force that galvanizes the divine ground of existence into self-projection as the cosmos. The Earth itself is manifested by Parvati, Durga's previous incarnation. Hindu worship of the divine Mother can be traced back to pre-vedic, prehistoric India.
[edit]Shaktism
The form of Hinduism known as Shaktism is strongly associated with Samkhya, and Tantra Hindu philosophies and ultimately, is monist. The primordial feminine creative-preservative-destructive energy, Shakti, is considered to be the motive force behind all action and existence in the phenomenal cosmos. The cosmos itself is Shiva or purusha, the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality that is the Divine Ground of all being, the "world soul". This masculine potential is actualized by feminine dynamism, embodied in multitudinous goddesses who are ultimately all manifestations of the One Great Mother. Mother Maya or Shakti, herself, can free the individual from demons of ego, ignorance, and desire that bind the soul in maya (illusion). Practitioners of theTantric tradition focus on Shakti to free themselves from the cycle of karma.
[edit]Christianity [edit]Depictions
in churches
Sheela na Gig at SS Mary and David's Church, Kilpeck, England
The Normans had a major influence on English Romanesque architecture when they built a large numbers of Christian monasteries, abbeys, churches, andcathedrals. These Romanesque styles originated in Normandy and became widespread in north western Europe, particularly in England, which has the largest number of surviving examples.
Sheela na Gig is a common stone carving found in Romanesque Christian churches scattered throughout Europe. These female figures are found in Ireland, Great Britain, France, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Belgium, and in the Czech Republic. Their meaning is not clearly identifiable as Christian, and may be a concept that survived from ancient forms of yoni worship and sacred prostitution practiced in the goddess temples. Some of the figures seem to be elements of earlier structures, perhaps devoted to goddess worship. Other common motifs on Christian churches of the same time period are spirals and ouroboros or dragons swallowing their tails, which is a reference to rebirth and regeneration, a concept well known in pantheism. Other creatures including the succubus make an appearance in the sculptural reliefs of the church that have a long history in the oral tradition of previous civilizations that preceded Christianity that may relate to earlier goddess worship.
[edit]Blessed
Virgin Mary
Main articles: Theotokos, Queen of Heaven, and Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic) Some Christians regard the Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Theotokos (or Mother of God) for many believers, as a "spiritual mother," since she not only fulfills a maternal role, but is often viewed as a protective and intercessory force, a divinely established mediator for humanity, but stress that she is not worshiped as a divine "mother goddess". The Roman Catholic, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches identify "the woman" described in Revelation 12 as Mary because in verse 5 this woman is said to have given "birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod", whom they identify as Jesus Christ. Then, in verse 17 of Revelation 12, the Bible describes "the rest of her offspring" as "those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus." These Christians believe themselves to be the other "offspring" because they try to "keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus," and thus, they embrace Mary as their "mother". They also cite John 19:2627 where Jesus entrusts his mother to the Apostle John as evidence that Mary is the mother of all Christians, taking the command "behold your mother" to apply generally. The Roman Catholics refer to her as, the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 300 A.D., the Blessed Virgin Mary was worshipped as a Mother Goddess in the Christian sect Collyridianism, which was found throughout Saudi Arabia. Collyridianism was made up mostly of women followers and female priests. Followers of Collyridianism were known to make bread and wheat offerings to the Virgin Mary, along with other sacrificial practices. The cult was heavily condemned as heretical and schismatic by the Roman Catholic Church and was preached against by Epiphanius of Salamis, who exposed the group in his recollective writings entitled, Panarion. As motherhood is a common recurring concept in all religions, The Blessed Virgin Mary receives many titles in the Roman Catholic Church, such as Queen of Heaven and Our Lady, Star of the Sea, that are familiar from earlier Near Eastern traditions. Due to this correlation, some Protestants often accuse Catholics of viewing Mary as a goddess, but the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox churches always have condemned "worship as adoration" of Mary. Part of this accusation is due to the Catholic practice of
prayer as a means of communication rather than as a means of worship. Catholics believe that the dead who followed their deity, have eternal life and can hear prayers in heaven from people here on earth. Concepts of Mother Goddess worshipped is heavily condemned by the Holy See as it had been suppressed and condemned among the Collyridianism sect in 300 A.D.
[edit]Mormonism
Main article: Heavenly Mother (Mormonism) Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) believe in, but do not worship, a Heavenly Mother, the wife and female counterpartand equal of the Heavenly Father.[20]This belief is not emphasized, however, and typically, adherents pray to the "Father in Heaven."
[edit]Neopaganism
Further information: Goddess (Wicca) The Mother Goddess, or Great Goddess, is a composite of various feminine deities from past and present world cultures, worshiped by modern Wicca and others broadly known as Neopagans. She is considered sometimes identified as a Triple Goddess, who takes the form of Maiden, Mother, and Crone archetypes. She is described as Mother Earth, Mother Nature, or the Creatress of all life. She is associated with the full moon and stars, the Earth, and the sea.
[edit]Earth
Mother
Earth Mother Pachamama rules over planting, harvesting, and earthquakes
The Earth Mother is a motif that appears in many mythologies. The Earth Mother is a fertile goddess embodying the fertile earth and typically, the mother of other deities, and so, also are seen as patronesses of motherhood. This is generally thought of as being because the earth was seen as being the mother from whom all life sprang. The Rigveda calls the deity, Mahimata (R.V. 1.164.33), a term which literally means Great Mother.
In South America, contemporary Andean Indian peoples such as the Quechua and Aymara believe in the Mother Earth Pachamama, whose worship cult is found in rural areas and towns at Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Northern Chile and Northwestern Argentina. Andean migrants carried the Pachamama cult to cities and many other extra-Andean places, including metropolitan Buenos Aires.
[edit]In
various cultures
The idea that the fertile earth is female and nurtures humans, was not limited to the Greco-Roman world. These traditions were greatly influenced by earlier cultures in the ancient Middle East. In Sumerian mythology Ki is the earth goddess. In Akkadian orthography she has the syllabic valuesgi,ge,qi,qe (for toponyms). Some scholars identify her with Ninhursag (lady of the mountains), the earth and fertility Mother Goddess, who had the surnames Nintu (lady of birth), Mamma, and Aruru.[21] An Egyptian earth and fertility deity, Geb, was male and he was considered father of all snakes, however, the mound from which all life was created by parthenogenesis, represents Mut, the primal "mother of all who was not born of any". She is the more appropriate figure to discuss as the mother goddess in Ancient Egyptian religion. The number of Egyptian goddesses who are depicted as important mother deities is numerous because of regional cults of many very early cultures and a major unification of two ancient countries into one, whose written history only begins at approximately 3150 B.C. It is estimated that the some early cultures that eventually became parts of Ancient Egypt date back to 8000 B.C. and that human occupation of the Nile Valley by modern hunter gatherer societies dates back 120 thousand years. The title "The mother of life" later was given to the Akkadian Goddess Kubau, and hence to Hurrian Hepa, emerging in Hebrew as Eve (Heva) and Phygian Kubala (Cybele). In Norse mythology the earth is personified as Jr, Hlyn, and Fjrgyn and Fjrgynn. In Germanic paganism, the Earth Goddess is referred to as Nertha.[22] The Irish Celts worshipped Danu, whilst the Welsh Celts worshipped Dn. Hints of their names occur throughout Europe, such as the Don river, the Danube River, the Dnestr, and the Dnepr, suggest that they stemmed from an ancient Proto-Indo-European goddess.[23] In Lithuanian mythology Gaia - em (Lithuanian for "Earth") is daughter of Sun and Moon. Also she is wife of Dangus (Lithuanian for "Sky") (Varuna). In Pacific cultures, the Earth Mother was known under as many names and with as many attributes as cultures who revered her, such as the Mori, whose creation myth included Papatuanuku, partner to Ranginui, the Sky Father. In South America in the Andes a cult of the Pachamama still survives (in regions of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, and Chile). The name comes from Pacha (Quechua for change, epoch) and Mama (mother). While ancient Mexican cultures referred to Mother Earth as Tonantzin Tlalli that means "Revered Mother Earth". In Hinduism, the Mother of all creation is called "Gayatri". Gayatri is the name of one of the most important Vedic hymns consisting of twenty-four syllables. One of the sacred texts says, "The Gayatri is Brahma, Gayatri is Vishnu, Gayatri is Shiva, the Gayatri is Vedas" and Gayatri later came to be personified as a goddess. She is shown as having five heads and is usually seated within a lotus. The four heads of Gayatri
