Mortals, Deities and Divine Symbols: Rethinking Ancient Images from the Levant to Mesopotamia
Studies Offered to Tallay Ornan
Edited by Benjamin Sass Edited by Laura Battini
Paperback (Published)
(May 2025)
ISBN: 9781803272931
8.07 x 11.42 inches
Price: $160.00
In stock
Dedicated to Tallay Ornan, a scholar distinguished in ancient Western Asian iconographic studies. It is divided into her major themes: New Discoveries and Approaches; The Human World; The Divine World. This discusses iconological and textual problems, in a chronological span from the third to first millennia BCE.
Mortals, Deities and Divine Symbols: Rethinking Ancient Imagery from the Levant to Mesopotamia is dedicated to Tallay Ornan, a scholar who has distinguished herself in ancient Western Asian iconographic studies and has become an undisputed reference in this field. It is divided into three parts, which give greater prominence to Tallay Ornan’s major themes: New Discoveries and Approaches in twelve chapters; The Human World (e.g. royals, women) in fourteen chapters; The Divine World (anthropomorphic deities and divine symbols) in eighteen chapters. The chapters discuss iconological and textual problems from the Levant to Mesopotamia, in a chronological span from the third to first millennia BCE.
Introduction
Photographic Souvenirs of Tali's Career
Tallay Ornan's Publications through May 2024
FIRST PART: NEW MATERIALS AND APPROACHES
Chapter 1: Closed Case: An Iron Age Trove of Jewellery from the Israel Museum Collection and the Identification of Its Provenance at Tel 'Ira (Israel) - Eran Arie
Chapter 2: Articulating Foundation Myths in Milesian Festivals: A Diachronic Perspective - Mary R. Bachvarova
Chapter 3: Ancient Images in Mesopotamia: Ancient Gaze and Present Observation between Visual Sources and Textual Sources. Questions and Limitations - Rita Dolce
Chapter 4: Naturalism, Photography, and Empire in the Old Akkadian Period - Marian H. Feldman
Chapter 5: A Reassesment: Is the Cone-Shaped Object Held by the Genii in Assurna?irpal II's Palace at Kal?u a Citron? - Norma Franklin
Chapter 6: The Reception of the Law Code Stele of Hammurabi in Spain: From a Treatise on Ophthalmology to a White Plaster Cast - Agnes Garcia-Ventura
Chapter 7: New Gleanings at the Temples of Sidon, Tyre and Jerusalem (Decoding Phoenician Art - II) - Eric Gubel
Chapter 8: The Imagery of the Neo-Assyrian Seals Belonging to the Palace. An Interpretation of the Scene on a Stamp Seal Formerly Kept in the Southesk Collection - Zoltan Niederreiter
Chapter 9: Gods, Rulers, and Death. Nonverbal Expressions and Group Identity in Syro-Anatolian and Assyrian Monumental Art - Ludovico Portuese
Chapter 10: Inscribed Bullae from the Samaria Excavations Forgotten for Ninety Years - Benjamin Sass and Eythan Levy
Chapter 11: The Impact of Models and Prototypes in Carving and Sculpturing. How Craftspeople Referred to Prototypes and Conventions. Two Various Examples - Silvia Schroer
Chapter 12: How Meaning Evolves. Proto-Cuneiform Signs: Considerations on Their Origins at the Intersection of Visual and Oral Communication - Gebhard J. Selz
SECOND PART: THE HUMAN WORLD
Chapter 13: The Threat of the Women Warriors: From the Arab Women to the Amazons - Debora V. Ben-Ami
Chapter 14: Ideological Differences between Representations of the Pharaoh during the 18th and 19th Dynasties Reflected on Scarabs and Stamp-Seals - Daphna Ben-Tor and Othmar Keel
Chapter 15: In a Masked World: On the Physiognomy of Assyrian Faces - Dominik Bonatz
Chapter 16: The ""Lady at the Window"" from Arslan Tash - Annie Caubet
Chapter 17: Revisiting the Seated Figure on Wall Painting No. 9 from Kuntillet Ajrud ... Once Again - Izak Cornelius
Chapter 18: Sennacherib's Open-Air Sanctuary at Khinis/Bavian: Quarries, Quarry Workers, Recarved Panels, and Polylithic Bulls - Stephanie Dalley
Chapter 19: Akhenaten's Divine Crop - Arlette David
Chapter 20: Two Iron Age Female Figurines from Tel Rekhesh - Shuichi Hasegawa and Shizuka Mito
Chapter 21: In the Sign of the Scorpion: The Administrative Seals of the Neo-Assyrian Queen and the Queen's Household - Suzanne Herbordt
