Professional Documents
Culture Documents
9ICAANEZaina Ingharra
9ICAANEZaina Ingharra
9ICAANEZaina Ingharra
net/publication/301764168
CITATION READS
1 1,266
1 author:
Federico Zaina
Museo Egizio di Torino
69 PUBLICATIONS 227 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE
All content following this page was uploaded by Federico Zaina on 07 November 2016.
Edited by
Rolf A. Stucky, Oskar Kaelin and Hans-Peter Mathys
2016
Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden
Travelling Images –
Transfer and Transformation of Visual Ideas
Edited by Oskar Kaelin
2016
Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden
Contents
Acknowledgment 9
Paolo Matthiae
Opening Speech, 9th ICAANE, Basel, June 9, 2014 11
Oskar Kaelin
Man or Superman? – Transfer and Transformation of Visual Ideas in Royal Representations 17
Joel S. Burnett
Egyptianizing Elements in Ammonite Stone Statuary: The Atef Crown and Lotus 57
Barbara Couturaud
Image and Ideology at the End of the Early Bronze Age: The Example
of the Figurative Inlaid Panels of Mari 71
Rita Dolce
Headless Mortals and Gods. Some Remarks on Decapitation in the Ancient Near East 83
Silvia Festuccia
Sport Representation: Transfer Images of Agonistic Contests 99
Cheryl Hart
An Analysis of the Iconographic Rosette Motif as a Means of Non-Verbal Communication:
A Case Study – The Rosette Motif and its Association with Solar Symbolism 125
David Ilan
The Crescent-Lunate Motif in the Jewelery of the Bronze and Iron Ages in the Ancient Near East 137
6 Contents
Ergul Kodas
Le socle/cou des crânes surmodelés: une nouvelle approche sur leur «phase d’utilisation» 151
Sara Kuehn
Vestiges of the Ourobóros in the Medieval Islamic Visual Tradition 165
Julia Linke
The Kings of Urartu in the Visual World 179
Marta Lorenzon
The Iconography of Mudbrick Production and Construction throughout the Mediterranean:
Egypt and the Near East 191
Lauri Mäntylä
«Modeled after a Palace of the Land of Hatti»: hilani Suites in the Neo-Assyrian Empire 201
Paolo Matthiae
Pouvoir et prestige: Images égyptiennes pour le panthéon et la royauté paléosyrienne 213
Diederik J. W. Meijer
Mesopotamian Temple Roofing and Realism and Naturalism in Art 235
Elisabeth Monamy
Images. Mouvements imagés. Les orthostates araméens 247
Elisabeth Wagner-Durand
Visual Narration in Assyria Versus ‹Static Art› in Babylonia – Making a Difference
in the 1st Millennium B.C. 269
Yasmina Wicks
The Journey of a Visual Idea: Bronze «Bathtub» Coffins in Elite Neo-Assyrian,
Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Elamite Funerary Contexts 281
Olga Zolotnikova
The Storm-God with a Battle-Axe on the Early 1st Millennium BC Reliefs
from Eastern Anatolia/Northern Syria 295
Contents 7
Dealing with the Past: Finds, Booty, Gifts, Spoils, Heirlooms 307
Rolf A. Stucky
Dealing with the Past 309
Anne-Birte Binder
Documentation, Publication, and Reception by and of Anton Moortgat 313
Silvana Di Paolo
The ‹Modern Life› of Ancient Near Eastern Antiquities in Italy:
Polyvalent Objects for the Construction of Cultural Meanings 349
Sebastian Hageneuer
The Influence of Early Architectural Reconstruction Drawings in Near Eastern Archaeology 359
Abbas Hosseini
A Descriptive Survey Concerning Archaeological Efforts in the Qajar Era 371
Frances Pinnock
Dealing with the Past at Ebla. Ancestors’ Cults and Foreign Relations 395
Miller C. Prosser
Re-Imagining Imaging for Archaeological and Philological Projects 407
Elisa Roßberger
Dedicated Objects and Memory Construction at the Ištar-Kitītum Temple at Iščāli 419
Federico Zaina
Tell Ingharra-East Kish in the 3rd Millennium BC: Urban Development,
Architecture and Functional Analysis 431
8 Contents
Youssef Kanjou
Protection Strategies and the National Museum of Aleppo in Times of Conflict 465
Dianne Fitzpatrick
Quantifying the Problems and Counting the Costs of Near Eastern Archaeological Collections:
Five Case-Studies 493
Hamed Salem
Palestinian Archaeological Collections and Lessons of Conflicted Situations 505