represent the four Vedas and the fifth one represents the almighty deity. In her ten hands, she holds all the symbols of Lord Vishnu. She is another consort of Lord Brahma. In Hinduism and Buddhism the specific local indwelling mother deity of Earth (as opposed to the mother deity of all creation) is called Bhmi. Gautama Buddha called upon Bhumi as his witness when he achieved Enlightenment. Phra Mae Thorani is recognized as the Goddess of the earth in Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries. Only in late Egyptian Mythology does the reverse seem true - Geb is the Earth Father while Nut is the Sky Mother, but the primordial and great goddess of Egypt was Mut, the source of all life and the mother of all. The mound of earth from which life sprang was Mut. In Theosophy, the Earth Goddess is called the "Planetary Logos of Earth". In Wicca, the Earth Goddess is sometimes called Gaia.[24] The name of the Mother Goddess varies depending on the Wiccan tradition. Carl Gustav Jung suggested that the archetypal mother was a part of the collective unconscious of all humans, and various Jungian students, e.g. Erich Neumann and Ernst Whitmont have argued that such mother imagery underpins many mythologies, and precedes the image of the paternal "father", in such religious systems. Such speculations help explain the universality of such mother goddess imagery around the world. The Upper Paleolithic Venus figurines have been sometimes explained as depictions of an Earth Goddess similar to Gaia. [25] In Native American Indian storytelling, "The Earth Goddess", is one of several Creator-based titles and names given to the Spider Grandmother. In ancient Hawaii, Nuakea was a mother goddess of lactation.
[edit]In
fiction
In Gore Vidal's ironic dystopia, "Messiah", a new death-worshiping religion sweeps the world and wipes out Christianity. Yet at the conclusion of the book, a woman named Iris, who was among the new religion's founders, starts to be worshiped as a new manifestation of the Mother Goddess, although there was no such concept when the religion was founded. Vidal's point was clearly to show that worship of the Mother Goddess is an immemorial institute and it would find a manifestation within whatever religion emerges. In Robert Graves' 1949 novel, Seven Days in New Crete, a mother goddess is central to the religion of a quasi-matriarchal future society. The Mother Goddess is referred to throughout the novel, The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
In the 2009 movie, Avatar, the indigenous species at the center of the drama, the Na'vi, worship a mother goddess called Eywa. In the 2009 video game, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, a goddess known as Mem Aleph wishes to restore the Earth to its ancient worship of mother goddesses, and is opposed by the patriarchal Law faction. In the universe of Warhammer 40000, there is the cult of the Great Sky Mother. The problem is that this cult worships an intergalactic Hive mind. And the name that the rest of the inhabitants of the galaxy give to this cult is genestealer cult.
[edit]See
also
A statue of Isis nursing Horus, housed in the Louvre
Ananke Aphrodite Brigid Cybele
Devi Durga Freyja Hecate Ishtar Kali Kamakhya Laxmi Mut Nerthus Ops Potnia Theron Radha Rhea Shakti Tawaret Yashoda Breast shaped hill atalhyk Dodona Father God God (male deity) God and gender Goddess Goddess movement Mother Petrosomatoglyph Shitala Devi Sky father The Hebrew Goddess, by Raphael Patai The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory Thealogy When God Was a Woman, by Merlin Stone
[edit]Notes
1. 2.
^ Venus of Willendorf Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe, 2003 ^ Marija Gimbutas (1982) The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe: Myths and Cult Images. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-04655-9
3. 4.
^ Marija Gimbutas (1989) The Language of the Goddess. Harpercollins. ISBN 0-06-250356-1 ^ Marija Gimbutas (2001) The Living Goddesses. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-52022915-0
5. 6.
^ Peter Ucko (1968) Anthropomorphic Figurines of Predynastic Egypt and Neolithic Crete ^ Merlino, Rodolfo y Mario Rabey (1992). "Resistencia y hegemona: Cultos locales y religin centralizada en los Andes del Sur". Allpanchis (40): 173200.(Spanish)
7.
^ Merlino, Rodolfo y Mario Rabey (1983). "Pastores del Altiplano Andino Meridional: Religiosidad, Territorio y Equilibrio Ecolgico". Allpanchis (Cusco, Per) (21): 149171.(Spanish)
8.
^ Manuel Paredes Izaguirre. "COSMOVISION Y RELIGIOSIDAD EN LA FESTIVIDAD". Retrieved 2010-02-15.(Spanish)
9.
^ Leick, Gwendolyn (2003). Sex, Love, & Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature, Routledge
10. ^ Mellaart, James (1967). Catal Huyuk: A Neolithic Town in Anatolia. McGraw-Hill. p. 181. 11. ^ Mellaart (1967), 180. 12. ^ Hodder, Ian (2005). "New finds and new interpretations at atalhyk". atalhyk 2005 Archive Report. Catalhoyuk Research Project, Institute of Archaeology. 13. ^ Hodder, Ian (2008-01-17). "A Journey to 9000 years ago". Archived from the original on 2008-05-23. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 14. ^ Walter Burkert, Homo Necans (1972) 1983:79f 15. ^ The description of them as multiple breasts or bull testicles seem mistaken: see Temple of Artemis. 16. ^ Spaeth, Barbette Stanley, The Roman goddess Ceres, University of Texas Press, 1996, p. 34ff.googlebooks preview 17. ^ Germania, ch. 40. 18. ^ Simek, Rudolf (1984), Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 9780859915137 19. ^ Davidson, Hilda R. Ellis. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (1964) ISBN 0-14-013627-4 20. ^ Smith, Joseph F. (1909). Man: Origin and Destiny. pp. 348355. 21. ^ Stephanie, Dalley (1989). Myths from Mesopotamia. Oxford University Press. p. 326 ISBN 978-0-19283589-5 22. ^ "Nerthus, Strength of the Earth" by Diana L. Paxson Sage Woman magazine Issue 79 Autumn 2010 Connecting to Gaia Pages 35-42 23. ^ Indo-European scholars at sybalist suggest *Don may come from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "Swift" as applied to the flowing rivers mentioned 24. ^ "Sage Woman" magazine Issue 79 Autumn 2010--special issue "Connecting to Gaia"
25. ^ Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe, "Women in the Stone Age," in the essay, "The Venus of Willendorf" (accessed March 13, 2008)
[edit]Further
reading
Marija Gimbutas (1989). The Language of the Goddess. Harpercollins. ISBN 0-06-250356-1 Marija Gimbutas (1991). The Civilization of the Goddess. San Francisco: Harper. ISBN 0-06-250337-5. Neumann, Erich (1991). The Great Mother. Bollingen; Repr/7th edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. ISBN 0-691-01780-8.
J.F. del Giorgio (2006). The Oldest Europeans. A.J. Place. ISBN 980-6898-00-1 Goldin, Paul R. (2002). "On the Meaning of the Name Xi wangmu, Spirit-Mother of the West." Paul R. Goldin. Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 122, No. 1/JanuaryMarch 2002, pp. 8385.
Prof. P.C. Jain (2004). "Conception and Evolution of The Mother Goddess in India." Knauer, Elfried R. (2006). "The Queen Mother of the West: A Study of the Influence of Western Prototypes on the Iconography of the Taoist Deity." In: Contact and Exchange in the Ancient World. Ed. Victor H. Mair. University of Hawai'i Press. Pp. 62115. ISBN ISBN 978-0-8248-2884-4; ISBN ISBN 0-8248-2884-4
James Mellaart (1976). The Neolithic of the Near East. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-684-14484-9 The Wikipedia article Kurgan hypothesis.
[edit]External
links
Reflections on Erta as named on the Franks Casket by Alfred Becker (PhD)
