A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Art E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Serie: Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1310

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

Provides a broad view of the history and current state of scholarship on the art of the ancient Near East This book covers the aesthetic traditions of Mesopotamia, Iran, Anatolia, and the Levant, from Neolithic times to the end of the Achaemenid Persian Empire around 330 BCE. It describes and examines the field from a variety of critical perspectives: across approaches and interpretive frameworks, key explanatory concepts, materials and selected media and formats, and zones of interaction. This important work also addresses both traditional and emerging categories of material, intellectual perspectives, and research priorities. The book covers geography and chronology, context and setting, medium and scale, while acknowledging the diversity of regional and cultural traditions and the uneven survival of evidence. Part One of the book considers the methodologies and approaches that the field has drawn on and refined. Part Two addresses terms and concepts critical to understanding the subjects and formal characteristics of the Near Eastern material record, including the intellectual frameworks within which monuments have been approached and interpreted. Part Three surveys the field's most distinctive and characteristic genres, with special reference to Mesopotamian art and architecture. Part Four considers involvement with artistic traditions across a broader reach, examining connections with Egypt, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean. And finally, Part Five addresses intersections with the closely allied discipline of archaeology and the institutional stewardship of cultural heritage in the modern Middle East. Told from multiple perspectives, A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Art is an enlightening, must-have book for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of ancient Near East art and Near East history as well as those interested in history and art history.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Preface

CHAPTER ONE: The “Art” of the “Ancient Near East”

Introduction

Defining the “Ancient Near East”

Periodization and Chronology of the “Ancient” Near East

Modern Frameworks for an “Ancient Near Eastern Art”

Did the Ancient Near East in Fact Produce “Art”?

Comparative Approaches

Conclusions

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

PART I: APPROACHES AND METHODS OF ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

CHAPTER TWO: Art and Material Culture

Introduction

The Mechanical Reproduction of Images

Art, Material Culture, and Social Scale

The “Bureaucratic Eye”

Image, Commerce, and Cosmology

Cult Images and the Mixture of Materials

Conclusion

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER THREE: Meaning and Interpretation

Introduction

New Perspectives from Anthropology and History

The Methods of Art History and the Ancient Near East

Text and Image

The “Fribourg School”: The Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Iconography

The Purpose and Persistence of Images

Missing “Images” and Their Interpretation

Conclusion

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER FOUR: Style

Introduction

Challenges of Style for the Study of Ancient Near Eastern Art

Potentials of Stylistic Analysis, I: Selected Examples from Ancient Near Eastern Art

Potentials of Stylistic Analysis, II: Ancient Near Eastern Glyptic

Seal Styles and the Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550–330 BCE)

Conclusion

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER FIVE: Connoisseurship and Classification

Introduction: Issues of Terminology

Connoisseurship and Classification

Connoisseurship, Classification, and

Style

: Passive Reflection of Normative Rules to Means of Active Communication and Information Exchange

Cases of Connoisseurship and Classification in Near Eastern Art History

Ivories of the Early First Millennium BCE

A View from Abroad

Glyptic

Neo‐Assyrian Reliefs

Conclusion

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER SIX: Visual Culture

Introduction

Hierarchies of Objects: Defining “Art”

Disembodied Images: Reconstructions and Simulacra

The Image in/on the Stone

Images as Constructions of/by Culture

Space at Babylon

Visuality

The Materiality of Gold

Conclusion: Why (Not) Visual Culture Studies?

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER SEVEN: Technical Examination and Material Analysis

Introduction

Dating

Analytical Tools

Visual Analysis

Structural Analysis

Elemental Analysis

Material Identification and Manufacture

Conclusions

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER EIGHT: Gender and Sexuality

Introduction

Making and Breaking the Mother Goddess Paradigm

The Emerging Male in Mesopotamian Narrative Art

Nudity and Sex: Titillation, Fertility, Protection

Gender Ambiguity and Intersexuality

Conclusions

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER NINE: Semiotics, Reception Theory, and Poststructuralism

Introduction

Nonverbal Communication and How It Functions

Semiotics: The World of Signs

Reception Theory: The Receiver’s Role in Nonverbal Communication

Poststructuralism

Conclusions

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

PART II: CRITICAL TERMS AND CONCEPTS

CHAPTER TEN: Representation

Introduction

An Expanded Definition of Representation

Art History and Approaches to Interpreting Representations

The Material Perspective: The Ontology of Mesopotamian Objects

Neo‐Assyrian Art and the Vocabulary of Representation

Beyond Assyria: The Luwian and Aramaean Kingdoms

Conclusions

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Narrative

Introduction

Narrative in the Art of Mesopotamia

Obligation and Action

Legal Transactions and Ritual Narratives

The Birth of Historical Narratives

The Cycle of Past and Future

Assyrian Warfare and Ritual

Conclusion: The Beginning and End of Mesopotamian Narrative

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER TWELVE: Ideology

Introduction: Religion and Ideology

Tradition and Ideology

The Early Materialization of Tropes Pertaining to Royal Ideology

Ritual

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Ritual

Introduction

Disciplining Ritual: Contributions from Anthropology

Between Art History and Archaeology: Enclosing and Disclosing Ritual

The Hidden and the Everyday at Çatalhöyük

Neo‐Assyrian Apotropaic Figurine Deposits

Conclusions

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Agency

Introduction

Object Agency in Mesopotamia

Etic and Emic Descriptions

Agency Theory

Alfred Gell’s

Art and Agency

Approaches to Art

Object Agency

Object Agency and the Ancient Near East

Conclusions

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Aesthetics

Introduction

Aesthetics and Perception, Senses and Communication

Principles of Aesthetic Judgment

Value and Prestige

Aesthetic Modalities

Conclusions

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

PART III: MATERIALS, MEDIA, AND ARTISTIC ENVIRONMENTS

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Statuary and Reliefs

Introduction: Terminology and Approaches

The Objects: Type, Size, Material, Context, Findspot, Date, and Origin

Who/What is Depicted: Figures’ Identity, Portraiture, Narratives

Who Made Sculpture for Whom: Artists, Patrons, Audiences

Sculptures’ Lives: Consecration, Maintenance, Maltreatment

Conclusions

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Glyptic

Introduction

Material, Form, and Size

Sealings: How Seals Were Used

Purpose and Importance of Seals in Antiquity and Today

Seals as the Mass Media of Antiquity

Private Seals vs. Institutional or Group Seals

The Iconography of Seals: Between Narrative Medium and Symbolic Representation

The Main Themes and Motives on Seals: Seventh to First Millennium BCE

Individual Themes and Motives

Conclusion

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Religious Architecture

Introduction

The Eanna Precinct at Uruk: Late Uruk Period

Temple Building in Early Dynastic Mesopotamia: Khafajah

Innovations in Temple Planning at the End of the Third Millennium BCE

Regional Distinctions in the Early Second Millennium BCE

Conclusion

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER NINETEEN: Palaces and Elite Houses