Silvia Perini
Syrian Cultural Heritage in Danger: A Database for the National Museum of Aleppo 521
Andrew Jamieson
New Uses for Old Collections: Community and Curriculum Engagement Using Near Eastern
Archaeological Collections 533
Elisabeth Völling
Textiles as Cultural Heritage in Fieldwork and Repositories 543
Proceedings, 9 th ICAANE, Basel 2014, Vol. 1, 431–445
Federico Zaina
1. Introduction
The city of Kish was one of the most important Mesopotamian centres of the Early Dynastic
period1 (henceforth ED). Archaeological evidence from this period has been provided by
almost a century of excavations and surveys.2 However, as the results of the fieldwork have
1 This new project concerning Kish has been conducted by the author since 2007 under the supervi-
sion of Nicolò Marchetti (University of Bologna), and since 2012 it has been co-supervised as a
PhD project also by Frances Pinnock (University of Rome) and Pascal Butterlin (University of
Paris 1), to all of whom I would express my gratitude. I am very grateful also to Paul Collins (Ash-
molean Museum, Oxford) and to Jim Phillips and Karen Wilson (Field Museum, Chicago) for their
permission to study the unpublished documentation and materials from Kish.
2 The first systematic excavations at Kish were undertaken by French archaeologists in the 1910s (de
Gennouillac 1924; 1925). Between 1922 and 1933 an Anglo-American joint expedition surveyed
the entire area known as Kish, and also investigated most of its mounds (for an historical and biblio-
graphical review of the excavations, see Moorey 1978 and Gibson 1972). In recent years a Japanese
expedition uncovered further evidence of the Early Dynastic occupation near Tell A and in the area
of the Plano-convex building (Mastumoto 1991; Mastumoto/Oguchi 2002; 2004).
432 Zaina
been mistakenly interpreted3 and cursorily published by the first excavators (Lloyd 1969),
our understanding of the site remains far from being complete. To date, most of our knowl-
edge on the archaeological evidence is principally due to the reappraisals of Moorey (1964;
1978), Gibson (1972) and Algaze (1983–84)4 while other information can be gleaned from
textual sources (Gregoire 1996; Gelb 1970; Gelb et al. 1991; Westenholz 2014). Although
these studies shed new light on the archaeology and history of Kish, several issues remain
open, some of which will be here considered.
In this paper I will first aim to provide a fresh reconstruction of the stratigraphy and the
architecture of the ED contexts at Tell Ingharra, taking into account selected excavation
areas. In the second instance, I will seek to understand activities and buildings’ function
through time. The final goal will be that of proposing a new hypothesis on the settlement
pattern and urban organization of East Kish5 during the 3rd millennium BC. To this aim,
unpublished documents and materials kept at the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford and the
Field Museum of Chicago have been newly analyzed by the author.
Tell Ingharra was the most extensively explored area of the ancient Kish, and also provides
the best known archaeological sequence of the 3rd millennium BC site. Although the quality
of the excavations and the recording methods affected the reanalysis of most of the contexts,
at least three areas, the Y, YW and YWN soundings yielded enough data to attempt an
architectural and urban reconstruction (fig. 1).
3 Detailed information on the excavation methods applied at Kish can be gathered from several
unpublished letters, among which are those by Watelin to Langdon on 21st January 1930, 9th Febru-
ary 1930 and 24th February 1930.
4 For a recent reassessment of the archaeological sequence of the Y sounding at Tell Ingharra, see
also Zaina 2011.
5 I will use the term «east Kish» instead of Hursagkalama which, according to the textual evidence,
came into use only from the Ur III period (Moorey 1978: 81).