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Lamassu
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Human-headed winged bull, otherwise known as a edu from Khorsabad. University of Chicago Oriental Institute. Gypsum (?) Neo-Assyrian Period, ca. 721-705 B.C
A lamassu (Cuneiform: , AN.KAL; Sumerian: dlamma; Akkadian: lamassu), is a protective deity, often depicted with a bull or lion's body, eagle's wings, and human's head.[1] In some writings, it is portrayed to represent a female deity.[2][3] A less frequently used name is shedu (Cuneiform: , AN.KALBAD; Sumerian: dalad; Akkadian, du; Hebrew: )which refers to the male counterpart of a lamassu.[4] See the etymology section for a full explanation of the relationship of the names.
Contents
[hide]
1 Iconography
o o
1.1Etymology 1.2 Mythology
2 In fiction 3 See also 4 References 5 External links
[edit]Iconography
Cuneiform writing on the back of a Lamassu in the University of Chicago Oriental Institute.
In art, lamassu were depicted as hybrids, winged bulls or lions with the head of a human male. There are still surviving figures of lamassu in bas-reliefand some statues in museums, most notably in the British Museum in London, Muse du Louvre in Paris, National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad,Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Pergamon Museum in Berlin and the Oriental Institute, Chicago. They are generally attributed to the ancient Assyrians. The lamassu is at the opening of the city, so that everyone who enters sees it. From the front it appears to be standing and from the side walking. This was intentionally done to make it seem powerful. The lamassu in real life is very tall. In this case the lamassu is being used as a symbol of power.[5][6] The motif of a winged animal with a human head is common to the near east, first recorded in Ebla, around 3000 BCE. The first distinct lamassu motif appeared in Assyria during the reign of Tilgath Pilser. In a much later period, a winged lion appeared on the flag of the Republic of Venice; however, this refers to Saint Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of Venice. A winged bull with the head of a bearded man appears on the logo of United States Forces - Iraq in reference to Iraq's ancient past.
[edit]Etymology
Flag of the Republic of Venice
Although "lamassu" had a different iconography and portrayal in Sumerian culture, the terms lamassu, alad, and shedu were used to denote the Assyrian-winged-man-bull symbol and statues during the Neo-Assyrian empire. Female lamassus were called "apsas".[7] The motif of the Assyrianwinged-man-bull called Aladlammu and Lamassu interchangeably is not the lamassu or alad of Sumerian origin which were depicted with different iconography. These monumental statues were called aladlamm or lamassu which meant "protective spirit".[8]
[edit]Mythology
Lamassu at the Gate of all nations palace in Persepolis.
The lamassu is a celestial being from Mesopotamian mythology. Human above the waist and a bull below the waist, it also has the horns and the ears of a bull. It appears frequently in Mesopotamian art, sometimes with wings. The lamassu and shedu were household protective spirits of the common Babylonian people. Later during the Babylonian period they became the protectors of kings as well always placed at the entrance. Statues of the bull-man were often used as gatekeepers.[citation needed] The Akkadians associated the god Papsukkal with lamassu and the god Ium with shedu. To protect houses, the lamassu were engraved in clay tablets, which were then buried under the door's threshold. They were often placed as a pair at the entrance of palaces. At the entrance of cities, they were sculpted in colossal size, and placed as a pair, one at each side of the door of the city, that generally had doors in the surrounding wall, each one looking towards one of the cardinal points.
[edit]In
fiction
Lammasu and shedu are two distinct types of good-aligned creatures in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Lammasu also appear in the Magic: The Gathering trading card game as the white card Hunted Lammasu[9] in the Ravnica: City of Guilds expansion. A bull with a man's head is found among the creatures that make up Aslan's army in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He appears at the Stone Table, challenging the White Witch "with a great bellowing voice". In the film Alexander, Lamassu are seen at the Ishtar Gate in Babylon. In the Disney movie Aladdin, a gold Lamassu can be found in the scene where Aladdin and Abu enter the cave in the desert to find the lamp. In the Games Workshop miniatures wargame, Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Lamasu was a mount for the now discontinued Chaos Dwarf army. It has since returned as part of the Storm of Magic expansion release.
A Lammasu briefly appears in the Fablehaven series.
[edit]See
also
Mythology portal
Ancient Near East portal
Buraq Cherub Minotaur Sphinx Chimera
[edit]References
1. 2.
^ Livius.org ^ Beaulieu, Paul-Alain. The Pantheon of Uruk during the Neo-Babylonian Period. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
3. 4.
^ "The Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary". Retrieved 9 December 2010. ^ Black, Jeremy; Green, Anthony (2003). An Illustrated dictionary, Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia. The British Museum Press. ISBN 0-7141-1705-6.
5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
^ "History - Mesopotamia". BBC. ^ "Lamassu". ancientneaeast.net. ^ Livius.org ^ Livius.org ^ "Hunted Lammasu".
[edit]External
links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Shedu
Webpage about the du in the Louvre Museum (French)
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Cuneiform
This article is about the writing system. For other uses, see Cuneiform (disambiguation).
Cuneiform
Sumerian inscription in monumental archaic style, c. 26th century BC
Type
Logographic and syllabic
Languages Akkadian, Eblaite, Elamite, Hattic, Hittite, Hurrian,Luwian, Sumerian, Urartian
Time period
c. 30th century BC to 1st century AD
Parent systems
(Proto-writing)
Cuneiform
Child systems
none; apparently inspired Old Persian, influenced shape of Ugaritic
ISO 15924
Xsux, 020
Direction
Left-to-right
Unicode alias
Cuneiform
Unicode range
U+12000 to U+123FF (Sumero-Akkadian Cuneiform) U+12400 to U+1247F (Numbers)
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols.
This article contains special characters.Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols.
Cuneiform script[1] is one of the earliest known forms of written expression. Emerging in Sumer around the 30th century BC, with predecessors reaching into the late 4th millennium (the Uruk IV period), cuneiform writing began as a system of pictographs. In the three millennia the script spanned, the pictorial representations became simplified and more abstract as the number of characters in use also grew gradually smaller, from about 1,000 unique characters in the Early Bronze Age to about 400 unique characters in Late Bronze Age (Hittite cuneiform). The original Sumerian script was adapted for the writing of the Akkadian, Eblaite, Elamite, Hittite, Luwian, Hattic, Hurrian, and Urartianlanguages, and it inspired the Ugaritic and Old Persian alphabets. Cuneiform writing was gradually replaced by the Phoenician alphabetduring the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and by the 2nd century AD, the script had become extinct. Cuneiform documents were written on clay tablets, by means of a blunt reed for a stylus. The impressions left by the stylus were wedgeshaped, thus giving rise to the name cuneiform ("wedge shaped", from the Latin cuneus, meaning "wedge").
Contents
[hide]
1 History
o o o o o
1.1 Proto-literate period 1.2 Archaic cuneiform 1.3 Akkadian cuneiform 1.4 Assyrian cuneiform 1.5 Derived scripts
2 Decipherment 3 Transliteration 4 Syllabary 5 Sign inventories
5.1 Numerals
6 Unicode 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 Bibliography 11 External links
[edit]History
The cuneiform writing system was in use for more than 35 centuries, through several stages of development, from the 34th century BC down to the 1st century AD.[2] It was completely replaced by alphabetic writing (in the general sense) in the course of the Roman eraand there are no Cuneiform systems in current use. For this reason, it had to be deciphered from scratch in 19th century Assyriology. Successful completion of decipherment is dated to 1857. The system consists of a combination of logophonetic, consonantal alphabetic and syllabic signs. [3]
The cuneiform script underwent considerable changes over a period of more than two millennia. The image below shows the development of the sign SAG "head" (Borger nr. 184, U+12295
).
Stages: 1. shows the pictogram as it was drawn around 3000 BC
