Exploring Archaic Standards, Emblems, Cult Symbols

[sheshki]

here is what Black and Green, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia has:

rhomb
The `rhomb' or 'lozenge' is a pointed oval
within four enclosing perimeter lines. It is a
very common motif in Mesopotamian art from
early historic times until the Neo-Assyrian
Period. Its significance is uncertain. The symbol
has been variously explained as a grain of
corn, a date-stone, a symbol of earth, an eye,
or a woman's vulva. That it is closely
associated in art with the goddess Ištar
(Inana) and is similar to the clay models of
vulvae found in her temple at Asšur supports
the last suggestion. The rhomb seems to have
had a magically protective function.

concerning the Kassite cross go >>>here

[symbolic]

!! That is very good of you, thanks for that, very informative. It's interesting that symbols with such frequency are still in a grey area as far as identification is concerned.
(edited: I should read and respond in less haste:)

[sheshki]

a wonderful example of ring posts and inanna related iconography, from the Diyala Project website

[sheshki]

and a nice example of the cross

[us4-he2-gal2]

Symbolic:



In addition to the insights Sheshki provides above, I suggest the following article for the rhomb / lozenge symbolism:

www.matrifocus.com/LAM06/spotlight.htm



The author does have a feminist bent, which I suggest should be borne in mind. Not to imply that the information is inherently incorrect therefore, but we all have our biases. In particular, I believe Stuckey has reduced the laborious task of finding other scholars who say anything substantial about this symbol which after all is just a shape, one that occurs frequently in Mesopotamian art, but the ancients never left us a note to explain 'we like this shape because it makes us think of X.'


You may want to follow up by referencing the Goff and the Göhde, both of these works are given in Stuckey's bibliography. I have given Goff at the below link, please contact me by mail ([e-mail]) if you need the Göhde as well.



Goff here

[sheshki]

Very nice example of a standard , unfortunatly i do not have many details about it.
Found it via facebook. Thanks to Adam for the information.
Here<<<< is the link to the page where he found it.




edit:
with darkl´s help (he deciphered a year name on the tablet) i was able to locate the tablet, after scrolling through hundreds and hundreds of tablets...oh boy

So it is >>>this (P235442)<<< one.
Here is a collection of the four imprints of the standard.



During my search-a-ton i found two more standards.

P100578



P106618

[us4-he2-gal2]

Some nice investigating Sheshki, thanks to you and Adam and Darkl. Well, about the original seal that caught your eye (P235442) looks like a presentation scene, which were frequent in Ur III iconography: a mortal (usually the king) is presented by his personal god to a seated god, probably the city god. As for the standard in question, it seems to have the 'fringed tassle' (see the summaries of Szarzynska at the top of this page); as for the 'divine emblem' that is mounted on top of the standard, it looks like a 4 legged animal to me. Perhaps a lion. It has been demonstrated by C. Suter (Gudea's Temple Building) that the heraldic animal of Ningirsu was the lion and so that is my guess at the moment. On the other hand, since the item comes from Umma and Inanna would be more central there I believe, I could change my mind.

[sheshki]

The picture is not very clear, unfortunately. To me it kinda looks like a bull... Uruk maybe

This is post 1000. Invisible drinks to everyone

[sheshki]

From: Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus

>>>link<<<

[sheshki]

From: Royal Statuary of Early Dynastic Mesopotamia by Gianni Marchesi and Nicolò Marchetti

Copper standard found in the temple of Ningirsu in Girsu



"It may be interesting to note that both the plaque and the “Standard” were found in the northwest wing, i.e.,
in the vicinities of the newly-found Red Temple (below Middle Bronze Age Temple D) and may thus have been dedicated in a temple rather than in a palace con-
text (a situation similar to the “Enceinte Sacrée” of the Pre-Sargonic Palace in Mari)."

