Apotropaic Figures and Mesopotamian Temples
Oct 24, 2009 16:31:48 GMT -5
Post by us4-he2-gal2 on Oct 24, 2009 16:31:48 GMT -5
- Reviewing -
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Apotropaic Figures at Mesopotamian Temples in the Third and Second Millenia
By: Eva. A. Braun-Holzinger (1999)
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The following material is from Braun-Holzinger's (henceforth Eva) material published in the 1999 volume Mesopotamian Magic: Textual, Historical and Interpretation Perspectives. Eva concentrates on instances of figures and figurines of varying sorts which has been discovered in early Mesopotamian temples.
Foundation Figurines/
Foundation figurines, the author says had a very distinct advantage over other sorts of figures- their burial amidst the foundations of the temple kept them out of reach of enemies or of others who may take them or who might recycle them for their metal.
These objects, with one end often fashioned in the shape of, often, minor gods, rarely, lions and bulls, and from the Ur III period on local rulers carrying brick baskets, were tapered at the other end to a nail shape and were driven into the foundations, a practice attestable from Early Dynastic times. Thus foundation figurines are also nails. Additionally, some of these were inscribed with the name of the temple, and who it was being dedicated to.
The above image (borrowed from enenuru.net) is of the foundation figurine of a minor god, Shulutula, the personal god of the ED king Enannatum of Lagash. Eva writes that while some non-horned anthropomorphic figures have been found which predate Enannatum, from this king on anthropomorphic foundation figurines bear horns which mark them as gods. She adds that "the driving of [the] nails into the foundation certainly was a magical act that probably was accompanied by other magic procedures."
This next picture is a foundation figurine from the Ur-III period. As mentioned above, by this time the figurines had begun to take the shape of the ruler - in this case, we are looking at Ur-Nammu himself. Eva explains that in this period metal figurines we paired with wooden pegs to the complete item - thus in the above photo (courtesy of the OI), the metal figurine survives while its lower nail portion, made of wood, is long decayed.
You may notice numerous other items along with Ur-Nammu - the author tells us that some kings had numerous objects buried with their foundation figurines, here there are 10 or so frit beads, 1-3 gold beads and some stone chips. In addition, and more typical, the figurine was buried with a stone tablet bearing an inscription which mirrors that found on the figurine itself - the author suspects each of these additions to the foundation deposit had a magical function of its own, the rituals are unfortunately lost however.
Figures at Entrance/
Eva: "Lions and Bulls, monsters and minor deities were used as doorkeepers guarding the entrances of temple or decorating different parts of doors. They bear building inscriptions which for the most part give no information about their function.
Large doorkeepers on official buildings are mainly known from the first millennium, when they were firmly build into the walls. The numerous Assyrian colossi protecting the palaces are well known..
As the texts show even in the first millennium a great part of these doorkeepers were made of metal; these materials have all been recycled, and this no traces have been left. The function of these monuments is easily surmised, but it is unknown if their effectiveness was enhanced through rituals performed while they were being manufactured and erected.
In the Old Babylonian, perhaps even in the Neo-Sumerian period, the full range of doorkeepers is also represented on small terracotta-reliefs. Some of the small reliefs are exceptionally large; one of them was found at the entrance of a small sanctuary. Probably these reliefs served the same purpose as their large counterparts; they protected smaller buildings."
- Lions and Bulls:
The author further discusses Lions and Bulls as doorkeepers, a feature which apparently dates to the Early Dynastic period. I focus here on remarks concerning this period as Lions and Bulls in later Assyrian periods are well known. Persons interested in researching ED Lions would be best served in looking to the Ninhursag Temple artifacts from the ancient city of Tell Al-Ubaid located near Ur. These artifacts date to approx. 2500 BC. Eva has speculated that many of the temple figurines in the early periods that served as doorkeepers or to ward off evil, often bulls and lions, were made of metal - thus because of the high value they were often carried of or recycled in ancient times, leaving us little evidence.. Tell Al-Ubaid and the Ninhursag temple are exceptions as some sort of catastrophe appears to have occurred causing the temple to collapse, burying and saving numerous examples of the Lion guardians (or at least their heads). One example is below:
In all seven free-standing bulls (small, 64 cm or so), 14 reliefs of calves (75 cm), eight lion heads (differing sizes) and the "so-called" Anzu relief have been recovered from the site. The Anzu relief is disputed as apparently there may or may not have been a mistake in attaching a lions head to the eagle body of the plaque during reconstruction - debate remains.
Still to come... Summing of Eva's remarks on the rare instances of Protective Deitives and Demons on temple walls - infrequent as they are.