2. shows the rotated pictogram as written around 2800 BC 3. shows the abstracted glyph in archaic monumental inscriptions, from ca. 2600 BC 4. is the sign as written in clay, contemporary to stage 3 5. represents the late 3rd millennium 6. represents Old Assyrian ductus of the early 2nd millennium, as adopted into Hittite 7. is the simplified sign as written by Assyrian scribes in the early 1st millennium, and until the script's extinction. [edit]Proto-literate
period
The cuneiform script proper emerges out of pictographic proto-writing in the later 4th millennium. Mesopotamia's "proto-literate" period spans the 35th to 32nd centuries. The first documents unequivocally written in the Sumerian language date to the 31st century, found at Jemdet Nasr. Some ten millennia ago the Sumerians began using clay tokens to count their agricultural and manufactured goods. Later they began placing the tokens in large, hollow, clay containers (bulla)which were sealed; the quantity of tokens in each container came to be expressed by impressing, on the container's surface, one picture for each instance of the token inside. They next dispensed with the tokens, relying solely on symbols for the tokens, drawn on clay surfaces. To avoid making a picture for each instance of the same object (for example: 100 pictures of a hat to represent 100 hats), they 'counted' the objects by using various small marks. In this way the Sumerians added "a system for enumerating objects to their incipient system of symbols". Thus writing began, during the Uruk period c. 3300 BC.[3] Originally, pictograms were either drawn on clay tablets in vertical columns with a pen made from a sharpened reed stylus, or incised in stone. This early style lacked the characteristic wedge shape of the strokes. Certain signs to indicate names of gods, countries, cities, vessels, birds, trees, etc., are known as determinants, and were the Sumerian signs of the terms in question, added as a guide for the reader. Proper names continued to be usually written in purely "logographic" fashion. From about 2900 BC, many pictographs began to lose their original function, and a given sign could have various meanings depending on context. The sign inventory was reduced from some 1,500 signs to some 600 signs, and writing became increasingly phonological. Determinative signs were re-introduced to avoid ambiguity. This process is chronologically parallel to, and possibly not independent of, [citation needed] the development of Egyptian hieroglyphic orthography.
[edit]Archaic
cuneiform
Further information: Liste der archaischen Keilschriftzeichen
Letter sent by the high-priest Lu'enna to the king of Lagash (maybe Urukagina), informing him of his son's death in combat, c.2400 BC, found in Telloh (ancient Girsu).
In the mid-3rd millennium BC, writing direction was changed to left to right in horizontal rows (rotating all of the pictograms 90 counter-clockwise in the process), and a new wedge-tipped stylus was used which was pushed into the clay, producing wedge-shaped ("cuneiform") signs; these two developments made writing quicker and easier. By adjusting the relative position of the tablet to the stylus, the writer could use a single tool to make a variety of impressions. Cuneiform tablets could be fired in kilns to provide a permanent record, or they could be recycled if permanence was not needed. Many of the clay tablets found by archaeologists were preserved because they were fired when attacking armies burned the building in which they were kept. The script was also widely used on commemorative stelae and carved reliefs to record the achievements of the ruler in whose honour the monument had been erected. The spoken language consisted of many similar sounds and in the beginning the words "Life" [ti] and "Arrow" [til] were described in writing by the same symbol. After the Semites conquered Southern Mesopotamia, some signs gradually changed from being pictograms to syllabograms, most likely to make things clearer in writing. In that way the sign for the word "Arrow" would become the sign for the sound "ti". If a sound would represent many different words the words would all have different signs, for instance the syllable "gu" had fourteen different symbols. When the words had similar meaning but very different sounds they were written with the same symbol. For instance "tooth" [zu], "mouth" [ka] and "voice" [gu] were all written with the symbol for "voice". To be more accurate they started adding to signs or combine two signs to define the meaning. They used either geometrical patterns or another cuneiform sign.[3] As time went by the cuneiform got very complex and the distinction between a pictogram and syllabogram became vague. Several symbols had too many meanings to permit clarity. Therefore, symbols were put together to indicate both the sound and the meaning of compound. The word "Raven" [UGA] had the same logogram as the words "soap" [NAGA] "name of a city" [ERESH] and "the patron goddess of Eresh" [NISABA]. Two phonetic complements were used to define the word [u] in front of the symbol and [gu] behind. Finally the symbol for "bird" [MUSHEN] was added to ensure proper interpretation. The written part
of the Sumerian language was used as a learned written language until the 1st century AD. The spoken language died out around the 18th century BC.[3]
[edit]Akkadian
cuneiform
A list of Sumerian deities, ca. 2400 BC
The archaic cuneiform script was adopted by the Akkadians from ca. 2500 BC, and by 2000 BC had evolved into Old Assyrian cuneiform, with many modifications to Sumerian orthography. The Semitic equivalents for many signs became distorted or abbreviated to form new "phonetic" values, because the syllabic nature of the script as refined by the Sumerians was unintuitive to Semitic speakers. At this stage, the former pictograms were reduced to a high level of abstraction, and were composed of only five basic wedge shapes: horizontal, vertical, two diagonals and the Winkelhaken impressed vertically by the tip of the stylus. The signs exemplary of these basic wedges are
A (B001, U+12038) : horizontal; DI (B748, U+12079) : vertical; GE23, DI ten (B575, U+12039) : downward diagonal; GE22 (B647, U+1203A) : upward diagonal; U (B661, U+1230B) : the Winkelhaken.
Except for the Winkelhaken which is tail-less, the length of the wedges' tails could vary as required for sign composition. Signs tilted by (ca.) 45 degrees are called ten in Akkadian, thus DI is a vertical wedge and DI ten a diagonal one. Signs modified with additional wedges are called gun, and signs crosshatched with additional Winkelhaken are called eig.
Cuneiform tablet from the Kirkor Minassian collection in the US Library of Congress, ca. 24th century BC.
One of the Amarna letters, 14th century BC.
Neo-Assyrian ligature KAxGUR7 (); the KA sign () was a Sumerian compound marker, and appears frequently in ligatures enclosing other signs. GUR7 is itself a ligature of SG.A.ME.U, meaning "to pile up; grain-heap" (Akkadian kamru; kar).
"Typical" signs have usually in the range of about five to ten wedges, while complex ligatures can consist of twenty or more (although it is not always clear if a ligature should be considered a single sign or two collated but still distinct signs); the ligature KAxGUR7 consists of 31 strokes. Most later adaptations of Sumerian cuneiform preserved at least some aspects of the Sumerian script. Written Akkadian included phonetic symbols from the Sumerian syllabary, together with logograms that were read as whole words. Many signs in the script were polyvalent, having both a syllabic and logographic meaning. The complexity of the system bears a resemblance to old Japanese, written in a Chinese-derived script, where some of these Sinograms were used as logograms, and others as phonetic characters.
[edit]Assyrian
cuneiform
This "mixed" method of writing continued through the end of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires, although there were periods when "purism" was in fashion and there was a more marked tendency to spell out the words laboriously, in preference to using signs with a phonetic complement. Yet even in those days, the Babylonian syllabary remained a mixture of logographic and phonemic writing. Hittite cuneiform is an adaptation of the Old Assyrian cuneiform of ca. 1800 BC to the Hittite language. When the cuneiform script was adapted to writing Hittite, a layer of Akkadian logographic spellings was added to the script, thus the pronunciations of many Hittite words which were conventionally written by logograms are now unknown. In the Iron Age (ca. 10th to 6th c. BC), Assyrian cuneiform was further simplified. From the 6th century, the Assyrian language was marginalized by Aramaic, written in the Aramaean alphabet, but Neo-Assyrian cuneiform remained in use in literary tradition well into Parthian times ( 250 BC-226 AD ). The last known cuneiform inscription, an astronomical text, was written in 75 AD.[4]