[sheshki]

From: Non-Textuality in the Ancient Near East

Klaus Wagensonner, 2009


§ 6 Divine symbols
We already met symbols referring to or representing divinities in the discussion of
Old Babylonian cylinder seal impressions. Such symbols are roughly attested from the
middle of the 3rd millennium onwards. Recently Michael Herles dealt with the archaeological
and textual evidence concerning the anthropomorphic representation of
deities and their connection to the symbols (2006). Since identifying a symbol with a
specific deity is still in many cases problematic, the best identification can only be
provided by accompanying inscriptions. “Legends” are unfortunately, apart from the
glyptic art, only attested in rare cases. For the second half of the 2nd millennium the
best evidence is provided by monuments which, generally spoken, commemorate
royal grants of land. These objects are called Kudurrus or Narûs. The most recent
study of those artefacts was conducted by Kathryn Slanski (2003). Although her work
was critically reviewed by John Brinkman (2004) and Dominique Charpin (2002), it
offers a valuable insight into the corpus of approximately 150 monuments. It is not the
place here to go into detail, but the legal transactions attested in the inscriptions are
often followed by extensive curse formulae containing references to deities. In addition
to the inscription the grant of land is often supported by divine symbols carved
onto the monument’s surface. Only in extremely rare cases the symbols are accompanied
by legends. An often cited example of a possible correlation between text and
image is the Kudurru published in Scheil (1900: 86ff.), which should be quoted here
shortly. In ll.iv:30f. the content of the preceding lines is declared: “17 emblems of the
great gods”. The eye-catching fact is that we find on two
sides of the artefact an array of 17 divine symbols, which led to many interpretations.
The passage reads as follows:

iv:šubtu u šukusu ša Anim šar šamê                            the socle and the headdress of Anu, king of the sky;

iv:girgilu allaku ša Ellil bel šadê                                   the gull, courier of Enlil, lord of the mountains;

iv:mum u suhurmašu aširtu rabitu ša Ea                       emblem and goat-fish, the great socle of Ea;

iv:Šulpa’e                                                               Šulpa’e,

iv:Išhara                                                                Išhara,

iv:u Aruru                                                               and Aruru;

iv:usqaru buginna magurru ša Sîn                                crescent, trough, (and) magurru-ship of Sîn;

iv:niphu namrirru ša dayyani rabî Šamaš                       the radiant sun disk of the great judge Šamaš;

iv:isqarrurtu purrurtu ša Ištar belet šadî/matati              the jagged-edged emblem of Ištar, lady of the mountains/lands;

iv:buru ekdu ša Adad mar Anim                                   the fierce calf of Adad, son of Anu;

iv:Girru ezzu šipru ša                                                Nuska raging Girru, envoy of Nuska;

iv:Šuqamuna                                                          Šuqamuna

iv:u Šumaliya                                                         and Šumalia,

iv:ilanu murtamu                                                     the gods who love each other;

iv:Nirah šipru ša Ištaran                                           Nirah, the envoy of Ištaran;

iv:Šar’ur(ur) Šargaz                                                Šar’ur, Šargaz,

iv:u Meslamta’e(a)                                                 and Meslamta’e(a);

iv:masab šubbati                                                   a reed basket,

iv:markasu rabû ša Esikilla                                       the great rope of the (temple) Esikila.”

Although the majority of those described “emblems” allow – due to our modern point
of view – only a few comparisons to the image, we are dealing here with an interesting
source considering divine symbols. Zainab Bahrani states, that “reading the text
on royal images as a serious mode of writing rather than a repetitive apparatus allows
for a rethinking of the perception of statuary in antiquity and a far more complex understanding
of the power of such images than has been allowed them by traditional
scholarship” (2003: 191f.). And indeed, there is a remarkable object dating to the
Middle Assyrian period, which was found in a secondary deposit in a sealed room of
the Ištar-temple in the city of Assur (modern Qal’at Šerqat) (fig. 18a). By virtue of the
depictions on this cult pedestal we may make a good link to the “socles” dealt with on
the afore-mentioned Kudurrus. That cult pedestal, labelled “Symbolsockel” by the
excavator Walter Andrae, was endowed by the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243-
1207 BC), who dedicated the object to the god Nuska, the god of light. The much
discussed relief carved on the front depicts the king represented in a rare kind of narrative,
standing and kneeling in front of a pedestal whose shape is exactly the same as
the round-shaped object. But on the image we find the depiction of a tablet and a
stylus, which normally refer to the scribe god Nabû. The cult pedestal was recently
interpreted by Zainab Bahrani who views “the inscription on the altar of Tukulti-
Ninurta not as a separate source of information for the visual image but as part of the
signifying logic of the monument as a whole, a monument which (she takes) to be
comprised of both text and image” (2003: 192). The text carved at the bottom of the
pedestal reads as follows:

