The Early Image of the Divine

[us4-he2-gal2]

The Early Image of the Divine

In the process of writing a paper on the image of the ruler in early Mesopotamian art (see here), I was forced to also consider the image of the gods in early art. The reason for this is that the image of the god and of the ruler are easily confused in the Uruk through ED I periods: there is little in the lines of formal insignia to distinguish the two in those times. (That some Uruk period seals depict a set of simply horns on a deity is possible, but debatable, and generally not recognized by scholars).


In the following thread I invite all interested to gather and examine all imagery that may improve our discussion of the development of the divine image in Mesopotamia. This is not the same as the development of the religious notion of the divine, as there were gods in the Uruk period and before, and in the ED I period and - the theology clearly predates the development of a consistent technique of signaling the divine in art. For that matter, the divine determinative, the DINGIR, although inconsistently used in the earliest texts, clearly predates the horned crown in art. In many ways this thread would be at home on our archaeological sub-board (here), however posting it here instead was a judgement call.




So to start things off, I will post a chart which was also quite useful to me while writing the recent paper. This chart is a (more or less) complete sequence in the development of the divine horned helmut from it's first appearance in the ED II period, and then in the ED IIIa (see frühdynastisch 1,2,3) into the Akkadian and on through to the Neo-Babylonian. The chart was produced by Boehmer, a German scholar whose categorical approach to iconography was well employed here. The chart is copied from RlA 4, pg 416:

- Now the stage is set for the presentation of new data, anyone have an early image they would like to be analyzed?

[us4-he2-gal2]

Art from Nippur

General Information: The above items (N 8 to N 11) are wall-plaques and may have origins in the Inanna in Nippur. Some pieces are simply called "stray finds" so their find spots are questionable. The first three date from the ED IIIa period which the fourth (N 11) dates from the early Akkadian period.

During their various dig seasons between the years 1950-1990, the University of Chicago were responsible for the excavation of the temple of Inanna in Nippur. McGuire Gibson and his team are attempting to produce the final and comprehensive report of those excavations which is still yet to appear, hence the extremely important ED contents of this temple cannot be fully discussed at present. And yet the above items did appear in a book on wall-plaques by the German scholar Boese (Boese 1971). For a look at the 2011 state of the publication of the Inanna temple, and a glimpse at its wonders, see Gibson's progress report:

oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/10_11_Nippur.pdf


As for the nature of the wall-plaque, these items were votive or dedicatory objects, they were commissioned by the elites (and in some cases by royalty) and were hung in the temple so that the god could see and take note of these prestige gifts
. The presence of inscriptions on some indicate the core intent: that the god take notice of the patron as well. Often the plaques feature scenes of the elites in banquet at the temple, i.e. taking part in the ritual celebrations of the god. In some cases like the examples we are are looking at now, they appear to depict the divine themselves (and the question of just which gods are depicted will be interesting). Other possible functions of the wall-plaque have been suggested, what was the hole in the middle for? Some commentators suggest that the item was used to lock a door in some fashion, or that a ceremonial mace would be stood up and placed in the hole in the center - the most common explanation is that the hole in the center was used to hang the thing on a wall and I will go with that for now. The real significance of the wall-plaques as a medium is that their imagery is far more detailed and religiously significant than the abstract or off topic cylinder seal art of the ED period, hence the imagery of the plaques is arguably more important for a study of the divine - as reported on pg. 74 of Art of the First Cities "The plaques..are significant because they bear some of the earliest representations of anthropomorphic deities."

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Describing N 8: Obviously this plaque is split into two registers (top and bottom). In the bottom register is a flock which may be interpreted as the temple flock. Generally scenes including the herding of animals and/or gathering of fruits indicate a banquet is taking place.