[edit]Derived
scripts
The complexity of the system prompted the development of a number of simplified versions of the script. Old Persian was written in a subset of simplified cuneiform characters known today as Old Persian cuneiform. It formed a semi-alphabetic syllabary, using far fewer wedge strokes than Assyrian used, together with a handful of logograms for frequently occurring words like "god" and "king". The Ugaritic language was written using theUgaritic alphabet, a standard Semitic style alphabet (an abjad) written using the cuneiform method.
[edit]Decipherment
For centuries, travellers to Persepolis, in modern-day Iran, had noticed carved cuneiform inscriptions and were intrigued.[5] Attempts at deciphering these Old Persian writings date back toArabic/Persian historians of the medieval Islamic world, though these early attempts at decipherment were largely unsuccessful.[6] In the 15th century the Venetian Barbero explored the ancient ruins of Middle East and came back with news of a very odd writing he had found carved on the stones in the temples of Shiraz and on many clay tablets. In 1625 the Roman traveler Pietro Della Valle, coming back from Mesopotamia and Persia, brought back a tablet written in cuneiform glyphs he had found in Ur, and also the copy of five characters he had seen in Persepolis. Della Valle understood that the writing had to be read from left to right, following the direction of wedges. However he didn't attempt to decipher the scripts. Englishman Sir Thomas Herbert, in the 1634 edition of his travel book A relation of some yeares travaile, reported seeing at Persepolis carved on the wall a dozen lines of strange charactersconsisting of figures, obelisk, triangular, and pyramidal and thought they resembled Greek. In the 1664 edition he reproduced some and thought they were legible and intelligible and therefore decipherable. He also guessed, correctly, that they represented not letters or hieroglyphics but words and syllables, and were to be read from left to right.[5] Herbert is rarely mentioned in standard histories of the decipherment of cuneiform. Carsten Niebuhr brought the first reasonably complete and accurate copies of the inscriptions at Persepolis to Europe.[5] Bishop Frederic Munter of Copenhagen discovered that the words in the Persian inscriptions were divided from one another by an oblique wedge and that the monuments must belong to the age of Cyrus and his successors. One word, which occurs without any variation towards the beginning of each inscription, he correctly inferred to signify "king".[5] By 1802 Georg Friedrich Grotefend had determined that two king's names mentioned were Darius andXerxes, and had been able to assign alphabetic values to the cuneiform characters which composed the two names.[7][nb 1][5] In 1836, the eminent French scholar, Eugne Burnouf discovered that the first of the inscriptions published by Niebuhr contained a list of the satrapies of Darius. With this clue in his hand, he identified and published an alphabet of thirty letters, most of which he had correctly deciphered.[5][8][9] A month earlier, Burnouf's friend and pupil, Professor Christian Lassen of Bonn, had also published a work on "The Old Persian Cuneiform Inscriptions of Persepolis".[9][10] He and Burnouf had been in frequent correspondence, and his claim to have independently detected the names of the satrapies, and thereby to have fixed the values of the Persian characters, was in consequence fiercely attacked. According to Sayce, whatever his obligations to Burnouf may have been, Lassen's "contributions to the decipherment of the inscriptions were numerous and important. He succeeded in fixing the true values of nearly all the letters in
the Persian alphabet, in translating the texts, and in proving that the language of them was not Zend, but stood to both Zend andSanskrit in the relation of a sister".[5] Meanwhile, in 1835 Henry Rawlinson, a British East India Company army officer, visited the Behistun Inscriptions in Persia. Carved in the reign of King Darius of Persia (522486 BC), they consisted of identical texts in the three official languages of the empire: Old Persian, Mesopotamian Aramaic, and Elamite. The Behistun inscription was to the decipherment of cuneiform what theRosetta Stone was to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs.[11] Rawlinson correctly deduced that the Old Persian was a phonetic script and he successfully deciphered it. In 1837 he finished his copy of the Behistun inscription, and sent a translation of its opening paragraphs to the Royal Asiatic Society. Before his article could be published, however, the works of Lassen and Burnouf reached him, necessitating a revision of his article and the postponement of its publication. Then came other causes of delay. In 1847 the first part of the Rawlinson's Memoir was published; the second part did not appear till 1849.[12][nb 2] The task of deciphering the Persian cuneiform texts was virtually accomplished.[5] After translating the Persian, Rawlinson and, working independently of him, the Irish Assyriologist Edward Hincks, began to decipher the others. (The actual techniques used to decipher theAkkadian language have never been fully published; Hincks described how he sought the proper names already legible in the deciphered Persian while Rawlinson never said anything at all, leading some to speculate that he was secretly copying Hincks.[13]) They were greatly helped by Paul mile Botta's discovery of the city of Nineveh in 1842. Among the treasures uncovered by Botta were the remains of the great library of Assurbanipal, a royal archive containing tens of thousands of baked clay tablets covered with cuneiform inscriptions. By 1851, Hincks and Rawlinson could read 200 Babylonian signs. They were soon joined by two other decipherers: young German-born scholar Julius Oppert, and versatile British OrientalistWilliam Henry Fox Talbot. In 1857 the four men met in London and took part in a famous experiment to test the accuracy of their decipherments. Edwin Norris, the secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society, gave each of them a copy of a recently discovered inscription from the reign of the Assyrian emperor Tiglath-Pileser I. A jury of experts was empanelled to examine the resulting translations and assess their accuracy. In all essential points the translations produced by the four scholars were found to be in close agreement with one another. There were of course some slight discrepancies. The inexperienced Talbot had made a number of mistakes, and Oppert's translation contained a few doubtful passages which the jury politely ascribed to his unfamiliarity with the English language. But Hincks' and Rawlinson's versions corresponded remarkably closely in many respects. The jury declared itself satisfied, and the decipherment of Akkadian cuneiform was adjudged a fait accompli. In the early days of cuneiform decipherment, the reading of proper names presented the greatest difficulties. However, there is now a better understanding of the principles behind the formation and the pronunciation of the thousands of names found in historical records, business documents, votive
inscriptions and literary productions. The primary challenge was posed by the characteristic use of old Sumerian non-phonetic logograms in other languages that had different pronunciations for the same symbols. Until the exact phonetic reading of many names was determined through parallel passages or explanatory lists, scholars remained in doubt, or had recourse to conjectural or provisional readings. Fortunately, in many cases, there are variant readings, the same name being written phonetically (in whole or in part) in one instance, and logographically in another.
[edit]Transliteration
Extract from the Cyrus Cylinder (lines 1521), giving the genealogy of Cyrus the Great and an account of his capture of Babylon in 539 BC.