Chapter 22: The Image of the City as a Symbol and Scene in Assyrian Representation - Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault
Chapter 23: Whose Head is Hanging from the Tree? - Natalie Naomi May
Chapter 24: Back to Life. On a Lifelike Female Statue Head from Assur? - Astrid Nunn, Heinrich Piening and Becca Saladin Segovia
Chapter 25: On Goats, Mountains and the Elusive Babylonian Royal Seal - Rocio Da Riva
Chapter 26: A Preliminary Survey of the Documentation from Dilbat and Several Other Places in Central and Northern Babylonia Chiefly during the Long 6th Century BCE - Ran Zadok
THIRD PART:THE DIVINE WORLD
Chapter 27: The Meaning and Sense of the Ugaritic Baal-Mot Conflict Narrative - Tzvi Abusch and David P. Wright
Chapter 28: A Confidential Message: Divine Combat and Death in a Forgotten Akkadian Seal from Ur - Laura Battini
Chapter 29: Three Kassite Seals in the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem - Yigal Bloch
Chapter 30: ""I Have Set My Bow in the Cloud"" - Symbolism and Myth - Ruhama Bonfil and Robert Bonfil
Chapter 31: The Symbol of the Triumph - Baruch Brandl
Chapter 32: The Soldier and the Exorcist: A Cylinder Seal in the Ashmolean Museum - Paul Collins
Chapter 33: Birds and Gods in Ancient Mesopotamia - Uri Gabbay
Chapter 34: For Whom the Bell Tolls: Horse Harnesses at Megiddo and Beyond - Yosef Garfinkel
Chapter 35: The Late Babylonian Worship Scene at Persepolis - Mark B. Garrison
Chapter 36: A New Look at the Hittite Silver Vessel in the Shape of a Fist - Clement Hazan
Chapter 37: The Tale of ""Nergal and Ereskigal"" Revisited - Dina Katz
Chapter 38: In His Image: God or Ruler? A Stone Relief from the Iron IIA Cultic Precinct at Tel Mo?a - Shua Kisilevitz, Amotz Agnon, Nuphar Gedulter and Oded Lipschits
Chapter 39: The Sanctuary of Ataroth and Its Inscriptions - Nadav Na'aman
Chapter 40: Beyond the Visible. Feeling the Divine Presence in Ancient Mesopotamia - Anne-Caroline Rendu Loisel
Chapter 41: The Hunters' Palette. A Guide to Weapons Used in Egypt in the Late Predynastic Period - Michael Sebbane
Chapter 42: The Repertoire of Motifs and Their Composition on Ivory Furniture from Samaria. An Updated Inventory and Reflections on Egyptianizing Trends in Ancient Israel - Claudia E. Suter
Chapter 43: An Unprovenanced Inscribed Stone Macehead - Nathan Wasserman
Chapter 44: Topographic Imagery in Pictorial Art - Irit Ziffer,
Introduction
Photographic Souvenirs of Tali’s Career
Tallay Ornan’s Publications through May 2024
FIRST PART: NEW MATERIALS AND APPROACHES
Chapter 1: Closed Case: An Iron Age Trove of Jewellery from the Israel Museum Collection and the Identification of Its Provenance at Tel ‘Ira (Israel) – Eran Arie
Chapter 2: Articulating Foundation Myths in Milesian Festivals: A Diachronic Perspective – Mary R. Bachvarova
Chapter 3: Ancient Images in Mesopotamia: Ancient Gaze and Present Observation between Visual Sources and Textual Sources. Questions and Limitations – Rita Dolce
Chapter 4: Naturalism, Photography, and Empire in the Old Akkadian Period – Marian H. Feldman
Chapter 5: A Reassesment: Is the Cone-Shaped Object Held by the Genii in Aššurnaṣirpal II’s Palace at Kalḫu a Citron? – Norma Franklin
Chapter 6: The Reception of the Law Code Stele of Hammurabi in Spain: From a Treatise on Ophthalmology to a White Plaster Cast – Agnès Garcia-Ventura
Chapter 7: New Gleanings at the Temples of Sidon, Tyre and Jerusalem (Decoding Phoenician Art – II) – Eric Gubel
Chapter 8: The Imagery of the Neo-Assyrian Seals Belonging to the Palace. An Interpretation of the Scene on a Stamp Seal Formerly Kept in the Southesk Collection – Zoltán Niederreiter
Chapter 9: Gods, Rulers, and Death. Nonverbal Expressions and Group Identity in Syro–Anatolian and Assyrian Monumental Art – Ludovico Portuese
Chapter 10: Inscribed Bullae from the Samaria Excavations Forgotten for Ninety Years – Benjamin Sass and Eythan Levy
Chapter 11: The Impact of Models and Prototypes in Carving and Sculpturing. How Craftspeople Referred to Prototypes and Conventions. Two Various Examples – Silvia Schroer
Chapter 12: How Meaning Evolves. Proto-Cuneiform Signs: Considerations on Their Origins at the Intersection of Visual and Oral Communication – Gebhard J. Selz
