Scholars of magic in the Iron Age Levant have had to grapple with a dearth of sources between the fall of Late Bronze Age cities (ca. 1200 BCE) and the proliferation of magic bowls over a millennium later (ca. 400 CE). Three recently published early Aramaic inscriptions help fill this lacuna: a recently excavated inscribed cosmetic container from Zincirli, a Lamaštu amulet from the same site held by the Vorderasiatisches Museum (S.3604), and an Aramaic-inscribed statuette of Lamaštu’s nemesis, Pazuzu, currently in the holdings of the Ashmolean Museum (AN1892.43). These texts, dated paleographically to the ninth and eighth centuries BCE, afford a window into local magical traditions in the Levant. They also show how communities on the imperial periphery adopted and adapted elements of Mesopotamian magic. Finally, the inscriptions provide an impetus for a new analysis of the infamous Arslan Tash amulets, offering further context for their texts and iconography.
{"title":"Discovering Early Syrian Magic","authors":"J. DeGrado, M. Richey","doi":"10.1086/716830","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/716830","url":null,"abstract":"Scholars of magic in the Iron Age Levant have had to grapple with a dearth of sources between the fall of Late Bronze Age cities (ca. 1200 BCE) and the proliferation of magic bowls over a millennium later (ca. 400 CE). Three recently published early Aramaic inscriptions help fill this lacuna: a recently excavated inscribed cosmetic container from Zincirli, a Lamaštu amulet from the same site held by the Vorderasiatisches Museum (S.3604), and an Aramaic-inscribed statuette of Lamaštu’s nemesis, Pazuzu, currently in the holdings of the Ashmolean Museum (AN1892.43). These texts, dated paleographically to the ninth and eighth centuries BCE, afford a window into local magical traditions in the Levant. They also show how communities on the imperial periphery adopted and adapted elements of Mesopotamian magic. Finally, the inscriptions provide an impetus for a new analysis of the infamous Arslan Tash amulets, offering further context for their texts and iconography.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"84 1","pages":"282 - 292"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46902544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bishapur was an early Sasanian city established by Shapur I (240–270 CE), the second king of the dynasty (224–651 CE). Archaeological excavations, begun in the middle of the nineteenth century, revealed numerous structures in the city, but the functions attributed to them are in doubt. Among the Sasanian buildings discovered is an obscure—in terms of form and location—structure usually identified as a gate or summer house. Based on a survey of its construction and analysis of its location and surroundings, this article argues that it is not likely a city gate, fortification gate, or summer house. This research indicates two main Sasanian construction phases. The original structure shows precise axial correspondence with the passage to the palace zone. This fact and analysis of its original architectural form suggests that this building was in fact constructed as a triumphal arch.
{"title":"A Sasanian Triumphal Arch in Bishapur","authors":"Alireza Shahmohammadpour","doi":"10.1086/716831","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/716831","url":null,"abstract":"Bishapur was an early Sasanian city established by Shapur I (240–270 CE), the second king of the dynasty (224–651 CE). Archaeological excavations, begun in the middle of the nineteenth century, revealed numerous structures in the city, but the functions attributed to them are in doubt. Among the Sasanian buildings discovered is an obscure—in terms of form and location—structure usually identified as a gate or summer house. Based on a survey of its construction and analysis of its location and surroundings, this article argues that it is not likely a city gate, fortification gate, or summer house. This research indicates two main Sasanian construction phases. The original structure shows precise axial correspondence with the passage to the palace zone. This fact and analysis of its original architectural form suggests that this building was in fact constructed as a triumphal arch.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"84 1","pages":"306 - 315"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41426346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Corals comprised valuable resources throughout human history and were used as remedies for multiple diseases and as amulets. Despite their traditional, historical uses, corals are not frequently encountered in the archaeological record. Recent archaeological excavations in the Negev Desert have yielded an unprecedented number of Red Sea coral remains, found in the landfills of Byzantine and Early Islamic sites located more than 200 km from the Red Sea. The bulk of the assemblage comprises primarily the tree-like branching Stylophora pistillata. Other species found include the columnar coral Favites abdita. Both are among the most common shallow water corals in the Red Sea. Their remains attest to the importance of corals for Negev society, as well as to the cultural trajectory of goods and their trade and commerce that facilitated the supply of Red Sea products to distant inland locations.