Introduction

The Development of Palaces in Greater Mesopotamia and Syria (ca. 3000–2000 BCE)

Mesopotamia and Syria in the Second Millennium BCE: Kingdom to Empire

Neo‐Assyrian and Neo‐Babylonian Palaces: First Millennium BCE

Palaces in Hittite Anatolia (ca. 1650–1180 BCE)

Conclusions

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER TWENTY: Rock Reliefs and Landscape Monuments

Introduction

Inscribing and Reinscribing Place

Rock‐Carving as Colonization of Landscapes and Places

Apparitions on the Living Rock

Conclusions

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Reconstructing Artistic Environments

Introduction

Artistic Environments of the Prehistoric Near East

Artistic Environments of the Early State

The Territorial State

The Imperial State

Conclusion

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

PART IV: INTERACTIONS WITH NEIGHBORING REGIONS AND ARTISTIC TRADITIONS

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: The Ancient Near East and Egypt

Introduction

Image Exchange in the Fourth Millennium: Service to Technology and State Formation

Artistic Exchange in the Third and Second Millennia: Ideology Exported, Technique and Form Imported

The Late Bronze Age and the Egyptian New Kingdom

The International Context of the Late Bronze Age

Interconnections in the First Millennium BCE

The Statue of Darius and Egypt in the Achaemenid Era (ca. 525–330 BCE)

Conclusions

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: The Ancient Near East and the Bronze Age Aegean

Introduction

The Early Bronze Age (ca. 3000–2000 BCE)

The Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000–1600 BCE)

The Late Bronze Age (ca. 1600–1200/1100 BCE)

Conclusions

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Near Eastern Art in the Iron Age Mediterranean

Introduction

Early Networks and the Cypriot Connection

Orientalia: Ivories, Bowls, and Cauldrons

Oriental and Orientalizing Art in Crete: 900–600 BCE

Oriental Art in Early Iron Age of Greece: The Cemeteries of Athens and Lefkandi (Euboia)

A New Context: The Great Sanctuaries of Olympia and Samos (Heraion)

Near Eastern Art in Latium and South Etruria

Summary and Conclusions

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

PART V: INTERSECTIONS WITH ARCHAEOLOGY, COLLECTING, AND CULTURAL HERITAGE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: Archaeology and the Art of the Ancient Near East

Introduction

Stratigraphy and Provenance

The Afterlife of Monuments

Functional Contexts

Analytical Methods

The Significance of New Discoveries

Conclusion

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: Cultural Heritage across the Middle East, Ancient and Modern

Introduction

“Cultural Heritage” and its Uses in the Ancient Near East

National Laws, Antiquities Services, and Museums

National Laws and More Recent Histories

International Conventions

Conclusion

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

REFERENCES

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Chapter 24

Table 24.1 Cypriot bronze amphoroid kraters, tripods, and four‐sided stands

Table 24.2 Phoenician bronze and silver bowls

Table 24.3 Nimrud ivories

Table 24.4 Griffin protomes, late eighth to early sixth century

Chapter 26

Table 26.1 Key cultural heritage domestic laws

List of Illustrations

Chapter 02

Figure 2.1 Lion‐spearing scene impressed onto clay vessel sealing. Syria, Tell Majnuna; early fourth millennium

BCE

. Tell Brak Expedition TB16859.

Figure 2.2 Gaming board inlaid with symmetrical designs. Ur, Royal Cemetery; Early Dynastic IIIa (ca. 2550–2400

BCE

). Shell, red limestone, and lapis lazuli; 30.1 × 11 × 2.4 cm. British Museum ME 120834.

Figure 2.3 Line drawings of cylinder seal impressions showing experiments with composite figuration. Mesopotamia and western Iran; late fourth millennium

BCE

, Uruk.

Figure 2.4 Composite construction of Early Dynastic stone statues. Nippur, Inana Temple, level VIIB. Left to right: Iraq Museum IM 66164, IM 66183; Oriental Institute Museum A31494.

Chapter 03

Figure 3.1 Entitlement document (

narû

) recording purchase of land by a royal officer, Marduk‐nasir. Babylon; reign of Marduk‐nadin‐ahhe (eleventh century

BCE

). Limestone; h. 61 cm. British Museum ME 90841

Figure 3.2 Bird‐headed

apkallu

s flanking “Assyrian sacred tree below Standard Inscription.” Nimrud, Northwest Palace; reign of Assurnasirpal II (883–859

BCE

). Gypsum; 1.11 × 1.62 m. British Museum ME 124583

Figure 3.3 Detail, Neo‐Assyrian palace relief with epigraph. Nineveh, Southwest Palace; reign of Sennacherib (704–681

BCE

). Gypsum; h. entire relief 2.51 m. British Museum ME 124911

Figure 3.4 Cylinder seal and modern impression: water god, two‐faced god, and two minor gods carrying plant and bird man. Akkadian period (ca. 2350–2220

BCE

). Serpentine; 32.5 × 19.5 mm. The Morgan Library & Museum, Morgan Seal 198.

Figure 3.5 Sun‐god Tablet of Nabu‐apla‐iddina. Sippar, reign of Nabu‐apla‐iddina (ninth century

BCE

). Gray schist; 29.5 × 17.8 cm. British Museum ME 91000

Chapter 04

Figure 4.1 Composite line drawing from impressions of PFS 7*. Inscribed cylinder seal, carved in Court Style. Pres. h. of image 1.60 cm (almost complete).

Figure 4.2 Composite line drawing from impressions of PFS 38. Cylinder seal carved in Modeled Style. Pres. h. of image 1.40 cm (almost complete).