nemed Nuska sukkalli siri ša Ekur                        “Cult platform of Nuska, chief vizier of the Ekur,

naši hatti / ešreti                                              bearer of the just sceptre,

muzziz pan Aššur u Ellil ša                                   servant of (the gods) Aššur and Enlil, who

umišam-ma / teslet                                           daily

Tukulti-Ninurta šar naramišu /                             repeats the petition of Tukulti-Ninurta, his beloved

ina pan Aššur u Ellil ušannû-ma                           king, before Aššur and Enlil. (...)”

Zainab Bahrani – in view of the afore-mentioned statements made by her – tried to
compare image and text without tearing them apart and looking on them separately
(2003: 192ff.). Her methodology is definitely striking by looking on the orthography
of the god Nuska who is written with the sign-sequence PA.TUG₂. In the text the god
is called the “bearer of the just sceptre”. The sceptre, written ^gišGIDRI/PA is part of
the divine name. Secondly the verb šanû, “to repeat”, literally refers to the repetition
of the royal representation on the pedestal. Therefore, Bahrani’s interpretation of this
object as an “integral visual-verbal monument” (2003: 199) is rather appropriate.
...
Finally I want to rivet attention to a very interesting passage in a Sumerian-Akkadian
account of a divine journey dealing with the goddess Nin-Isina(k) who travels with
her entourage from her hometown Isin to Nippur, where Enlil, the supreme god of the
Sumerian pantheon, resides. This composition particularises the position of each divinity
in the procession in ll.6-12.72 In l.11, anyway, the deified emblem (^dšu-nir) is
“placed” in front of the procession and therefore objectified:

gidlam-a-ni ur-sag ^dpa-bil₂-sag hi-li-a mu-un-DU

dumu-ki-ag₂-ga₂-ni ^dda-mu-ša₆-ga nu-nus-zi ^dgu-nu-ra

dalad-ša₆-ga e₂-gal-mah-a-ne₂ egir-ra-na mu-un-su₈-ge-eš

dudug-ša₆-ga a-a-^d+en-lil₂-la₂ zi-da-na mu-un-DU

^dlama₂-ša₆-ga en ^dnun-nam-nir-ra gub₃-bu-na mu-un-DU

^_dšu-nir-ra-a-ne₂ zalag₂-dutu-gin₇ igi-a-ni-še₃ si mi-ni-ib₂-se

^dšu-mah sukkal-zi-e₂-gal-mah-a igi-še₃ mu-un-DU

“Her spouse the hero Pabilsag walks in joy,
(her) beloved child Damušaga, the righteous woman Gunura,
[and] Aladšaga walk behind her to the (temple) Egalmah.
Udugšaga, the ‘father of Enlil’ walks at her right side.
Lamašaga, the ‘lord Nunamnir’ walks at her left side.
(Her) (deified) emblem, which is like the splendour of the sun, is set before her.
Šumah the righteous messenger of the Egalmah walks at front.”

[sheshki]

From: Royal Statuary of Early Dynastic Mesopotamia,
by Gianni Marchesi and Nicolò Marchetti (2011)

In addition to the famous alabaster vase (the so-called Warka vase), this deposit contained seven cylin-
der seals, four of which show the “priest-king” with a net skirt, a trait that appears to be
characteristic of the Jemdet Nasr period (cf. n. 14 above), which is also the date of the deposit.
On a seal in elaborate style, he is shown holding an ear of barley and grazing two sheep, behind
and in front of which are, respectively, an ear of barley and a bundle of reeds with a volute at the
top (“Schilfringbundel”), unanimously interpreted as the symbol of In`anak on the basis of its use
as a pictogram to indicate this deity (Pl. 47:2). The same two symbols—the constant association
of which indicates that the ear of barley is not merely an offering but instead some kind of
emblem—recur on four schematic seals carrying the meeting scene, where, between the “priestking”
and the female figure with the two-pointed tiara (the “goddess”), also attested on the
Warka vase , there are always two baskets of offerings (Pl. 47:3–5). The constant duplication
not only of the symbol of In`anak but also of all of the offerings, notably the baskets,
vases, and rhyta, is undoubtedly peculiar and may indicate that these are intended for two individuals,
namely, the “goddess” and the “priest-king.” On another seal in the elaborate style, the
“priest-king” is shown on a boat in front of a bull-shaped altar, above which are two “Schilfring-
bundeln” (Pl. 47:6). Given the close association between the “priest-king” and the bull suggested
by the seal impression from Choga Mish , one could assume that the bullshaped
altar possibly refers to the “priest-king.” We cannot, however, rule out that the altar with
the “Schilfringbundeln” hints at the “goddess” instead, as could be deduced from the fact that,
on another seal from Uruk, the “priest-king” (holding an ear of barley between his hands) stands
in front of the usual two baskets and a bull-shaped altar, which replaces in this case the “goddess”
in the meeting scene; a third possibility, that the altar supports a semi-pictographic writing of
a toponym, ...
...