In the top register attendants stand by with what may be libation vases - they may be pouring libations for the gods, in analogy with Art of the First Cities #33 and #34. Libations would involve ritual purification rather than filling the banquet cup.. on the other hand, the deities have their hands folded which is either showing piety (unlikely) or a banqueting posture (holding the cup). If the attendants are in fact acting as cup bearers then, this is consistent with the symbolism of the herds in the bottom register. It isn't clear to me. For a great discussion of banqueting in the temple, see Licia Romano:

Banqueting in the Temple

Further, from a thread created just today by Sheshki (see here) we learn ritual word kašdea [Banquet] - evan in language, the ambiguity between libation and cup bearing (cup filling) is there:

"In general it means "banquet", but in combination with a divine name it is a libation ritual, the “pouring of beer(kaš)”.
It can also occur in combination with LUGAL, which then means a meal of the king with the gods (in combination with sacrifices of cattle). Also, if a divinity has left his/her temple, a kaš-de2-a ritual in combination with a gerrānum (lament) speeds up his or her return."

As for the deities themselves, it is apparent that they wear a divine crown that is somewhat like Boehmer fruhdynastisch 3, a horned crown in the style of the ED IIIa period - 2 simple horns with wheat stalks (or some form of vegetation) as decoration, and a central piece which may or may not have the "lion's face" as described by Asher-Greve (Asher-Greve 1995/96). The deities have long hair, which may be done up in a chignon at the back, a style typically associated with the late ED and early Akkadian kings, but a style also found on the elites and on the divine in some art. They have long beards. They wear a skirt of uncertain design.

As for the identification of the gods pictured, this is where it gets really difficult. Fortunately (?) the plaque is inscribed and so we are given the written language to aid in interpretation. Sheshki pointed out to me that the plaque is treated on CDLI (entry here). This entry was made by Foxvog and Johnson, who provide the following line drawing from the inscription on the plaque:

The transliteration and translation that CDLI provides is as follows:

1. {d}inanna eden

For Inanna of the Plain,

2. ur-{d}en-lil2

Ur-Enlil,

3. dam-gar3-gal

the chief merchant,

4. a mu-ru

dedicated it (this plaque).

So this treatment of the text is interesting for several reasons. First of all, the writing on the deities skirt is read as "Inanna" and this is very curious.. As the deity is shown with a long beard, how do we have a female goddess here? Was Inanna shown with a beard in some ED period art? This seems very strange. Its also the case that the clothing, the skirt and bare chest, is very much male clothing, as female goddess of the period tend to have a covered chest.


Boese 1971 gives transliteration line 1 as "NINNI-EDIN" and there is an article by van Buren about fish offerings which discusses the goddess Ninni-edin in relation to this plaque in particular. However, as Sheshki points out to me, the name is written with the basic MUSH3 sign universially recognized in the spelling of Inanna's name today.. hence this is more than likely an outdated reading, and we would prefer the Foxrog/Johnson reading which appears on CDLI. It is however uncertain whether this plaque comes specifically from the Inanna temple, Boese gives it notes about its origin only "stray piece?".


So there remain main questions and obscurities about N 8, the inscription is clear enough but why a female deity is depicted in this manner is difficult to say at present. Perhaps with more information we could understand the imagery better.




________________________________
Still to come... discussion of N 9, N 10, N 11

[us4-he2-gal2]

Continuing... Art from Nippur

Describing N 9: Starting with the bottom register, there seems to be two herders who I believe many commentators would term "foreigners" on account of the strange hair styles, which conflict with the typically shaven headed Sumerians. It's not clear if they are herding animals for a banquet.

The upper register is much like the scene described in N 8 in the above post: A nude attendant is either pouring a ritual libation or acting as cup bearer at a banquet. There is again a pair of deities (although one is largely broken off) who sport a horned crown in the ED IIIa style, but no chignon is indicated this time. Long beard, and skirt of uncertain design, hands are folded.

No inscription is present to give any further data about the identification of the deity depicted. Based on the evidence of N 8, it seems that possibility that it is a female goddess depicted, even Inanna, cannot be ruled out. Again the findspot is given by Boese only as "stray find?"

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Describing N 10:




This next piece, N 10, is a fragment of a plaque which Boese thinks was possibly found in the debris repository in the Parthian temple (which was built over top of the Inanna temple I believe.) Therefore the plaque fragment was found out of context, but is likely to have come from the Inanna temple originally.


