Clay Figurines in the Persian Achaemenid Near East as Seen from Tell Mardikh (original) (raw)
Related papers
This dissertation demonstrates that the surprising iconography of human images in the archaeological assemblages of the Levantine Neolithic indicates that they were gods. An analysis of the iconography of the human-like artifacts of my data reveals genital shapes used metaphorically to portray androgynous images as well as elements of therianthropic imagery and red pigment. This iconography meets the predictions of the evolutionary anthropological hypothesis, the 'Female Cosmetic Coalition model' (FCC), which describes the first supernatural symbols as fused male: female, human: animal and red, and predicts that the iconography of early gods would bear this same symbolic syntax. My thesis shows that the material images of the Natufian and Neolithic in the Levant fit this model closely, confirming their identity as gods.
This paper aims at analysing some social dynamics occurred during the late Iron Age in the Syro-Anatolian region from a particular point of view, i.e. that of clay figurine finds. The coroplastic production under consideration is a uniform corpus composed by two main subjects: the Handmade Syrian Horse and Riders (HSHR’s) and the Syrian Pillar Figurines (SPF’s). These figurines are inscribed to the Middle Euphrates coroplastic tradition, a territory in which Karkemish was the main productive centre. They are attested since the mid-8th century B.C. reaching a peak during the 7th century BC, a chronological period corresponding to the Neo-Assyrian expansion in the northern Levant. The close relationship among these figurines with social changes which took place with the Neo-Assyrian political and military influence is here presented throughout different aspects. The contextual study - both in productive and widespread regions - provides interesting data not just on the use of these artefacts, but also on the involving of the local population in activities supporting the Neo-Assyrian empire. The gradual acculturation of the Assyrian reality to local traditions is further attested by means of the iconographic analysis of figurines. As a matter of fact, a remarkable Assyrianization is observable in their costumes and decorations both on human and animal subjects.