Tell Ingharra-East Kish in the 3rd Millennium BC: Urban Development … 433
Fig. 1. Topographic map of Tell Ingharra (redrawn after de Gennouilac 1925, pl. 43).
This renewed study consisted in the digitization and analysis of the unpublished docu-
mentation6, together with hundreds of finds, which have been newly described, drawn and
6 For this purpose I designed a method to test the reliability of the data, identifying four catego-
ries divided in two macro-groups regarding the type of sources and the type of information they
provided: 1) PRIMARY SOURCES (written or taken on the field): Letters written on the field,
object cards, drawings, photos; 2) SECONDARY SOURCES (based on the primary ones some-
times reinterpreting them): Scientific publications, Newspaper articles, letters written out of the
field by third people; 3) PRIMARY INFORMATION: Elevation or spatial distribution of walls,
434 Zaina
photographed. New georeferenced maps of Kish as well as detailed maps of Tell Ingharra7
were also produced together with new plans and stratigraphical sections. This approach has
been also applied to additional excavation areas which will be briefly discussed in order to
provide a further support for the urban analysis.
2.1 Y Sounding
The Y sounding is a 70 x 20 m area excavated between 1927 and 1931 in the SW part of Tell
Ingharra (Watelin/Langdon 1934). It provided an almost uninterrupted sequence of domes-
tic and perhaps public buildings, spanning almost the entire 3rd millennium BC. According
to the new stratigraphic sequence here proposed, eight structural phases (from 3b to 10),
ranging from the early ED I to the early Akkadian period, can be distinguished in the first
6 m of the sounding (fig. 5; table 1), while two more domestic building occupations (1a–b to
3a), dating to the Jemdet Nasr period, were recovered in the small cut below, reaching the
virgin soil at 9 m.8
An updated study of the architectural evidence using the unpublished documentation
revealed that the area was occupied by some domestic dwellings at least from the ED I
period onwards and, for a shorter period (perhaps from the ED I to the ED IIIa), by a reli-
gious building as well.
The better preserved remains belong to the ED I period (phases 3b and 4a) and consist of
several houses divided by a long road oriented NE-SW and by three perpendicular alleys
(fig. 2). The identification of the alleys is based on some architectural elements of the houses
such as the alignment or the thickness of the walls. Therefore, according to this reconstruc-
tion, alleys 2 and 3 can be confidently recognized, while alley 4 remains conjectural. As
the urban and architectural analyses allowed researchers to isolate five different buildings
(at least for phases 3b and 4a), further data permit to proceed with the reassessment of the
archaeological data. As already suggested by Gibson (1972) and Moorey (1966; 1978), the
concentration of intramural graves only in the eastern part of the area supports the theory
which considers the western side of the Y sounding to be occupied by public buildings.
In particular, a meticulous new study of the burial distribution9 showed how the SW build-
ing (House 1) is actually the only one in the area without associated intramural burials. A
further, though inconclusive, proof of the presence of a religious building is also given by
the finds. At least two votive plaques, some cuneiform tablets and several inlays10 were
retrieved in the area of the SW public building.
9 The Y sounding has been continuously expanded and deepened in the course of excavations. A
first step towards re-contextualization consisted in the re-association of the burials to the campaign
in which they were excavated. Then, thanks to the detailed description provided by H. Field and
T. K. Penniman’s unpublished letters, it has been possible to collect more stratigraphic notes and to
propose a refinement of the spatial location of the majority of the burials.
10 Two votive plaques (one kept in the Field Museum, FM 231711, the other for which only the exca-
vation number V 780 is available), two cuneiform tablets (Housed in the Ashmolean Musem, AN
1929.836, AN 1930.752) and two shell and ivory inlays (FM 228437, FM 228355) were found in
the ED I layers (phase 3–4).
436 Zaina
2.2 YW Sounding
The second case study is the YW sounding. This 20 x 15 m area was opened 20 m north-
west of the Y sounding and cut down to the water table (7 m) where the early ED I remains
were uncovered. Although some stratigraphical and chronological insights, both Moorey
(1966: 32–33; 1978: 114) and Gibson (1972a: 194) suggested that no precise sequence can be
reconstructed. On the contrary, the new reconstruction proposed here includes 8 structural
phases dating from the early ED I to the ED IIIb. This sequence shows a remarkable similar-
ity with the Y sounding (fig. 5; table 1) with at least three neat stratigraphical connections
(see below).