Figure 4.3 (a) Composite line drawing from impressions of PFS 16*. Inscribed cylinder seal carved in Modeled Style. Pres. h. of image 1.90 cm (almost complete); (b) Photograph of one impression of PFS 16* on PF Tablet 655 Left Edge.

Figure 4.4 (a) Composite line drawing from impressions of PFS 9*. Inscribed cylinder seal carved in Fortification Style. Pres. h. of image 1.30 cm (complete); (b) Composite line drawing from impressions of PFS 49. Cylinder seal carved in Fortification Style. Pres. h. of image 1.90 cm (complete).

Figure 4.5 (a) Composite line drawing from impressions of PFS 95. Cylinder seal carved in Fortification Style. Pres. h. of image 1.60 cm (almost complete); (b) Composite line drawing from impressions of PFS 118. Cylinder seal carved in Fortification Style. Pres. h. of image 1.80 cm (complete).

Chapter 05

Figure 5.1 Furniture panel with winged, human‐headed sphinx. Nimrud, Fort Shalmaneser SW 37. Ivory; 6.6 × 10.3 cm. ND 10342.

Figure 5.2 Tympanum decorated with heroic figure. Crete, Idaean Cave; ninth century

BCE

. Bronze; dia. 55 cm. Heraklion Museum X9.

Figure 5.3 Cylinder seal and modern impression: contest scene, inscribed for Lugallam the scribe. Akkadian period (ca. 2350–2220

BCE

). Limestone; 30 × 19 mm. Oriental Institute Museum OIM A3710.

Figure 5.4 Schemes of representation in Sennacherib’s reliefs.

Chapter 06

Figure 6.1 Reconstruction of throne room, Northwest Palace, Nimrud.

Figure 6.2 Rendering from the Learning Sites virtual reality reconstruction of the Northwest Palace of Assurnasirpal II, Nimrud, showing a view down the throne room from near the king’s position.

Figure 6.3 Cylinder seal and modern impression: contest scene; inscribed for owner, Shakallum. Akkadian period, ca. 2350–2200

BCE

. Chalcedony; 3.6 × dia. 2.3 cm. British Museum ME 89147.

Figure 6.4 Pendant with nude goddess Hathor. Minet el‐Beidha, deposit 213bis; ca. 1250

BCE

. Gold; 4.7 × 2.3 cm. Musée du Louvre AO 14718.

Chapter 07

Figure 7.1 Polished metal section showing large pits residual from casting (a), and intergranular corrosion (b), which confirms this figure’s authenticity. Male figure (Lebanese Mountain group). Provenience unknown; Lebanon, Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000

BCE

). Unalloyed copper; h. 35.7 cm. Geneva, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire 18724.

Figure 7.2 Radiograph showing cast‐on section of rim, with boundaries between original cast and cast‐on section indicated (a), and modern soldered repairs (b). Handles and rim of a cauldron. Provenience unknown; Cyprus, Late Bronze Age (ca. 1300–1050

BCE

). Bronze; handles h. ca. 20.9, rim dia. 40.0 cm. The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 74.51.5685.

Figure 7.3 Stone identification using open architecture X‐ray diffraction unit in progress. Unknown object. Nippur, Joint Expedition, American Schools of Oriental Research (Chicago), 1960–61, IT 350, Level XV, Inana Temple. Uruk period, late fourth millennium

BCE

. Black limestone; 7.2 × 8.3 × 9.1 cm. Rogers Fund, 1962. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 62.70.17.

Figure 7.4 Spectra of turquoise specimens from the Sinai and from Nishapur and Kerman (eastern Iran) obtained using X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy. Ratios derived from these data have been used to establish the geological provenance of turquoise associated with artifacts from ancient and medieval Egyptian and Near Eastern contexts.

Chapter 08

Figure 8.1 Female figurine. Syria, Chagar Bazar; ca. 5500

BCE

. Ceramic; 9.7 × 5 cm. Ashmolean Museum AN1936.90.

Figure 8.2 Drawing, Uruk Vase. Uruk (modern Warka); Late Uruk period, ca. 3300–3000

BCE

.

Figure 8.3 Assurbanipal and Libbali‐sharrat banqueting in a garden. Nineveh, North Palace (645–635

BCE

). Gypsum; h. relief 58.42 cm. British Museum ME 124920.

Figure 8.4 Model bed depicting conjugal couple. Attributed to Bismaya mound IV; Isin‐Larsa/Old Babylonian period, ca. 2000–1600

BCE

. Ceramic; 7.3 × 5.2 × 2.2 cm. Oriental Institute Museum OIM A361.

Figure 8.5 Figurine of nude female (“Judean Pillar Figurine”). Tell ed‐Duweir (ancient Lachish); eighth–seventh century

BCE

. Ceramic; h. 18.1 cm. Gift of Harris D. and H. Dunscombe Colt, 1934. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 34.126.53.

Figure 8.6 Cylinder seal with modern impression: Ishtar with foot on back of lion, with minor goddess; inscribed “To the Goddess Nin‐ishkin, Ilaknuid the seal‐cutter presented (this seal).” Akkadian period (ca. 2350–2200

BCE

). Limestone; h. 0.42 cm. Oriental Institute Museum OIM A27903.

Figure 8.7 Figure identified as a hermaphrodite or cross‐dressing male. Tel ‘Ira; eighth–seventh century

BCE

. Ceramic; 13 × 4 cm.

Chapter 10

Figure 10.1 Human skulls overmodeled with “gypsum.” Syria, Tell Aswad; Pre‐Pottery Neolithic B (8200–6900

BCE

), no. 741‐CS3.

Figure 10.2 Statue of King Assurnasirpal II (883–859

BCE

). Nimrud, temple of Ishtar Belit Mati. Magnesite on reddish dolomite stand; h. statue 1.13 m.

Figure 10.3 Stele of Bel‐Harran‐beli‐usur. Iraq, Tell Abta; reigns of Shalmaneser IV (782–772

BCE

) and Tiglath‐pileser III (744–727

BCE

). Alabaster; 1.83 × 1.15 m. Istanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri 1326.

Figure 10.4 Relief depicting city conquest. Nimrud, Central Palace; reign of Tiglath‐pileser III (744–727

BCE

). Gypsum; h. 91 cm.