{"title":"Corals in the Desert","authors":"G. Bar-Oz, Y. Tepper, Roee Shafir","doi":"10.1086/715343","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/715343","url":null,"abstract":"Corals comprised valuable resources throughout human history and were used as remedies for multiple diseases and as amulets. Despite their traditional, historical uses, corals are not frequently encountered in the archaeological record. Recent archaeological excavations in the Negev Desert have yielded an unprecedented number of Red Sea coral remains, found in the landfills of Byzantine and Early Islamic sites located more than 200 km from the Red Sea. The bulk of the assemblage comprises primarily the tree-like branching Stylophora pistillata. Other species found include the columnar coral Favites abdita. Both are among the most common shallow water corals in the Red Sea. Their remains attest to the importance of corals for Negev society, as well as to the cultural trajectory of goods and their trade and commerce that facilitated the supply of Red Sea products to distant inland locations.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"84 1","pages":"238 - 245"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45284859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Erlich, T. Tsuk, Iosi Bordowicz, Dror Ben-Yosef
The Mashhad Pool is situated east of ancient Sepphoris, receiving its water from an aqueduct that supplied water to the Roman and Byzantine city. During its excavation, a small bronze figurine of a bull was pulled out of the plastered floor of the pool. The bull is dated to the Roman period. This paper deals with the iconography, function, and possible meaning of the bronze figurine, and the circumstances of its deposit in the pool’s floor. We argue that the figurine served as a foundation deposit in order to guarantee abundant water and fecundity, perhaps during a water festival (Maioumas) in the city. The bull image fits such a purpose, as bulls are associated with rain and storm gods.
{"title":"A Roman Bronze Bull from the Floor of the Mashhad Pool in Sepphoris in the Galilee","authors":"A. Erlich, T. Tsuk, Iosi Bordowicz, Dror Ben-Yosef","doi":"10.1086/715347","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/715347","url":null,"abstract":"The Mashhad Pool is situated east of ancient Sepphoris, receiving its water from an aqueduct that supplied water to the Roman and Byzantine city. During its excavation, a small bronze figurine of a bull was pulled out of the plastered floor of the pool. The bull is dated to the Roman period. This paper deals with the iconography, function, and possible meaning of the bronze figurine, and the circumstances of its deposit in the pool’s floor. We argue that the figurine served as a foundation deposit in order to guarantee abundant water and fecundity, perhaps during a water festival (Maioumas) in the city. The bull image fits such a purpose, as bulls are associated with rain and storm gods.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"84 1","pages":"230 - 237"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43480718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The seemingly macabre practice of severing the hands of defeated enemies on the battlefield was a hallmark of the Egyptian New Kingdom military. Soldiers would present these grisly trophies to the king as a record of their kills and would be rewarded proportionally—often with the “gold of valor.” Yet this tradition appears fully-realized during the wars between the Thebans, specifically Ahmose, and the Hyksos, with few clues as to its origins. The discovery of several pits of severed human hands at the Hyksos capital Avaris (modern Tell el-Dab‘a) has been described as the only archaeological evidence of this practice and may shed light on its enigmatic roots—not as military procedure, but rather as a foreign kingly act of retribution or criminal punishment. (Please note: This article contains images of human skeletal remains.)
{"title":"Grisly Trophies","authors":"Danielle Candelora","doi":"10.1086/716230","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/716230","url":null,"abstract":"The seemingly macabre practice of severing the hands of defeated enemies on the battlefield was a hallmark of the Egyptian New Kingdom military. Soldiers would present these grisly trophies to the king as a record of their kills and would be rewarded proportionally—often with the “gold of valor.” Yet this tradition appears fully-realized during the wars between the Thebans, specifically Ahmose, and the Hyksos, with few clues as to its origins. The discovery of several pits of severed human hands at the Hyksos capital Avaris (modern Tell el-Dab‘a) has been described as the only archaeological evidence of this practice and may shed light on its enigmatic roots—not as military procedure, but rather as a foreign kingly act of retribution or criminal punishment. (Please note: This article contains images of human skeletal remains.)","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"84 1","pages":"192 - 199"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43983328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The long-debated question of the plant species between the splayed cornucopias on most Hasmonaean coins is revisited. The earliest descriptions in the numismatic literature describe this object as a poppyhead, but more recently opinion has shifted in favor of a pomegranate fruit. The arguments in favor of either identification are examined and the criteria resorted to by their respective proponents explained. At the same time a comparative evaluation is made of these species in Greco-Roman iconography along with their symbolic meaning. It is shown that both alternative identifications—a poppyhead and a pomegranate fruit—sit squarely with the message that the Hasmonaean authors of the composite motif wished to convey.