Unfortunately, due to the paucity of data, it has been possible to reconstruct the architec-
tural evidence of just a couple of phases. In addition, the spatial distribution of the objects
was not recorded by the Anglo-American archaeologists, thus making any functional analy-
sis purely conjectural. We can therefore presume that the small quarter, dug within YW
mainly consisted of domestic houses11 and perhaps a public building.
11 The only relevant difference with the Y sounding regards the lack of graves throughout the YW
phase. According to Gibson (1972a, 90) this evidence suggests that the ED cemetery was restricted
to the Y area.
Tell Ingharra-East Kish in the 3rd Millennium BC: Urban Development … 437
The architectural evidence can be partially integrated with the analysis of stratified mate-
rials. Indeed, the presence of cylinder seals together with tools and containers could indicate
small scale administrative as well as domestic activities. The rooms of Phase 1 were filled
with a thick packing of clayish soil sealed by the pavements of phase 2, suggesting that the
rooms were cleared and the building was rebuilt with the same plan (fig. 3). The general plan
of this building was probably maintained into Phase 2, when a new beaten earth flooring
was established at the plain level (i.e. 0 m) following the filling with clay soil and leveling
of the earlier rooms.
The artifacts from phase 2 ranging from working tools, containers, and administrative
objects to jewellery and other élite goods, are interpreted as indicators of a wealthy house-
hold where some administrative and other small scale manufacturing activities could have
taken place.
438 Zaina
Fig. 4. General view of Tell Ingharra from south-west. In the foreground the uppermost layers of the Y
sounding, in the background the Great Ziqqurat Z.1 (to the right) and part of the Small Ziqqurat Z.2 (to
the left) (Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford).
12 Watelin to Langdon 3rd January 1931; 16th February 1931; 3rd March 1931.
Tell Ingharra-East Kish in the 3rd Millennium BC: Urban Development … 439
Fig. 5. Compared stratigraphy of the evidence from the 3rd millennium BC excavated at East Kish.
hypothesis is the interpretation of the Red Stratum as part of the mudbrick collapse of the
ziqqurat (Gibson 1972, 308 fig. 61).
The ZY sounding is the southernmost area opened on the main mound of Ingharra which
revealed ED structures. This 10 x 10 m square was cut 6 m down until the water table was
reached. The archaeologists produced only a sketch plan of the lowermost building phases13,
found at 6 m and probably dating to the ED I, while the rest of the sequence has not been
recorded.
periods. The earliest evidence (phase 1) was reached in a few soundings and did not provide
sufficient architectural data (Moorey 1970: 89–91). Overlying and cutting this early layers is
the massive multi-phase complex known as Palace A (phase 2) and built somewhere around
the middle or late ED IIIa. This building remained in use for a short period and after its
destruction, at the end of the ED IIIb, the entire area was used as a cemetery (Phase 3).
To the south-west, another area called JA and excavated by a Japanese expedition between
1980s and 1990s, revealed the remains of an ED building in level 2 (Mastumoto 1991: 280–
283). This was interpreted by the archaeologists as part of a temple, probably contemporary
with Palace A. Although this last interpretation needs further investigations to be fully
embraced, the pottery assemblage confirms the ED IIIa–b dating and thus the contempora-
neity of the building with Palace A.
The new analysis of the soundings at Tell Ingharra allows to attempt a reconstruction of the
development of the 3rd millennium BC occupation at East Kish. This correlation is based on
the stratigraphical connections (fig. 5), listed below:
1. Three archaeological phases (1. Water Level, 2. Flood Stratum, 3. Red Stratum) are
attested in both the Y and YW sounding at the same elevation.
2. The ziqqurat complex must be earlier than the Red Stratum (which represents its col-
lapse) but later than phase 8 in the Y sounding where the foundation of the Ziqqurat partially
cut the buildings.