Cuneiform has a specific format for transliteration. Because of the script's polyvalence, transliteration requires certain choices of the transliterating scholar, who must decide in the case of each signal which of its several poseable meanings is intended in the original thing. For example, the signDINGIR in a Hittite text may represent either the Hittite syllable an or may be part of an Akkadian phrase, representing the syllable il, it may be aSumerogram, representing the original Sumerian meaning, 'god' or the determinative for a deity. In transliteration, a different rendition of the same glyph is chosen depending on its role in the present context. Therefore, a text containing DINGIR and MU in succession could be construed to represent the words "ana", "ila", god + "a" (the accusativeending), god + water, or a divine name "A" or Water. Someone transcribing the signs would make the decision how the signs should be read and assemble the signs as "ana", "ila", "Ila" ('god"+accusative case), etc. A transliteration of these signs, however, would separate the signs with dashes "il-a", "an-a", "DINGIR-a" or "Da". This is still easier to read than the original cuneiform, but now the reader is able to trace the sounds back to the original signs and determine if the correct decision was made on how to read them. A transliterated document thus presents both the reading preferred by the transliterating scholar as well as the opportunity to reconstruct the original text. There are differing conventions for transliterating Sumerian, Akkadian (Babylonian) and Hittite (and Luwian) cuneiform texts. One convention that sees wide use across the different fields is the use of acute and grave accents as an abbreviation for homophone disambiguation. Thus, u is equivalent to u1, the first glyph expressing phonetic u. An acute accent, , is equivalent to the second, u2, and a grave accent to the third, u3 glyph in the series (while the sequence of numbering is conventional but essentially arbitrary and
subject to the history of decipherment). In Sumerian transliteration, a multiplication sign 'x' is used to indicate ligatures. As shown above, signs as such are represented in capital letters, while the specific reading selected in the transliteration is represented in small letters. Thus, capital letters can be used to indicate a so-called Diri compound a sign sequence that has, in combination, a reading different from the sum of the individual constituent signs (for example, the compound IGI.A "water" + "eye" has the reading imhur, meaning "foam"). In a Diri compound, the individual signs are separated with dots in transliteration. Capital letters may also be used to indicate a Sumerogram (for example, KUG.BABBAR Sumerian for "silver" being used with the intended Akkadian reading kaspum, "silver"), an Akkadogram, or simply a sign sequence of whose reading the editor is uncertain. Naturally, the "real" reading, if it is clear, will be presented in small letters in the transliteration: IGI.A will be rendered as imhur4. Since the Sumerian language has only been widely known and studied by scholars for approximately a century, changes in the accepted reading of Sumerian names have occurred from time to time. Thus the name of a king of Ur, read Ur-Bau at one time, was later read as Ur-Engur, and is now read as UrNammu or Ur-Namma; for Lugal-zaggisi, a king of Uruk, some scholars continued to read (??? missing word here ???); and so forth. Also, with some names of the older period, there was often uncertainty whether their bearers were Sumerians or Semites. If the former, then their names could be assumed to be read as Sumerian, while, if they were Semites, the signs for writing their names were probably to be read according to their Semitic equivalents, though occasionally Semites might be encountered bearing genuine Sumerian names. There was also doubt whether the signs composing a Semite's name represented a phonetic reading or a logographic compound. Thus, e.g. when inscriptions of a Semitic ruler of Kish, whose name was written Uru-mu-ush, were first deciphered, that name was first taken to be logographic becauseuru mu-ush could be read as "he founded a city" in Sumerian, and scholars accordingly retranslated it back to the original Semitic as Alu-usharshid. It was later recognized that the URU sign can also be read as r and that the name is that of the Akkadian king Rimush.
[edit]Syllabary
The tables below show signs used for simple syllables of the form CV or VC. As used for the Sumerian language, the cuneiform script was in principle capable of distinguishing 14 consonants, transliterated as b, d, g, , k, l, m, n, p, r, s, , t, z as well as four vowel qualities, a, e, i, u. The Akkadian language needed to distinguish its emphatic series, q, , , adopting various "superfluous" Sumerian signs for the purpose (e.g. qe=KIN,qu=KUM, qi=KIN, a=ZA, e=Z, ur=DUR etc.[clarification needed]) Hittite as it adopted the Akkadian cuneiform further introduced signs for the glide w, e.g. wa=PI, wi5=GETIN) as well as a ligature I.A for ya.
-a
-e
-i
-u
a , ba , bb=PA , b=E
e , be=BAD , b=BI , b=NI de=DI , d , d=NE
i , =I bi , b=NE , b=PI
u , , bu , b=KASKAL , b=P du ,
da , dd=TA
di , d=T
d=TU , d=GAG , du4=TUM gu ,
gi , ga , gg ge=GI , g=KID , g=DI g=KID , g=DI , gi4 , gi5=KI
g , g=KA , gu4 , gu5=KU , gu6=NAG , gu7
a , =I.A , =U , a4=I ka , kk , k=GA la , ll=LAL , l=NU ma , mm ku , ke=KI , k=GI ki , k=GI k=GU7 , k , ku4 le=LI , l=NI me , li , l=NI mi , lu , l mu , m=SAR e=I , =GAN i , =GAN u
m=MI , m=MUNUS ,
m / na , nn , n=AG , na4 ("NI.UD") pa , pp=BA p=BI pe=PI , ne , n=NI
m=ME
ni , n=IM
nu , n=N
pi , p=BI , p=BAD ri , r=URU
pu=BU , p=TL , p ru , r=GAG , r=A su ,
ra , rr=DU sa , ss=DI , s=ZA , sa4 ("U.N") a , =NG ,
re=RI , r=URU
se=SI , s=ZI
si , s=ZI
s=ZU , s=SUD , su4
e , ,
u , i=IGI , =SI , = , u4=U ti , tu , t=UD , t=DU
ta , tt=DA
te , t=T
t , t=DIM , ti4=DI
za , zz=NA4
ze=ZI , z=Z
zi , z , z
zu , z=KA
a-
e-
i-
u-
a ,
e ,
i ,
u ,
=I
ab , -b b ad , -d d ag , -g g a , - =E -k ak=AG al , -l l=ALAM am /, -m m=G
eb=IB , b=TUM ed=
ib , b=TUM id= , d=A.ENGUR
ub , b= ud , d= ug
eg=IG , g=E e=A
ig , g=E i=A
u=A ,
ek=IG el , l=IL em=IM
ik=IG il , l im , m=KA4
uk=UG ul , l=NU um , m=UD un , n=U up=UB , p= ur , r us=UZ, s=U u , =BAD
en , -n an n, n=LI ap=AB ep=IB, p=TUM ar , -r r=UB as=AZ es=GI , s=E a , - = e /, er=IR
in , in4=EN , in5=NIN ip=IB , p=TUM ir , p=A.IGI is=GI , s=E i , =KASKAL
-p
-s
at=AD , -t t=GR gun
et=
it=
ut=UD , t=
-z
az
ez=GI , z=E
iz= GI , z=I
uz
z=U , z
[edit]Sign
inventories
See also: List of cuneiform signs
Cuneiform writing in Ur, southern Iraq
The Sumerian cuneiform script had on the order of 1,000 unique signs (or about 1,500 if variants are included). This number was reduced to about 600 by the 24th century BC and the beginning of Akkadian records. Not all Sumerian signs are used in Akkadian texts, and not all Akkadian signs are used in Hittite. Falkenstein (1936) lists 939 signs used in the earliest period (late Uruk, 34th to 31st centuries). With an emphasis on Sumerian forms, Deimel (1922) lists 870 signs used in the Early Dynastic II period (28th century, "LAK") and for the Early Dynastic IIIa period (26th century, "L"). Rosengarten (1967) lists 468 signs used in Sumerian (pre-Sargonian). Lagash and Mittermayer ("aBZL", 2006) list 480 Sumerian forms, written in Isin-Larsa and Old Babylonian times. Regarding Akkadianforms, the standard handbook for many years was Borger ("ABZ", 1981) with 598 signs used in Assyrian/Babylonian writing, recently superseded by Borger ("MesZL", 2004) with an expansion to 907 signs, an extension of their Sumerian readings and a new numbering scheme. Signs used in Hittite cuneiform are listed by Forrer (1922), Friedrich (1960) and the HZL (Rster and Neu 1989). The HZL lists a total of 375 signs, many with variants (for example, 12 variants are given for number 123 EGIR).
[edit]Numerals
Main article: Babylonian numerals
The Sumerians used a numerical system based on 1, 10 and 60. The way of writing a number like 70 would be the sign for 60 and the sign for 10 right after. This way of counting is still used today for measuring time as 60 seconds per minute and 60 minutes per hour.[3]
[edit]Unicode
Main article: Unicode cuneiform Unicode (as of version 6.0) assigns to the Cuneiform script the following ranges: U+12000U+123FF (879 assigned characters) "Sumero-Akkadian Cuneiform" U+12400U+1247F (103 assigned characters) "Cuneiform Numbers and Punctuation" The final proposal for Unicode encoding of the script was submitted by two cuneiform scholars working with an experienced Unicode proposal writer in June 2004.[14] The base character inventory is derived from the list of Ur III signs compiled by the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative of UCLA based on the inventories of Miguel Civil, Rykle Borger (2003), and Robert Englund. Rather than opting for a direct ordering by glyph shape and complexity, according to the numbering of an existing catalogue, the Unicode order of glyphs was based on the Latin alphabetic order of their "last" Sumerian transliteration as a practical approximation.
[edit]See
also
Ancient Near East portal
Elamite cuneiform Hittite cuneiform Journal of Cuneiform Studies List of cuneiform signs Old Persian cuneiform Ugaritic alphabet
[edit]Notes
1.
^ Although Grotefend's Memoir was presented to the Gottingen Academy on September 4, 1802, the Academy refused to publish it; it was subsequently published in Heeren's work in 1815.
2.
^ It seems that various parts of Rawlisons' paper formed Vol X of this journal. The final part III comprised chapters IV (Analysis of the Persian Inscriptions of Behistunand) and V (Copies and Translations of the Persian Cuneiform Inscriptions of Persepolis, Hamadan, and Van), pp. 187349.
[edit]References
1. 2. 3. 4.
/kjunifrm/ kew-NEE-i-form or /kjunfrm/ KEW-ni-form
^ Adkins 2003, p. 47. ^