Obviously, the remaining imagery depicts a goddess, whose ED IIIa crown has the vegetation element and the central piece made to resemble a lion's face (following Asher-Greve 1995/96). I have often heard that the mace on shoulders motif (often it is 3 maces, here, it looks like 2) are an signifier of the goddess Inanna; however, it is clear that this symbolism is not Inanna's alone.


In fact, Irene Winter (Winter 2010 pg. 9) believes that the maces were in fact "the traditional manner of showing divine attributes." (Here she gives as examples, Henri Frankfort, Cylinder Seals (London, 1939), pls. XVIII, XX,
XXV; and Barrelet, “Peut-on remettre . . . ?” 244 - which I cannot access at the moment). And she has identified the following image as none other than Ninhursag:

This a diabase/dolerite stone vessel fragment, or a piece of a elaborate stone cup, dated to the ED IIIB period (2400-2250). The goddess wears a full cloak, an ED IIIa type horned crown, and holds a banqueting cup in one hand (?) and a date sprig in the other. Sometimes the attributes on the shoulders are described as vegetation aspects or 'poppy pods' ( as in Art of the First Cities pg. 77), while other commentators see them as maces (Winter). While Art of the first Cites claims that the inscription does "fails to identify the goddess," Winter had earlier claimed that the same inscription identifies Ninhursag (See now Winter 2010 pg. 9 n. 23). Obviously this is an important point which needs independent verification.

Another piece discussed by Irene Winter in order to make her argument for the identification of this goddess as Ninhursag - as the description says, a Limestone plaque found at EDIII Tello (Girsu). Although the plaque is uninscribed, Winter identifies the goddess as Ninhursag because of her seat which consists of the mountain pattern material.

Finally, we have here a line drawing of the obverse of the Stele of Vultures and a goddess with the ED IIIa type crown and the tops of the maces are visible on the remaining fragment. Winter identifies this as Ninhursag because it helps her interpretation that the large central figure is in fact Ningirsu (the son of Ninhursag); personally, I think the large central figure may be Eannatum, and the goddess Ningursag (in the inscription, Eannatum claims to have been suckled by Ninhursag, who as mother of Ningirsu, has specially significance in Lagash/Girsu).





In any case, the point has been made that in the ED period, the goddess with maces on her shoulders is not necessarily Inanna. Is the goddess in N 10 Inanna? It's possible. In addition to have the maces as attributes on her shoulders, she holds additional maces in her hands, suggesting a war like aspect. But then, Inanna's warlike nature is generally thought to have been a result of her merging with the Semitic Ishtar sometime in the Akkadian period, and these images predate the Akkadian period. When it comes down to it, I don't think anyone knows for sure whether N 10 represents Inanna or not.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Continuing... Art from Nippur

Describing N 11:






With N 11 there are some distinct differences - it is a fragment of a limestone plaque and was found in the immediate proximity of the Bel temple in Nippur. Secondly, it dates to the early Akkadian period (note the 6 horned crown worn by both deities, like number 6 in Boehmer's chart at the top of this thread).



In terms of iconography, on the left portion we have a male divinity with horned crown and mace in hand, and in his other hand he leads a supplicant who bears a lamb offering in his hands. Amiet 1961 pg. 169 points out that this bears some resemblance to the" presentation scenes" of the Ur III cylinder seals, in which a divinity introduces a human supplicant to a high god seated on a throne.


The goddess seated in the middle of the scene is certainly interesting. She holds a banqueting cup in one hand and, Boese states, she holds the date frond on the other hand, which is typical of Banquet scenes. However on looking at it closely, Sheshki and I think it is a fish. Obviously, it is interesting that she appears to be sitting on a bird, which some might label a "goose". The simple explanation is that the goddess is Nanshe, whose hymns indicate her importance to the Marsh lands and to both fish and birds; Nanshe was the titulary goddess of Nina, a district of the state of Lagash and the hymns say she holds a bird or a fish in hand, so certainly Nanshe is suggestible. However, she is not the only possibility. In fact, it may be Baba/Bau, the spouse of Ningirsu and a very important deity in the state of Lagash. She is sometimes associated with a bird, as in the case of this OB terracotta plaque:

Notice the birds at the foot of her throne.. This item was briefly discussed in Leick 1991 (1998) fig. 6 where she states that it is a "terracotta plaque of a seated goddess flanked by two palm trees. The two birds may represent geese, animals sacred to Baba." Against this however Black and Green (2003 pg. 39) state: "Formerly the goose was though to be associated with Bau, but this is now known to be erroneous." So once again the identity of the deity pictured is an open question. Maybe it is Bau. Maybe it is Nanshe.