²⁷Hockmann (2008) has recognized in the upper frieze of the Warka vase and in three other seals (Pl. 48:6, 9, and
Amiet 1980: no. 643) the writings for Nippur, Kutha, Zabalam, and Urum. In one of these seals, which is fragmentary
(Pl. 48:9; Amiet 1980: no. 654; Basmachi 1994: 9, no. 2), the altar/pictogram rests on a feline.
...

Although it is possible that the “priest-king” is in fact the EN, the nature of Inªanak
is of such complexity that one may wonder whether the “Schilfringbundel” was associated with
the “priest-king” as well as the “goddess.”

Examples of ringposts from Early Dynastic seal impressions. Interesting here is picture 5, where there is a lion-like figure instead of a bull.

[sheshki]

From: Mesopotamische Standarten in literarischen Zeugnissen by Beate Pongratz-Leisten

Here is a rough translation of the part i found interesting since the text is in german.

In the Šulgi hymn (Šulgi B) there is a building or room mentioned where standards are kept, the e₂ šu-nir. Standards (šu-nir) also received offerings according to sumerian administrative texts.

The archaeological material suggests an inclusion of standards in the daily cult (Tukulti-Ninurta), were they brought to a battle, as a representative of the god, the cultic rituals including offerings and sacrifices, took place in a tent (examples from Aššurnasirpal and Senacherib).

[sheshki]

From OIP 129: The Early Dynastic To Akkadian Transition: The Area WF Sounding At Nippur

Augusta McMahon, with contributions by Pamela Vandiver and David Reese.

download link

[sheshki]

From OIP 78

Temple of Enlil, scribal quarter and soundings by D.E. McCown, R. C. Haines

download link

Examples of standards/divine symbols from the temple of Enlil in Nippur

[hukkana]

I'm really interested if anyone has a picture of that Ur Cemetery seal (footnote # 142) showing "combat among the gods".

[sheshki]

The books in question are "Böhmer, Rainer Michael, Die Entwicklung der Glyptik während der Akkad-Zeit"
and "Ur excavations X" by L.Legrain. Wasn´t able to access them so far.

[hukkana]

Thanks for trying either way.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Irritatingly, I don't seem to have access to the Böhmer either. Have you tried the Archive of Mesopotamian Archaeological Reports (AMAR) website yet? I've lost the URL to the site.

[hukkana]

Dec 8, 2015 15:25:16 GMT -5 us4-he2-gal2 said:

Irritatingly, I don't seem to have access to the Böhmer either. Have you tried the Archive of Mesopotamian Archaeological Reports (AMAR) website yet? I've lost the URL to the site.

I don't think I've ever heard of that site before.

And the problem is I don't know what the note on it says. As far as I've gone over the text, three times or so, the part posted here only seems to contain note 143, not 142 or any of the others.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Okay, I'll talk to Sheshki and maybe we can dig up some resource on this, if I have to, may even cart my lazy rear to an actual physical library, which has always been an option. By the way Hukanna, I love your contributions here, even so, would you be able to refrain from using the 'quote post' feature ? I know it is your habit, but it increases clutter.

[hukkana]

Sorry. The reason I use it is so that the person who I'm responding to gets notified of the response. I assume that's how the notifications on here work anyway, if I didn't miss anything.

[sheshki]

Here is footnote 142, it´s basically what i posted earlier.