a b c d e
Lo 2007.
^ Marckham Geller, "The Last Wedge," Zeitschrift fr Assyriologie und vorderasitische Archologie 86 (1997): 4395.
5. 6.
a b c d e f g h
Sayce 1908.
^ El Daly, Okasha (2004). Egyptology: The Missing Millennium : Ancient Egypt in Medieval Arabic Writings. Routledge. pp. 3940 & 65. ISBN 1-84472-063-2
7. 8. 9.
^ Heeren 1815. ^ Burnouf 1836 ^

a b
Pritchard 1844, p. 3031
10. ^ Lassen. 11. ^ Adkins 2003.

[full citation needed]
12. ^ Rawlinson 1847. 13. ^ Daniels 1996. 14. ^ http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n2786.pdf
[edit]Bibliography
Adkins, Lesley, Empires of the Plain: Henry Rawlinson and the Lost Languages of Babylon, New York, St. Martin's Press (2003) ISBN 0-312-33002-2
R. Borger, Assyrisch-Babylonische Zeichenliste, 2nd ed., Neukirchen-Vluyn (1981) Borger, Rykle (2004). Dietrich, M. Loretz, O.. ed. Mesopotamisches Zeichenlexikon. Alter Orient und Altes Testament. 305. Mnster: Ugarit Verlag. ISBN 3-927120-82-0.
Burnouf, E. (1836). "Mmoire sur deux Inscriptions Cuniformes trouves prs d'Hamadan et qui font partie des papiers du Dr Schulz", Impr. Roy, Paris.
Daniels, Peter; Bright, William (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press. p. 146. ISBN 0-19-507993-0.
A. Deimel (1922), Liste der archaischen Keilschriftzeichen ("LAK"), WVDOG 40, Berlin. A. Deimel (19251950), umerisches Lexikon, Pontificum Institutum Biblicum. F. Ellermeier, M. Studt, Sumerisches Glossar
vol. 1: 19791980, ISBN 3-921747-08-2, ISBN 3-921747-10-4 vol. 3.2: 19982005, A-B ISBN 3-921747-24-4, D-E ISBN 3-921747-25-2, G ISBN 3921747-29-5
vol. 3.3: ISBN 3-921747-22-8 (font CD ISBN 3-921747-23-6) vol. 3.5: ISBN 3-921747-26-0
vol 3.6: 2003, Handbuch Assur ISBN 3-921747-28-7
A. Falkenstein, Archaische Texte aus Uruk, Berlin-Leipzig (1936) E. Forrer, Die Keilschrift von Boghazki, Leipzig (1922) J. Friedrich, Hethitisches Keilschrift-Lesebuch, Heidelberg (1960) Jean-Jacques Glassner, The Invention of Cuneiform, English translation, Johns Hopkins University Press (2003), ISBN 0-8018-7389-4.
Hayes, John L. (2000). A Manual of Sumerian Grammar and Texts. Aids and Research Tools in Ancient Near Eastern Studies. 5 (2d ed.). Malibu: Undena Publications. ISBN 089003-197-5.
Heeren (1815) "Ideen ber die Politik, den Verkehr und den Handel der vornehmsten Volker der alten Welt", vol. i. pp. 563 seq., translated into English in 1833.
Kramer, Samuel Noah (1981). "Appendix B: The Origin of the Cuneiform Writing System". History Begins at Sumer: Thirty-Nine Firsts in Man's Recorded History (3d revised ed.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 381383. ISBN 0-81227812-7.
Ren Labat, Manuel d'epigraphie Akkadienne, Geuthner, Paris (1959); 6th ed., extended by Florence Malbran-Labat (1999), ISBN 2-7053-3583-8.
Lo, Lawrence (2007). "Sumerian". Retrieved June 5, 2009. Lassen, Christian. "Die Altpersischen Keil-Inschriften von Persepolis" Mittermayer, Catherine; Attinger, Pascal (2006). Altbabylonische Zeichenliste der Sumerisch-Literarischen Texte. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis. Special Edition. Academic Press Fribourg.ISBN 978-3-7278-1551-5.
O. Neugebauer, A. Sachs (eds.), Mathematical Cuneiform Texts, New Haven (1945). Patri, Sylvain (2009). Ladaptation des consonnes hittites dans certaines langues du XIIIe sicle. Zeitschrift fr Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archologie 99(1): 87126.
Pritchard, James Cowles (1844). "Researches Into the Physical History of Mankind", 3rd Ed., Vol IV, Sherwood, Gilbert and Piper, London
Rawlinson, Henry (1847) "The Persian Cuneiform Inscription at Behistun, decyphered and translated; with a Memoir on Persian Cuneiform Inscriptions in general, and on that of Behistun in Particular", The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol X.
Y. Rosengarten, Rpertoire comment des signes prsargoniques sumriens de Lagash, Paris (1967)
Chr. Rster, E. Neu, Hethitisches Zeichenlexikon (HZL), Wiesbaden (1989) Sayce, Rev. A. H. (1908). "The Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions", Second Edition-revised, 1908, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, Brighton, New York; at pp 916 Not in copyright
Nikolaus Schneider, Die Keilschriftzeichen der Wirtschaftsurkunden von Ur III nebst ihren charakteristischsten Schreibvarianten, Keilschrift-Palographie; Heft 2, Rom: Ppstliches Bibelinstitut (1935).
Wolfgang Schramm, Akkadische Logogramme, Goettinger Arbeitshefte zur Altorientalischen Literatur (GAAL) Heft 4, Goettingen (2003), ISBN 3-936297-01-0.
F. Thureau-Dangin, Recherches sur l'origine de l'criture cuniforme, Paris (1898). Ronald Herbert Sack, Cuneiform Documents from the Chaldean and Persian Periods, (1994) ISBN 0-945636-67-9
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Tell Asmar Sculpture Hoard