SECOND PART: THE HUMAN WORLD
Chapter 13: The Threat of the Women Warriors: From the Arab Women to the Amazons – Débora V. Ben-Ami
Chapter 14: Ideological Differences between Representations of the Pharaoh during the 18th and 19th Dynasties Reflected on Scarabs and Stamp-Seals – Daphna Ben-Tor and Othmar Keel
Chapter 15: In a Masked World: On the Physiognomy of Assyrian Faces – Dominik Bonatz
Chapter 16: The “Lady at the Window” from Arslan Tash – Annie Caubet
Chapter 17: Revisiting the Seated Figure on Wall Painting No. 9 from Kuntillet Ajrud … Once Again – Izak Cornelius
Chapter 18: Sennacherib’s Open-Air Sanctuary at Khinis/Bavian: Quarries, Quarry Workers, Recarved Panels, and Polylithic Bulls – Stephanie Dalley
Chapter 19: Akhenaten’s Divine Crop – Arlette David
Chapter 20: Two Iron Age Female Figurines from Tel Rekhesh – Shuichi Hasegawa and Shizuka Mito
Chapter 21: In the Sign of the Scorpion: The Administrative Seals of the Neo-Assyrian Queen and the Queen’s Household – Suzanne Herbordt
Chapter 22: The Image of the City as a Symbol and Scene in Assyrian Representation – Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault
Chapter 23: Whose Head is Hanging from the Tree? – Natalie Naomi May
Chapter 24: Back to Life. On a Lifelike Female Statue Head from Assur? – Astrid Nunn, Heinrich Piening and Becca Saladin Segovia
Chapter 25: On Goats, Mountains and the Elusive Babylonian Royal Seal – Rocío Da Riva
Chapter 26: A Preliminary Survey of the Documentation from Dilbat and Several Other Places in Central and Northern Babylonia Chiefly during the Long 6th Century BCE – Ran Zadok
THIRD PART:THE DIVINE WORLD
Chapter 27: The Meaning and Sense of the Ugaritic Baal–Mot Conflict Narrative – Tzvi Abusch and David P. Wright
Chapter 28: A Confidential Message: Divine Combat and Death in a Forgotten Akkadian Seal from Ur – Laura Battini
Chapter 29: Three Kassite Seals in the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem – Yigal Bloch
Chapter 30: “I Have Set My Bow in the Cloud” – Symbolism and Myth – Ruhama Bonfil and Robert Bonfil
Chapter 31: The Symbol of the Triumph – Baruch Brandl
Chapter 32: The Soldier and the Exorcist: A Cylinder Seal in the Ashmolean Museum – Paul Collins
Chapter 33: Birds and Gods in Ancient Mesopotamia – Uri Gabbay
Chapter 34: For Whom the Bell Tolls: Horse Harnesses at Megiddo and Beyond – Yosef Garfinkel
Chapter 35: The Late Babylonian Worship Scene at Persepolis – Mark B. Garrison
Chapter 36: A New Look at the Hittite Silver Vessel in the Shape of a Fist – Clement Hazan
Chapter 37: The Tale of “Nergal and Ereškigal” Revisited – Dina Katz
Chapter 38: In His Image: God or Ruler? A Stone Relief from the Iron IIA Cultic Precinct at Tel Moẓa – Shua Kisilevitz, Amotz Agnon, Nuphar Gedulter and Oded Lipschits
Chapter 39: The Sanctuary of Ataroth and Its Inscriptions – Nadav Na’aman
Chapter 40: Beyond the Visible. Feeling the Divine Presence in Ancient Mesopotamia – Anne-Caroline Rendu Loisel
Chapter 41: The Hunters’ Palette. A Guide to Weapons Used in Egypt in the Late Predynastic Period – Michael Sebbane
Chapter 42: The Repertoire of Motifs and Their Composition on Ivory Furniture from Samaria. An Updated Inventory and Reflections on Egyptianizing Trends in Ancient Israel – Claudia E. Suter
Chapter 43: An Unprovenanced Inscribed Stone Macehead – Nathan Wasserman
Chapter 44: Topographic Imagery in Pictorial Art – Irit Ziffer
- Edited by Benjamin Sass
- Edited by Laura Battini
Other Titles in this Series
New Research on Old Collections in Southwest Asian Archaeology
Proceedings of the Workshop Held at the British Museum, London, 31 July – 2 August, 2023
Par la bêche et le stylet! Cultures et sociétés syro-mésopotamiennes
Mélanges offerts à Olivier Rouault
Penser l’espace en Mésopotamie : contributions à la compréhension spatiale à travers les aménagements
Scripta memoriae Jean-Claude Margueron dedicata
Stone Tools in the Ancient Near East and Egypt
Ground stone tools, rock-cut installations and stone vessels from Prehistory to Late Antiquity
Composite Artefacts in the Ancient Near East
Exhibiting an imaginative materiality, showing a genealogical nature
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