3. The elevation of the upper floors of the building phases in the YWN sounding (1–2)
correspond to those in the YW sounding (7–8).
4. At the lowest level of the ZY sounding (6 m below the plain level), the archaeologist
reached the Water Table, as in the Y (3b) and YW sounding (1a).
Fig. 6. Reconstruction of urban development of East Kish during ED I and ED IIIa-b based on the
archaeological excavations and survey data.
sequence can be grouped into at least 5, perhaps 6, major episodes of the history of Kish,
among which the first relevant occupation attested dating to the ED I and the urban develop-
ment and monumentalization of the late ED IIIa were the two key periods (Table 1).
Tell Ingharra-East Kish in the 3rd Millennium BC: Urban Development … 443
In this perspective, a tentative reconstruction of the settlement pattern and urban organi-
zation of east Kish during two phases of the 3rd millennium BC, the ED I and ED IIIa–b, is
here proposed.
In the ED I period, at least the southern half of Ingharra was inhabited (fig. 6). The archae-
ological evidence of this period (Y sounding, phases 3–5; YW sounding, phases 1–3; ZY
lowest levels) suggests the presence of wealthy households and at least one religious build-
ing (Y sounding, house 1, phase 3 onwards) involved in long distance trade and small scale
administration, probably together with specialized productive activities.
This layout appears to be maintained until at least the ED IIIa, when a massive reorganiza-
tion and monumentalization of the site took place (fig. 6). One or maybe two ziqqurats (Z.1
and Z.2) and an élite building (Palace A) were built in the central and southernmost parts
of Ingharra, while to the north another large scale building (the PCB, cf. Zaina i. p. b) as
well as a large residential quarter were found (Stone 2013: 165, fig. 8.4). The resulting urban
layout of the YWN sounding buildings (phase 1) corresponding to that of both the Y sound-
ing (phases 9–10) and the YW sounding (phase 6–7), together with the orientation of the
ziqqurats, as well as that of the small temple in area JA (phase 2) and Palace A uncovered to
the south, appear to be coherent.
If we integrate these data with the survey by Gibson14 (1972: 58), it seems very likely that
during the whole ED the area of Tell Ingharra had a strong urban density. This situation was
increasingly nuanced to the west and north, where the survey revealed only scattered evi-
dence related to the ED I and ED III. Nevertheless, the hypothesis that views Tell Ingharra
and Tell Uhaimir as independent villages does not seem entirely convincing (Moorey 1978;
Gibson 1972a; Yoffee 2004)15, particularly in light of the presence of the Plano-Convex
Building and area JP (Mastumoto/Oguchi 2004) halfway between the two main mounds, as
well as the recent archaeological evidence brought to light through satellite imagery (Stone
2013: 165).
14 Another strong component in the reconstruction of the ancient urban landscape of Kish, is the
channel system. We know from texts that at least from the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC the
city was cut by two main streams named Me’enlila and Buranuna (Carroué 1991; Gianni Marchesi
p.c.). To date, our most updated interpretation on the location of the channels comes from the
survey carried out by McG. Gibson (1972). Therefore, in the absence of more detailed data, Gib-
son’s proposal will be followed here.
15 Although Gibson himself (1972b: 115–116) leaves open the possibility that at least during the entire
ED, the whole area was considered as a single urban entity under the name of Kish.
444 Zaina
These new archaeological interpretation provided new insight for the reconstruction of the
urban layout of Kish during the Early Dynastic period, whose extension during the ED III
period might have reached several hundred hectares (Yoffee 2004: 57; Marchesi/Marchetti
2011: 97–103).16
This flourishing period ends abruptly at the end of the ED IIIb, with a violent destruc-
tion attested in several areas, such as the two élite buildings (i.e. Palace A and the PCB),
the Y (phase 10) and YW (phase 7) soundings and the Ziqqurat itself. During the Akkadian
period, Kish seems to be mostly occupied by graveyards and small squatter buildings. Its
partial regeneration as a smaller centre starts at the very end of the 3rd millennium BC with
the erection of a massive building, called Monument Z (phase 13), close to the ziqqurats of
Ingharra.