Figure 10.5 Stele with the storm god Adad brandishing thunderbolts. Arslan Taş (ancient Hadatu), corridor S between buildings N and L (temple?). Reign of Tiglath‐pileser III (744–727

BCE

). Basalt; 1.36 × 0.54 × 0.42 m. Musée du Louvre AO 13092. Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.

Figure 10.6 Funerary stele with banquet scene. Zincirli (ancient Sam’al), outer wall of Hilani I; early seventh century

BCE

. Basalt; h. 1.50 m.

Figure 10.7 Orthostat showing King Barrakib (ca. 732–711

BCE

) with scribe. Zincirli (ancient Sam’al), Hilani IV. Basalt; h. 1.15 m.

Chapter 11

Figure 11.1 The Uruk Vase. Uruk (modern Warka), Eanna precinct; ca. 3100

BCE

. Alabaster; h. 92 cm. Iraq Museum IM 19606. Hirmer Verlag Fotoarchiv.

Figure 11.2 Blau Monuments. Provenance unknown; Jemdet Nasr period (ca. 2900

BCE

). Green schist; h. 17.9 cm (chisel); w. 16 cm (scraper).

Figure 11.3 “Stele of the Vultures,” reconstruction drawing, obverse and reverse. Tello (ancient Girsu), Early Dynastic III (ca. 2500

BCE

). Musée du Louvre AO 16109, AO 50, AO 2346, AO 2348. Drawing by Elizabeth Simpson.

Figure 11.4 Cult pedestal of Tukulti‐Ninurta I (1243–1207

BCE

). Qal’at sherqat (ancient Assur). Alabaster; h. 58 cm.

Figure 11.5 Assurnasirpal II returns from a victorious campaign. Nimrud, Northwest Palace (ca. 875–860

BCE

). Gypsum; h. 91.44 cm.

Figure 11.6 Detail, Teumman and his son fall from their chariot and flee during battle of Til‐Tuba. Nineveh, Southwest Palace (ca. 653

BCE

). Gypsum; h. entire relief 2.04 m.

Chapter 12

Figure 12.1 Lion Hunt Stele. Uruk, Eanna precinct; ca. 3100

BCE

. Basalt; pres. h. 78 cm. Iraq Museum IM 23477. Hirmer Verlag Fotoarchiv.

Figure 12.2 Palace relief showing animal beneath galloping horse. Nimrud, Northwest Palace; reign of Assurnasirpal II (883–859

BCE

). Gypsum; l. 2.23 m.

Figure 12.3 Palace relief, king and sacred tree. Nimrud, Northwest Palace; reign of Assurnasirpal II (883–859

BCE

). Gypsum; 1.93 m.

Figure 12.4 Plaque of Ur‐Nanshe. Tello (ancient Girsu); Early Dynastic IIIA (ca. 2550–2400

BCE

). Limestone; 39 × 46.5 × 6.5 cm. Musée du Louvre AO 2344.

Figure 12.5 Stele depicting Assurbanipal with basket of bricks. Babylon, Marduk Temple (Esagila); ca. 668–655

BCE

. Marble; h. 36.8 cm.

Chapter 13

Figure 13.1 Çatalhöyük figurine forms. From left: zoomorphic horns and limbs; anthropomorphic female figure; zoomorphic quadruped; anthropomorphic‐phallic figure; abbreviated forms (below, center).

Figure 13.2 Mixed deposit on floor of Building 77, Çatalhöyük: deer antler in front of southwest platform, sealed by building collapse/demolition.

Figure 13.3 Clay apotropaic figurines recovered from Neo‐Assyrian centers. (a) fish‐cloaked

apkallu

figurines. Nimrud or Nineveh; h. 12.7–13.2 cm. (b) bird‐

apkallu

figurine. Nimrud; h. 12.3 cm.

Figure 13.4 Deposit (capsule 11) containing fourteen fish‐cloaked

apkallu

figurines. Assur, “Haus des Beschwörungspriesters.” From C. Preusser,

Die Wohnhäuser in Assur

, Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichung der Deutschen Orient‐Gesellschaft 64 (Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 1954), pl. 28b.

Figure 13.5 Clay apotropaic figures: Creatures of the Apsu. From

Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary,

by Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, illustrations by Tessa Rickards.

Chapter 14

Figure 14.1 Foundation peg, inscribed. Tello (ancient Girsu); ca. 2090

BCE

. Copper alloy; h. 33.5 cm. The Morgan Library & Museum, AZ145.

Figure 14.2 One of a pair of colossal gate guardians in the form of winged human‐headed bulls. Nimrud, Northwest Palace; reign of Assurnasirpal II (883–859

BCE

). Gypsum; h. 3.50 m.

Figure 14.3 Relief depicting Assyrians removing cult statues. Nimrud, Central Palace, reign of Tiglath‐pileser III (744–727

BCE

). Gypsum; h. 2.72 m.

Figure 14.4 Victory Stele of Naram‐Sin (2254–2218

BCE

). Susa. Limestone; 2 × 1.5 m. Musée du Louvre, AO Sb 4.

Figure 14.5 The Art Nexus. From A. Gell,

Art and Agency: An Anthropological Theory

(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 29, table 1 (adapted by Mel Keiser). By permission of Oxford University Press.

Chapter 15

Figure 15.1 Spouted vessel with “eyes” and rosette. Uruk, Eanna precinct; Late Uruk (ca. 3100

BCE

). Stone with mosaic inlay; 15 × max. dia. ca. 7 cm. Iraq Museum. Hirmer Verlag Fotoarchiv.

Figure 15.2 Drawing of decoration, “Scarlet Ware” jar (British Museum 123293). From P. Delougaz,

Pottery from the Diyala Region,

Oriental Institute Publications 63 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952), pl. 138.

Chapter 16

Figure 16.1 Stele of Hammurabi (1792–1750

BCE

). Susa. Basalt; 2.25 × 0.65 m. Musée du Louvre AO Sb 8.

Figure 16.2 Gudea, Statue N. Tello (ancient Girsu), ca. 2100

BCE

. Calcite; 62 × 25.6 cm. Musée du Louvre AO 22126. Scala/Art Resource, NY.

Figure 16.3 Goat (“Ram in the Thicket”). Ur, Royal Cemetery PG 1237; Early Dynastic IIIA (ca. 2500

BCE

). Gold, silver, copper, shell, bitumen, and lapis; h. 42.6 cm. University Museum 30–12–702.