{"title":"Pomegranate or Poppy","authors":"D. Jacobson, David B. Hendin","doi":"10.1086/715342","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/715342","url":null,"abstract":"The long-debated question of the plant species between the splayed cornucopias on most Hasmonaean coins is revisited. The earliest descriptions in the numismatic literature describe this object as a poppyhead, but more recently opinion has shifted in favor of a pomegranate fruit. The arguments in favor of either identification are examined and the criteria resorted to by their respective proponents explained. At the same time a comparative evaluation is made of these species in Greco-Roman iconography along with their symbolic meaning. It is shown that both alternative identifications—a poppyhead and a pomegranate fruit—sit squarely with the message that the Hasmonaean authors of the composite motif wished to convey.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"84 1","pages":"206 - 215"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48683659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E. Stone, Adelheid Otto, D. Charpin, Berthold Einwag, P. Zimansky
Two substantial houses dating to the early second millennium BCE have recently been unearthed at separate, previously unexplored locations in Ur. Their respective owners occupied important positions of power in different spheres. One flourished ca 1840 BCE and was the chief administrator of the second most important temple in Ur. His house lay near the southern city wall, well removed from the institution with which he was associated. The second was a general named Abisum, who resided near the center of the city. Abisum was closely tied to the monarchy in Babylon and disappeared when the city was abandoned in 1739 BCE, not long after a rebellion had been put down. Small cuneiform archives were left behind in both of these households, demonstrating that literacy was an important mechanism by which they exercised power. The new excavations indicate that much remains to be explored in the urban landscape of Ur.
{"title":"Two Great Households of Old Babylonian Ur","authors":"E. Stone, Adelheid Otto, D. Charpin, Berthold Einwag, P. Zimansky","doi":"10.1086/715346","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/715346","url":null,"abstract":"Two substantial houses dating to the early second millennium BCE have recently been unearthed at separate, previously unexplored locations in Ur. Their respective owners occupied important positions of power in different spheres. One flourished ca 1840 BCE and was the chief administrator of the second most important temple in Ur. His house lay near the southern city wall, well removed from the institution with which he was associated. The second was a general named Abisum, who resided near the center of the city. Abisum was closely tied to the monarchy in Babylon and disappeared when the city was abandoned in 1739 BCE, not long after a rebellion had been put down. Small cuneiform archives were left behind in both of these households, demonstrating that literacy was an important mechanism by which they exercised power. The new excavations indicate that much remains to be explored in the urban landscape of Ur.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"84 1","pages":"182 - 191"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46380459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A molded bronze ornament of a mouse was discovered within one of the thousands of subterranean chambers in the Hellenistic–period city of Maresha. Excavations in this city, located in the Judean lowlands, have revealed a material culture that reflects a multicultural population with a high standard of living and a keen sense of aesthetics. The artifact under discussion was found within the excavated debris of Subterranean Complex 97. The function of this small statuette may have been simply ornamental, but cultic associations with mice in the Hellenistic world abound. This paper will explore archaeological parallels as well as contemporary literary sources in order to understand better the potential functions of this discovery.
{"title":"The Bronze Mouse of Maresha","authors":"Ian Stern","doi":"10.1086/715344","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/715344","url":null,"abstract":"A molded bronze ornament of a mouse was discovered within one of the thousands of subterranean chambers in the Hellenistic–period city of Maresha. Excavations in this city, located in the Judean lowlands, have revealed a material culture that reflects a multicultural population with a high standard of living and a keen sense of aesthetics. The artifact under discussion was found within the excavated debris of Subterranean Complex 97. The function of this small statuette may have been simply ornamental, but cultic associations with mice in the Hellenistic world abound. This paper will explore archaeological parallels as well as contemporary literary sources in order to understand better the potential functions of this discovery.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"84 1","pages":"200 - 204"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44214685","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
More than fifty years of archaeological investigations in the Oman Peninsula have yielded only four Early Bronze Age (Umm an-Nar period, 2500–2000 BCE) incense burners: three from the coastal settlement at Ras al-Jinz-2 and one from the hinterland settlement of Dahwa in the northern al-Batinah plain. The latter was found by the authors and is the oldest incense burner to be found so far in the Oman Peninsula, with C14 analysis and pottery confirming that it dates to 2450–2200 BCE.
{"title":"An Early Bronze Age Incense Burner from Dahwa (DH1), Northern al-Batinah, Oman","authors":"N. al‐Jahwari, K. Douglas","doi":"10.1086/715341","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/715341","url":null,"abstract":"More than fifty years of archaeological investigations in the Oman Peninsula have yielded only four Early Bronze Age (Umm an-Nar period, 2500–2000 BCE) incense burners: three from the coastal settlement at Ras al-Jinz-2 and one from the hinterland settlement of Dahwa in the northern al-Batinah plain. The latter was found by the authors and is the oldest incense burner to be found so far in the Oman Peninsula, with C14 analysis and pottery confirming that it dates to 2450–2200 BCE.","PeriodicalId":51934,"journal":{"name":"NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY","volume":"84 1","pages":"172 - 181"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45515879","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：