Bibliography
Algaze, G. 1983–84. Private Houses and Graves at Ingharra. A Reconsideration. Mesopotamia 18–19,
135–195.
Carroué, F., 1991. Etudes de géographie et de topographie sumériennes II. A la Recherche de l’Euphrate au
IIIe Millenaire, Acta Sumerologica 13, 111–156.
Gelb, I. J., 1970. Sargonic Texts in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Materials for the Assyrian Dictionary
V. Chicago.
Gelb, I. J./Steinkeller, P./Whiting Jr., R. M., 1991. Earliest Land Tenure System in the Near East: Ancient
Kudurrus. Oriental Institute Publication 104. Chicago.
Genouillac, H. de, 1924. Premières recherches archéologiques à Kich I. Paris.
– 1925. Premières recherches archéologiques à Kich II. Paris.
Gibson, McG., 1972a. The City and the Area of Kish, Miami.
– 1972b. The Archaeological Use of Cuneiform Texts. Pattern of Occupation at the City of Kish. Iraq
34/2, 113–123.
Gregoire, J.-P., 1996. Archives Administratives et Inscriptions Cunéiformes, Ashmolean Museum
Bodleian Collection Oxford. Contribution à l’histoire sociale, économique, politique et culturelle
du Proche-Orient Ancien. AAICAB 1, Les Sources 1. Paris.
Lloyd, S., 1969. Back to Ingharra. Iraq 31, 40–48.
Marchesi, G./Marchetti, N., 2011. Royal Statuary in Early Dynastic Mesopotamia, Winona Lake.
Mastumoto, K., 1991. Preliminary Report on the Excavations at Kish/Hursagkalama, 1988–1989.
al-Rāfidān 12, 261–290.
16 Contra Weiss (1975: 439, table 1), who states that Kish must have reached a maximum extension of
about 50 hectares during the ED III.
Tell Ingharra-East Kish in the 3rd Millennium BC: Urban Development … 445
Mastumoto, K./Oguchi, H., 2002. Excavations at Kish, 2000. al-Rāfidān 23, 1–16.
– 2004. News from Kish: the 2001 Japanese Work. al-Rāfidān 25, 1–4.
Moorey, P. R. S., 1966. A Reconsideration on the Excavations on Tell Ingharra (East Kish). Iraq 28, 18–51.
– 1970. Cemetery A at Kish: Grave Groups and Chronology. Iraq 32, 86–128.
– 1978. Kish Excavations 1923–1933: with a Microfiche Catalogue of the Objects in Oxford
Excavated by the Oxford-Field Museum, Chicago, Expedition to Kish in Iraq, 1923–1933, Oxford.
Stone, E., 2013. The Organization of a Sumerian Town: The Physical Remains of Ancient Social Systems.
H. Crawford (ed.), The Sumerian World. London, 156–178.
Watelin, L. Ch./Langdon, S., 1934. Excavations at Kish, Vol. IV. Paris
Weiss, H., 1975. Kish, Akkad and Agade. Journal of the American Oriental Society 95/3, 434–453.
Westenholz, A., 2014. A Third Millennium Miscellany of Cuneiform Texts. Cornell University Studies in
Assyriology and Sumerology 26. Bethesda.
Yoffee, N., 2004. Myths of the Archaic State. Evolution of the Earliest Cities, States and Civilizations.
Cambridge.
Zaina, F. 2011. Il sondaggio Y a Kiš. Cronologia, stratigrafia ed architettura. G. Guarducci/S. Valentini
(eds.), Il futuro dell’archeologia. Il Contributo dei Giovani Ricercatori. Atti del IV Convegno
nazionale dei giovani archeologi, Tuscania (VT) 12–15 maggio 2011. Roma, 195–204.
– i. p. a. A Radiocarbon Date from Early Dynastic Kish and the Stratigraphy and Chronology of the
YWN Sounding at Tell Ingharra. Iraq 77.
– i. p. b. Craft Administration and Power in Early Dynastic Mesopotamian Public Buildings.
Recovering the Plano-convex Building at Kish. Paleorient 41.