Figure 16.4 Door plaque. Khafajah; Early Dynastic II–IIIA (ca. 2750–2500

BCE

). Limestone; 32 × 29.5 cm. Iraq Museum 14661. Hirmer Verlag Fotoarchiv.

Figure 16.5 Entitlement document (

narû

) of Meli‐shipak (1186–1172

BCE

). Susa; Kassite period. Limestone; 68 × 28 cm. Musée du Louvre AO Sb 22.

Figure 16.6 Drawing of Court VI, slabs 63–64, Sennacherib’s palace, Nineveh. Austen Henry Layard,

Original Drawings,

I, 57.

Chapter 17

Figure 17.1 Cylinder seal inscribed for Ginadu, official of King Inshushinak‐shar‐ilani of Susa, and modern impression. Lapis lazuli and gold; 2.1 × 1.1 cm. Iran, Haft Tappeh; Middle Elamite (fourteenth century

BCE

). H. T. 10–32–26. From B. Mofidi‐Nasrabadi, “The Grave of a

puhu‐teppu

from Haft Tappeh,”

Akkadica

132 (2011): 151–6, fig. 6.

Figure 17.2 Clay tablet inscribed with cuneiform text and partial impression of dynastic seal of King Abban (ca. 1700

BCE

). Tell Atchana (ancient Alalakh), reign of Niqmepa (ca. 1450

BCE

). H. original seal (with caps) ca. 2.4 cm.

Figure 17.3 Cylinder seal and modern impression: contest scene. Provenance unknown; Early Dynastic (ca. 2500

BCE

). Aragonite; 4.3 cm.

Figure 17.4 Stamp seal and modern impression: Achaemenid royal hero as master of animals. Provenance unknown; Achaemenid period (ca. 550–330

BCE

). Agate; 3.1 × dia. base 2.5 cm.

Figure 17.5 Composite drawing, Seal 1 of King Ishgi‐Mari of Mari (ca. 2300

BCE

). Drawing by Dominique Beyer from multiple seal impressions found in the palace at Mari.

Figure 17.6 Modern impression of Old Syrian cylinder seal depicting the storm god and a winged, armed goddess.

Chapter 18

Figure 18.1 Eridu, plan and photo of level VII temple. From F. Safar, M. ‘A. Mustafá, and S. Lloyd,

Eridu

(Baghdad: Republic of Iraq, Ministry of Culture and Information, State Organization of Antiquities and Heritage, 1981), 88, fig. 39, and 106, fig. 54.

Figure 18.2 Khafajah, plan of Temple Oval I. From P. Delougaz,

The Temple Oval at Khafājah,

Contribution by T. Jacobsen, Oriental Institute Publications 53 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1940), pl. III.

Figure 18.3 Ur, plan of Nanna Temple complex. From C. L. Woolley,

The Buildings of the Third Dynasty,

Ur Excavations 6 (London: Oxford University Press for the Trustees of the two museums [Joint Expedition of the British Museum and of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania to Mesopotamia], 1974), pl. 53.

Figure 18.4 Tell al‐Rimah, plan and axonometric reconstruction of temple complex. From D. Oates, “The Excavations at Tell al Rimah, 1965,”

Iraq

28 (1966): 122–39, pls. XXXVI–XXXVII.

Chapter 19

Figure 19.1 Kish, plan of “Palace A.” From E. Mackay,

A Sumerian Palace and the “A” Cemetery at Kish,

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology Memoirs 2 (Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1929), pls. 21–22.

Figure 19.2 Tell Brak, plan of “Akkadian Palace.” From M. E. L. Mallowan, “Excavations at Brak and Chagar Bazar,”

Iraq

9 (1947), pl. LX.

Figure 19.3 Mari, plan of palace of Zimri‐Lim. From A. Parrot

, Mari: Le palais,

vol. 2:

Architecture,

Mission Archéologique de Mari (Paris: Geuthner, 1958).

Figure 19.4 Nimrud, plan of Northwest Palace (ninth century

BCE

). From M. E. L. Mallowan,

Nimrud and its Remains

(London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 1966), folding pl. III.

Figure 19.5 Boğazköy (ancient Hattusa), plan of Büyükkale, Period III (thirteenth century

BCE

).

Chapter 20

Figure 20.1 Naqsh‐e Rustam, Sasanian reliefs depicting the investiture of Ardashir I (224–240 CE).

Figure 20.2 Yazılıkaya, view of main chamber (A). Near Boğazköy (ancient Hattusa); thirteenth century

BCE

.

Figure 20.3 Karabel rock relief of “Tarkasnawa, King of Mira.” Near Manisa, Turkey; late thirteenth century

BCE

.

Figure 20.4 Kurangun rock relief. Western Fars province, Iran; early second millennium

BCE

.

Figure 20.5 Fıraktın rock relief with Hattušili III and Queen Puduhepa. Near Develi, Kayseri, Turkey; thirteenth century

BCE

.

Chapter 21

Figure 21.1 Megalith decorated with relief sculpture showing animal figures. Göbekli Tepe, southeastern Anatolia/northern Mesopotamia (Turkey), Pre‐Pottery Neolithic (ca. 10,000–9,000

BCE

.)

Figure 21.2 Inlaid front panel of “Bull‐Harp.” Ur, Royal Cemetery, PG 789 (“King’s Tomb”); Early Dynastic IIIA (ca. 2500

BCE

). Shell and bitumen; 31.5 cm. University of Pennsylvania Museum B17694A.

Figure 21.3 Drawing of the impression on a tablet (SMN 1000) from Nuzi of cylinder seal of Saushtatar. Nuzi; Mittani era (ca. 1500–1350

BCE

).

Chapter 22

Figure 22.1 Bowls, cups, and jewelry from the Tod Treasure. Tod, Montu Temple; Dynasty 12, reign of Amenemhet II (ca. 1919–1885

BCE

). Silver; h. 3.3–9.3 cm; dia. 7.7–15 cm. Musée du Louvre E15128–15318.

Figure 22.2 Axe of Ahmose. Thebes, tomb of Ahhotep; Dynasty 18, sixteenth century

BCE

. Gold, electrum, copper alloy, semiprecious stones, wood; 47.5 × 6.7 cm. Luxor Museum JE 4673.