Another interesting part of the scene of N 11 is the cultic items to the right of the goddess. Boese describes the item on the far right as a "bindenbekränzen ständer" which I think translates to something like 'a stand/pillary arrayed with bindings.' And indeed, the thing does appear to have ropes used to secure something. One possibility is that the object was used to secure and bind a sacrificial animal for the slaughter. The item does appears in temple contexts. In this regard see for example:

Cult Stand A is a shell plaque from ED III Ur. Paul Collins (Art of the First Cities pg. 75) states: "The man pours a libation before a post supported on bull's legs. It is likely that the scene continued on another plaque above it since the two ribbons hanging from the top of the image may have been attached to the post.." Given the shape of the visible stand and the dangling ropes, it is likely a cult stand much like that pictures in N 11.


Cult Stand B is a limestone plaque from the ED IIIa levels of the Gippar at Ur (Discussed in Winter 2010 pg. 70, Art of the First Cities #33, Amiet 1961 #1355. Bottom register: Like in N 11 a man with a shaven head carries a lamb offering, and a cultic stand (looking more like an alter here) with rope fittings is presenting in the scene; over the stand/alter a nude priest pours a libation, ritually purifying the stand. Perhaps before and/or after a sacrifice was bound and slaughtered on the stand/alter, such libations were performed? In the top register a similar libation scene occurs before seated deity - I believe that Amiet states the deity may be Nanna on account of the shape of the crown, but he also points out that the vase which is held is more typical of Enki.


Cult Stand C and D are cylinder seal impressions from the ED period which contain a stand in the temple context which resembles the one in N 11 (although it is not clear whether ropes are included.)

[sheshki]

In The Sumerian goddess Inanna (3400.2200 BC) by Paul Collins i found some information concerning "picture 10"

--->Link



A possible representation of Inanna/Ishtar appears on a cylinder seal of
Akkad date. Identified by an inscription as belonging to the scribe Adda, the seal
depicts four of the major gods of Mesopotamia: Enki, Shamash, a hunting god
and a winged goddess in a flounced robe with weapons rising from her shoulders.
She holds a date cluster in one hand (Fig. left). This female deity, suggested to
be Inanna/Ishtar combining her two aspects of war and sexuality (Collon 1987:
165), is very similar to the representation of a goddess on a fragment of a large
vessel, now in Berlin, and probably dating to the time of Entemena of Lagash (EO
Ill)(Orthmann 1975: 188). It shows a goddess, full face, wearing a flounced robe
and a horned crown over long flowing hair. From her shoulders rise maces or
other weapons and in her right hand is a date cluster (Fig. 4b). The similarities
between the two goddesses are obvious and, if the Berlin relief does depict
Inanna, it represents one of the earliest known portraits of the deity. A similar
goddess, holding weapons in her left hand, is depicted on a fragment of a stone
plaque from the Nippur Inanna temple. It was found out of context but has been
dated on stylistic grounds to c. 2500 BC (Orthmann 1 g]5: 192). The identification
of all three representations is, however, far from secure.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Yes great reply Sheshki, thank you! Collin's pdf treating Inanna is really a great treatment of the goddess. It's nice that he makes mention of the plaque fragment from Nippur which must be N 10 (discussed in the posts above). I appreciate that he realizes identification of the goddesses in these pictures is "far from secure." Unfortunately, this remains situation at present.

[Polyhistoria]

Seemingly, there's a connection with the Anatolian Mother Goddess Kubaba, Cybele, etc. (And much later Aphrodite riding on a swan.) It seems that Kubaba's bird is a hawk, though that's far from settled. There are a number of different types of birds depicted with goddesses– bearded vultures, hawks, geese/ducks/swans, and later, with Persian influence, a peacock. 

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