[hukkana]

Thanks, I just needed to see the note in question. Granted I'll have to do some digging to find out what the titles of those individual works are but I needed somewhere to start from.

[sheshki]

A nice example of the developement of the MUŠ₃ (Inanna) sign from the symbol of the ringpost.

From: P222772




90° turned

[us4-he2-gal2]

Sheshki:



This is in response to your post made above, Dec. 4 2015, concerning the animal footed "standard." I occurs to me that we have seen animal footed object before at enenuru, 7 years ago or so. These were somewhat obscure objects from Kish and Eshnunna, but reading of the posts on the relevant thread, one gets the sense that they were for ritual purposes, specifically, offerings may have been placed on them. Perhaps this "standard" is not a standard but something to place objects to be offered on?

enenuru.proboards.com/thread/138/misc-observations-on-art


But more interesting than our original thread dealing with animal legged objects, is perhaps the thread I will link below dealing with wall plaques from Nippur.

enenuru.proboards.com/thread/494/early-image-divine

First, it is art from the same city (Nippur). Secondly, if you scroll to the image labelled "Cult Stand A" , you see a bull legged cult stand, as it was called by one scholar, with apparently 2 ropes dangling from it. I guessed, and still do guess, that such a stand may have been used to tie a sacrificial animal that was to be slaughted for the god, i.e. a goat. It is possible that the object in the seal is the same (perhaps the "sandal" is not a sandal but a rope device for binding).

[us4-he2-gal2]

www.academia.edu/27976894/The_Standards_on_the_Victory_Stele_of_Naram-Sin




The above link is to a paper written by an academia.edu contact of mine, Renate van-Dijk-Coombes, a student from the U. of Stellenbosch. Her article explores the standards of the Victory stele Naram-sin; importantely, her article relates that scholars have divided Standards into 6 categories: 1) divine standards, 2) royal standards, 3) standards in a ritual context, 4) standards in judicial procedures, 5) standards on military campaigns, and 6) standards in an architectural context. She finds that the standards present on Naram=sin's victory stele represent the first visually attested military standards in Mesopotamian record.

[sheshki]

Terracotta fragment from Ishchali
from OIP 98

[sheshki]

(for the complete article including all the citations and footnotes see-->Reallexikon der Assyriologie Vol. 14, p.414

^dUrigallu. The word urigallu (uringallu/uriggallu,
from Sum. uri₃/urin and uri₃gal)
refers to standards which
symbolized the divine presence (usually spelled as logogram
URI₃.GAL and GI.URI₃.GAL, also syll. u₂-ri-gal-
lu, u₂-ri-gal-li, u₂-rin-gal-li).
Standards accompanied the army and
played a role in various rituals. Deified
standards, prefixed with the divine determinative
(^dURI₃.GAL, ^dUri₃-gal-lum, ^dU₂ -ri-gal-la),
are also attested in the later periods.
Šamši-Adad V claims to have captured the
Bab. king Baba-aḫa-iddina with the deified
standard (^dURI₃.GAL) that preceded him;
Ass. inscriptions refer several times to these deified standards
preceding the king in battle. The most detailed evidence on deified
standards stems from the NB archive of
the Eanna (Ayakku) temple in Uruk, where two
such objects are known: the Divine U. of
Ištar (^dUri₃-gal-lum ša₂ ^dINNIN UNUG^ki), and the Divine U. of
Usur-amassu (^dUri_3-gal-lum ša₂ ^dURI₃-INIM-su).
They received offerings of meat on specific ritual occasions
and a few texts record disbursements
of red-colored wool for their “turbans”
(paršigu), which probably refers to the
tassels attached to the top of the shaft holding
the standard. One NB text from Sippar
mentions “the processional way of the
Deified Standard of the goddess Šarrat-
Sippar". Texts from Uruk, Sippar and
other sites also mention deified standards
not specifically attached to a deity. They
continue to be attested at Uruk until the
Seleucid period. The logogram ^dURI₃.GAL can also denote
the god Nergal.

[sheshki]

Ceremonial Standards in the Visual Culture of Early Mesopotamia
By Renate van Dijk-Coombes

www.asor.org/anetoday/2023/08/ceremonial-standards-early-mesopotamia