Figure 22.3 Repoussé bowl decorated with marsh scenes, agriculture, farming, husbandry, and wine‐making activities. Tell Basta; Dynasty 19 (thirteenth–twelfth century

BCE

). Silver; dia. 20.7 cm. Rogers Fund, 1907. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 07.228.20.

Figure 22.4 Statue of Wedjahorresnet. Sais; Dynasty 27, reign of Darius, year 3 (519

BCE

). Basalt; h. 96 cm. Musei Vaticani, Museo Egizio 22690.

Figure 22.5 Statue of Darius (522–486

BCE

). Susa, monumental gate east of Palace of Darius. Granite (graywacke); pres. h. of statue 51 cm, base 104 × 64 cm.

Chapter 23

Figure 23.1 Basket earrings with dangling pendants. Lemnos, Poliochni; Early Bronze Age (ca. 2450–2200

BCE

). Gold; l. 6.7–7.8 cm. Athens, National Archaeological Museum 7159.

Figure 23.2 Wall painting fragments, marine scene with turtles. Qatna, Royal Palace, Room N; Late Bronze Age (sixteenth–fifteenth century

BCE

; find context fourteenth century

BCE

). Digital reconstruction by Constance von Rüden.

Figure 23.3 Pyxis lid with female flanked by goats. Minet el‐Beida, Tomb III; Late Bronze Age (thirteenth century

BCE

). Ivory; h. 13.7 cm. Musée du Louvre AO 11601.

Chapter 24

Figure 24.1 Cypriot wheeled stand (the Buccleuch stand). Cyprus; Late Bronze Age, ca. 1200

BCE

. Bronze; h. 21.29 cm (without wheels). British Museum Greek & Roman Antiquities 1946, 1017.1.

Figure 24.2 Furniture panel with sphinx, Phoenician style. Nimrud, Fort Shalmaneser; 900–700

BCE

. Ivory; 6.9 × 7.75 cm. British Museum ME 134322.

Figure 24.3 Mirror or fan handle with two nude females wearing polos, North Syrian style. Nimrud, Burnt Palace; 900–700

BCE

. Ivory; 13.4 × 4.9 cm. British Museum ME 118102.

Figure 24.4 Drawing of decorated shield or tympanum (The Hunt Shield). Crete, Idaean Cave, ca. 700

BCE

. Bronze; dia. 83 cm. Heraklion Museum (X7).

Figure 24.5 Griffin protome. Olympia; ca. 700–650

BCE

. Bronze; h. 35.8 cm. No. B945. Hirmer Verlag Fotoarchiv.

Figure 24.6 Near Eastern sheetmetal vessels decorated with antithetical sphinxes, reused as

sphyrelata

statues. Olympia (composite of Olympia B5040, B5859, B5885, B5047). Bronze; max. h. 33.6 cm.

Figure 24.7 “Phoenician” bowl with Aramaic inscription. Olympia; late eighth–early seventh century

BCE

. Bronze; 3.1 × dia. 20.4 cm. Athens, National Museum 7941.

Figure 24.8 Decorated pectoral. Cerveteri (Caere), Regolini‐Galassi Tomb; ca. 675–650

BCE

. Gold; 42 × 38.1 cm. Musei Vaticani, Museo Gregoriano Etrusco 20553.

Chapter 25

Figure 25.1 Relief carved with winged figure. Pasargadae, Gate R (ca. 540–530

BCE

). Limestone; h. 2.90 m. Ernst Herzfeld Papers, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, FS‐FSA_A.6_04.GN.0997.

Figure 25.2 Detail, doorjamb carved with bull‐man and figure in fish cloak. Pasargadae, Palace S (ca. 540–530

BCE

). Limestone; pres. h. 80 cm.

Figure 25.3 Vessel carved with architectural façade. Khafajah, Early Dynastic II (ca. 2700–2600

BCE

). Steatite/chlorite; 6.5 × dia. 8.1 cm. Oriental Institute Museum OIM A12415.

Chapter 26

Figure 26.1 Head of Akkadian ruler. Nineveh, near Ishtar Temple; Akkadian period (ca. 2350–2200

BCE

). Copper alloy; h. 36.6 cm. Iraq Museum 11331. Hirmer Verlag Fotoarchiv.

Figure 26.2 Çinili Köşk (Tiled Pavilion), Istanbul, built 1472; used as Ottoman Imperial Museum from 1875 to 1891.

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BLACKWELL COMPANIONS TO THE ANCIENT WORLD

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A Companion to Latin LiteratureEdited by Stephen Harrison

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A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern ArtEdited by Ann C. Gunter

A COMPANION TO ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ART

Edited by

Ann C. Gunter

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Name: Gunter, Ann Clyburn, 1951– editor.Title: A companion to ancient Near Eastern art / edited by Ann C. Gunter.Description: Hoboken : Wiley Blackwell, 2019. | Series: Blackwell companions to the ancient world | Includes bibliographical references and index. |Identifiers: LCCN 2018016963 (print) | LCCN 2018017628 (ebook) | ISBN 9781118336755 (Adobe PDF) | ISBN 9781118336731 (ePub) | ISBN 9781118301258 (hardcover)Subjects: LCSH: Art, Middle Eastern. | Art, Ancient–Middle East.Classification: LCC N5345 (ebook) | LCC N5345 .C725 2019 (print) | DDC 709.56–dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018016963

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Notes on Contributors

Mehmet‐Ali Ataç is a scholar of the art of ancient Mesopotamia and its interconnections with the artistic traditions of neighboring regions. He is the author of The Mythology of Kingship in Neo‐Assyrian Art (2010) and Art and Immortality in the Ancient Near East (2018).

Dominik Bonatz is professor of Near Eastern archaeology at the Freie Universität Berlin. In ancient Near Eastern visual arts his chief research interests address the anthropology, performance, and perception of images. While active as an “art historian,” he also directs excavation projects in northern Syria (2005–) and Sumatra, Indonesia (2002–).

Betsy M. Bryan, Alexander Badawy Professor of Egyptian Art and Archaeology at Johns Hopkins University, specializes in New Kingdom Egypt. Her research interests are the social and religious intersection of art production and of Egyptian cult. She is preparing the publication of fieldwork at the Mut Temple precinct at Karnak.

