The opening of the Epic of Gilgamesh

Ancient Egypt and the Surrounding World: Contact, Trade and Influence. Studies presented to Marilina Betrò., 2024

During the 2003 excavations at Tell Barri (Northeastern Syria) within the large Middle Assyrian building in Area G, a tomb was unearthed exhibiting characteristics and grave goods typical of the local funerary tradition alongside others that appeared notably peculiar, if not exotic, such as a mirror with two reflective disks and a forearm-shaped cosmetic palette. This seems to be an opportunity to reexamine this archaeologically significant context, offering insights into the circulation of finished products, imitations, and cultural influences within the composite Near Eastern society of the late 2nd millennium BC. Such an attempt not only promises to clarify certain aspects but also to provide further understanding of shared symbolism and beliefs among elite groups during a period marked by unprecedented interregional interactions.

Taking into account Neo-Assyrian sculpture, seals, and jewelry, as well as carved ivory figures that embellished imported Levantine luxury goods, this essay focuses on images of women and the ideals of feminine beauty they embodied in elite Neo-Assyrian contexts. In order to recover ancient notions of beauty from visual sources, I incorporate comparative archaeological, textual, and ethnographic evidence. First, I identify visual consistencies indicative of physical characteristics of beauty. In addition to fulfilling cultural expectations of attractiveness, I propose that these external properties also manifested personal attributes of beauty, primarily: sexuality, fertility, and purity. I then interpret the role and reception of images of queens, goddesses, and idealized female figures in the Neo-Assyrian court, where they would have served as vital complements to male imagery and to the actual mortal men and women with whom they were juxtaposed.

Royal Women in Neo-Assyrian Art I The king's daughter is all glorious within (Psalm 45: 13): a princess who dwells within her palace and was not seen by anyone (lbn Ezra). 2 1. J. Winter, "Women in Public: The Disk of Enheduanna, The Beginning of the Office of En-Priestess, and the Weight of Visual Evidence," in J.-M. Durand (ed.), La femme dans le Proche-Orient antique. compte rendll de la XXXIII' rencontre assyriologiqlle illternationale. Paris.

The presence of veil usually characterises and defines women in ancient Near Eastern societies: indeed, the use of veil has been usually interpreted as to define both gender and role of the represented characters. But can the veil be so exclusively targeted? The analysis of the presence or even the absence of the veil needs to be contextualised: this contribution offers a short consideration on the use of the veil by women in ancient Mesopotamian and Syrian societies, trying to single out moments and circumstances, showing how images of women with veil are not so clearly identifiable and detectable as pointing to only one category, an exclusive role and a special position.

Anais Do Museu Paulista: História E Cultura Material, 2023

This study aims to compare some images of beardless attendants in monumental reliefs from the Achaemenid (c. 550-330 BCE) and Neo-Assyrian (c. 911-612 BCE) empires, which we consider relevant sources for the study of court eunuchs and cultural conceptions about castrati. We argue that such comparisons are possible since eunuchism was a long-standing institution in the Ancient Near East, as shown by several analogies with the Assyrian evidence. We also argue that scholars have downplayed the importance of court eunuchs due to gender/sex assumptions based on Western and modern perspectives that consider eunuchism incompatible with high-ranking social standing. With these theoretical considerations in mind, we finally sketch some possible analytical proposals to explore the images of beardless attendants in Persia and Assyria.

Multa per Aequora. Il polisemico significato della moderna ricerca archeologica. Omaggio a Sara Santor, 2018

A few images of queens are preserved from the Neo-Assyrian period, and they all wear a peculiar crown, apparently reproducing a town wall, with square towers. In my contribution, I will take the evidence from relief and glyptics into account, and I will propose some interpretations for this peculiar ornament: what it represented, and why was it adopted by Assyrian queens. I will also try to verify the frequently-proposed hypothesis that the mural crown has a Syrian or Anatolian origin.

conferences et colloques L'art de l'Ancien Empire egyptien Actes du colloque organise au musee du Louvre parIe Service culturelles 3 et 4, 1998

Ocnus. Quaderni della Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Archeologici, 2022

Between the 3rd and the 2nd millennia BC, all over southern Mesopotamia, it is possible to notice a change in choroplastic productions. The introduction of the mold technique led to mass production of small size terracotta plaquettes, which in turn determined a decrease in the number of handmade figurines. This phenomenon is more than a change in technology, affecting also iconographic representations. The Middle Bronze Age “nude female” iconography has been thoroughly analyzed over time and a lot has been written about the identity of this female figure. This article intends to investigate various aspects related to the “nude female”: from the analysis of archaeological contexts to the investigation of written sources. The aim of this study is to establish what can (and what cannot) be said about this intriguing motif, which has been too often the object of speculations not supported by evidence.