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Tell Asmar Sculpture Hoard (Iraq)

By K. Kris Hirst, About.com Guide

Alabaster Figurine from Tell Asmar 2750-2600 BC rosemanios

Diorite Statue I, Louvre

Statue P at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

museum catalogue number

excavations E. 1,24 standing de Sarzec, Telloh excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh

excavations E. 1,38 standing de Sarzec, Telloh excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh

excavations E. 1,42 standing de Sarzec, Telloh excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh

excavations E. 1,24 standing de Sarzec, Telloh

Detroit Institute of Arts

dolerite, calcite or steatite

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

dolerite diorite diorite diorite limestone diorite limestone

1,01 standing -0,74 standing -----------------

Ninhursanga/Nintu British Museum --Meslamta'ea Ningirsu --British Museum ------

Ancient Civilizations History Web Site

Mesopotamian Art and Architecture

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1 Paleolithic figures 2 Neolithic figures 3 Old Europe 4 Examples

6.1 Depictions in churches 6.2 Blessed Virgin Mary 6.3 Mormonism

7 Neopaganism 8 Earth Mother

8.1 In various cultures

9 In fiction 10 See also 11 Notes 12 Further reading 13 External links

See also: Venus figurines

Dendera Temple, showingHathor on the capitals of a column

people of the Americas

Seated Woman of atalhyk

who was later also identified

Goddess Durga is seen as the supreme mother goddess by Hindus

Sheela na Gig at SS Mary and David's Church, Kilpeck, England

Earth Mother Pachamama rules over planting, harvesting, and earthquakes

A statue of Isis nursing Horus, housed in the Louvre

Ananke Aphrodite Brigid Cybele

^ Manuel Paredes Izaguirre. "COSMOVISION Y RELIGIOSIDAD EN LA FESTIVIDAD". Retrieved 2010-02-15.(Spanish)

Reflections on Erta as named on the Franks Casket by Alfred Becker (PhD)

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Prehistoric religion Earth goddesses

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1.1Etymology 1.2 Mythology

2 In fiction 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

Flag of the Republic of Venice

Lamassu at the Gate of all nations palace in Persepolis.

A Lammasu briefly appears in the Fablehaven series.

Ancient Near East portal

Buraq Cherub Minotaur Sphinx Chimera

^ "History - Mesopotamia". BBC. ^ "Lamassu". ancientneaeast.net. ^ Livius.org ^ Livius.org ^ "Hunted Lammasu".

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Webpage about the du in the Louvre Museum (French)

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Nederlands Polski Portugus Suomi

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Sumerian inscription in monumental archaic style, c. 26th century BC

Logographic and syllabic

Languages Akkadian, Eblaite, Elamite, Hattic, Hittite, Hurrian,Luwian, Sumerian, Urartian

c. 30th century BC to 1st century AD

none; apparently inspired Old Persian, influenced shape of Ugaritic