Paul Collins is assistant keeper for the Ancient Near East at the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford; he previously held curatorial appointments at the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His research focuses on Neo‐Assyrian art and broader interactions across the Mediterranean world.

Sophy Downes (PhD 2011, University College London) studies interactions between the classical world and the ancient Near East. She has taught at University College London and the University of Edinburgh, and held postdoctoral fellowships in Tehran and Berlin. Her dissertation, in preparation for publication, analyzes architecture and politics in Athens and Persia.

Geoff Emberling is assistant research scientist at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan. He has directed excavations in Syria and in Sudan and has held curatorial positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute Museum, and the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Jean M. Evans, chief curator and deputy director of the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute Museum, was previously curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and postdoctoral fellow at Ludwig‐Maximilians‐Universität in Munich. Her research interests include the visual and material culture of Mesopotamian religious practices and the modern reception of Mesopotamian art.

Marian H. Feldman is professor in the Departments of History of Art and Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Her research concentrates on the arts of the second and first millennia BCE, with a special focus on eastern Mediterranean and Near Eastern interactions.

Sarah B. Graff is associate curator in the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her dissertation (Institute of Fine Arts, New York University) examined images of the Mesopotamian demon Humbaba/Huwawa. Other research interests include gender and sexuality, the manufacture and use of terracottas, and visual culture studies.

John D. M. Green, visiting scholar in the Department of Anthropology at Cornell University, was previously chief curator at the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute Museum. His research interests are the archaeology of the southern Levant (Bronze and Iron Ages), the archaeology of gender and personal adornment, and histories of archaeology.

Ann C. Gunter is the Bertha and Max Dressler Professor in the Humanities at Northwestern University. Her chief research interests include artistic and cultural interaction between the Mediterranean and the Near East and the reception of Greek and Near Eastern art in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Katharyn Hanson (PhD 2012, University of Chicago) is a Smithsonian Fellow with the Museum Conservation Institute. She is the US Director for The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TAARII) and continues to work at the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage in Erbil, Iraq.

Ömür Harmanşah is associate professor of art history at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His recent books include Cities and the Shaping of Memory in the Ancient Near East (2013) and Place, Memory and Healing: An Archaeology of Anatolian Rock Monuments (2015).

Marlies Heinz, professor of Near Eastern archaeology at Albert‐Ludwigs‐University in Freiburg, has participated in and directed fieldwork in Syria, Lebanon, and Bahrain. Her scholarship primarily addresses theoretical and methodological issues in archaeological research, including power and its representation, visual communication, and the built environment in the ancient Near East.

Carolyn Nakamura (PhD in Anthropology, Columbia University) is a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden University, where she also coordinates the Global Interactions research profile. She specializes in the archaeology and material culture of the Middle East. Her research focuses on the socio‐material aspects of ritual and magic.

Astrid Nunn is professor of Near Eastern archaeology at the University of Würzburg. Her primary research interests concern the role of images in ancient cultures and include polychromy, non‐figurative cultic objects in the ancient Near East, and Achaemenid culture in the Levant.

Adelheid Otto, professor of Near Eastern archaeology at the Ludwig‐Maximilians‐Universität in Munich, has conducted fieldwork at several sites in Syria. Her research addresses the archaeology, cultural history, and art history of the Near East, with a focus on Mesopotamian and Syrian complex societies, seals, and sealings.

Eleonora Pappalardo (Università degli Studi di Catania), is a member of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Prinias (Crete) and collaborates on the study of Nimrud ivories and the ivory rhyta from Old Nisa (Turkmenistan). Her chief research interests are East‐West interconnections and cultural exchanges, and ivorycarving and bronzeworking of the first‐millennium Mediterranean.

Beate Pongratz‐Leisten is professor of ancient Near Eastern studies at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University. Her research interests include political, intellectual and religious history; formation of textual communities; transmission of cultural memory; ritual performance and ritual texts. Recent books include Religion and Ideology in Assyria (2015).

D. T. Potts is professor of ancient Near Eastern archaeology and history at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University. His fieldwork and his many publications are chiefly devoted to Iran, Mesopotamia, and the Persian Gulf, in periods ranging from prehistory to Islamic times.

Margaret Cool Root is a professor (Department of the History of Art) and a curator (Kelsey Museum of Archaeology) at the University of Michigan. Beginning with her first book, The King and Kingship in Achaemenid Art (1979), she has published widely on Persian architecture, sculpture, seals, imperial ideology, and historiography.

Andreas Schachner is a specialist in Near Eastern archaeology and Anatolian prehistory in the Istanbul Department of the German Archaeological Institute and director of the excavations at Boğazköy‐Hattusa. He also holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the University of Würzburg.

Deborah Schorsch is conservator in the Department of Objects Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Special Lecturer in Conservation at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. A specialist in the manufacture of ancient metalwork, she has published studies on works from Egypt, Peru, and the Near East.

Gebhard J. Selz holds the chair of ancient Near Eastern philology and Oriental archaeology at the University of Vienna. The editor of several leading scholarly journals, including Archiv für Orientforschung, his numerous publications focus on economic and religious history in third‐millennium Mesopotamia, early systems of classification, and early empiricism.

Claudia E. Suter, an independent scholar affiliated with the University of Basel, studies ancient Near Eastern images and texts. Among her primary interests are visual and verbal communication, cultural identities, and ideologies of ruling classes in premodern societies.

David Wengrow is professor of comparative archaeology at University College London and co‐director of the Shahrizor Prehistory Project. Recent books include What Makes Civilization: The Ancient Near East and the Future of the West (2010), and The Origins of Monsters: Image and Cognition in the First Age of Mechanical Reproduction (2014).

James Whitley has taught in Greece, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Between 2002 and 2007 he was director of the British School at Athens and is now professor of Mediterranean archaeology at Cardiff University. His many publications include The Archaeology of Ancient Greece (2001).

Preface

A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Art seeks to present to an intended readership of students, specialists, and general readers worldwide a broad view of the history and current state of scholarship on its subject. Rather than an overview of monuments and forms of expression considered characteristic of different regions and periods, this volume seeks to offer an appreciation of ancient Near Eastern art and archaeology not available in surveys or other synthetic treatments. It aims to examine and represent the field from a variety of critical perspectives: across approaches and interpretive frameworks, materials and genres, key explanatory concepts, and zones of interaction. As a reference work it addresses both traditional and emerging categories of material and process, intellectual perspectives, and research priorities. It appreciates established approaches and the fluidity of boundaries between “art history” and “archaeology,” yet also acknowledges and anticipates new directions stimulated by anthropology, gender studies, visual culture, and reception theory. Finally, and importantly, it joins, and was planned in association with, a series of companions devoted to well‐established fields of ancient art—Greek, Roman, and Egyptian—that was already underway at the time of its inception. Despite the diverse character of each of these cultural spheres and thus also their histories and research priorities, the series offered the opportunity to present readers with a broad understanding of each field: its principal categories of material remains, geographical and chronological parameters, and dominant approaches, methodologies, and issues.

Contributions to this Companion treat themes and topics as the relevant material and author expertise warrant, allowing both for “close reading” of individual monuments and more general discussion. Given the series’ format, which allows for comparatively few illustrations, I encouraged authors to contemplate those ways in which their topic has been defined and approached, and how it might develop in future investigations. I also envisaged a field‐specific resource comparable to Robert S. Nelson and Richard Schiff’s Critical Terms for Art History (2nd ed., University of Chicago Press 2003), incorporating explicit discussion of methodology typically neglected in handbooks and exhibition catalogues, and including a rich bibliography. I very much hope that this volume will serve not only as a useful reference and state‐of‐the‐field assessment, but also stimulate new directions in research and further historiographic reflection.

This volume also aims to complement A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (Wiley‐Blackwell, 2012), which was already in press when I began to conceive this book. The Companion edited by D. T. Potts provides an excellent and up‐to‐date introduction to geography and environment, the history of archaeological exploration, and treatment of technologies such as ceramics, glass, metallurgy, and textiles. Since it also furnishes extensive coverage of prehistoric periods, and extends its chronological scope to the advent of Islam, I sought to coordinate with rather than duplicate that volume’s broad coverage. This coordination extended, with few exceptions, to matters of style and spelling of proper names.

I begin this volume by deconstructing its title: what do we mean by “ancient Near East” and “art,” and why do these terms require detailed consideration? Part I aims to think across regional or chronological divisions to consider the methodologies and approaches that the field has drawn on and refined. These topics embrace traditional art historical perspectives—investigation of style, meaning, and connoisseurship, for example—that have played an important role in shaping research priorities, along with more recently developed technical and scientific perspectives. It further considers how new theoretical approaches initiated in other disciplines have been applied to the study of the ancient Near East. What has been their impact to date, and how might they shape future investigations?

Part II addresses terms and concepts critical to understanding the subjects and formal characteristics of the Near Eastern material record, including the intellectual frameworks within which monuments have been approached and interpreted. It seeks to look across the field to consider crucial operative concepts governing analysis and interpretation, with a deliberately interdisciplinary emphasis. Part III surveys the field’s most distinctive and characteristic genres, with special reference to Mesopotamian art and architecture, which have traditionally dominated research and publication. Part IV considers involvement with artistic traditions across a broader reach, examining connections with Egypt, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean. Part V addresses intersections with the closely allied discipline of archaeology and the institutional stewardship of cultural heritage in the modern Middle East. “Luxury arts,” a category traditionally defined as small‐scale works in exotic and costly materials, have been admirably treated recently in lavishly illustrated exhibition catalogues and are discussed in the context of broader topics rather than in a separate chapter.

Because the volume treats its subject from multiple perspectives, overlap in discussion of particular objects or contributions by key scholars is inevitable. I have opted for a detailed index instead of extensive cross‐referencing within chapters, in order to minimize disruptions in authors’ arguments or presentation. Each chapter is considered independent, with cross‐references limited primarily to illustrations in other chapters.

Finally, although we are ostensibly focused on antiquity, that past is inextricably intertwined with the present. No volume on Near Eastern antiquity published in this century could fail to acknowledge either the devastation to cultural heritage resulting from foreign invasions and civil wars, or the heroism of those who have sought to preserve it. These conflicts have savaged archaeological sites and museums, along with the professional staff responsible for protecting these institutions and material record. Pre‐Islamic antiquities have constituted a primary target for forces of “Islamic State” in Syria and Iraq. Among countless other human tragedies, this situation presents profound and enduring challenges to the safety of sites and museum collections, as well as to the study and publication of material housed in local or national museums. This task, and promoting awareness of it, is a global responsibility.Ann C. Gunter

Ann C. GunterNorthwestern University

Acknowledgments

Any publication, and above all a multi‐author collection of essays, depends on the talent and assistance of many individuals. I am grateful above all to the authors, who met the challenge of crafting essays that reward both specialists and non‐specialists, working closely with me to shape their contributions to the volume I envisaged.

Contributors and many other colleagues generously provided images, permission to reproduce them, and assistance in obtaining them: Mehmet‐Ali Ataç, Dominique Beyer, Rémy Boucharlat, Betsy M. Bryan, Pascal Butterlin, Sophie Cluzan, Paul Collins, Ricardo Eichmann, Jean M. Evans, Mark B. Garrison, McGuire Gibson, Sarah B. Graff, Nils P. Heeßel, Marlies Heinz, Georgina Herrmann, Denyse Homès‐Fredericq, Stuart Laidlaw, Carlo Lippolis, Maria Grazia Massetti‐Rouault, Stefano de Martino, Augusta McMahon, Behdad Mofidi‐Nasrabadi, Bruno Overlaet, William A. Parkinson, Karen Radner, Qais Hussein Rasheed, Margaret Cool Root, Constance von Rüden, Andreas Schachner, Danielle Stordeur, Michel Tanret, and Irene J. Winter. I also want to acknowledge the kind cooperation of many museums and image repositories in providing images and permission to reproduce them: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Resource NY; Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford; Athens National Museum; Boğazköy‐Expedition, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut; British Institute for the Study of Iraq; British Museum; Çatalhöyük Research Project; Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Berlin, Orient Department; Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Athen; Egyptian Museum, Cairo; Field Museum; Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Smithsonian Institution; French Archaeological Mission in Susa; Getty Images; Haft Tappeh Excavations; Herakleion Museum; Hirmer Verlag Fotoarchiv; Iraq, State Board of Antiquities and Heritage; Learning Sites Inc.; Mission de Mari, Fonds Parrot;