The Tell Asmar Hoard (
Early Dynastic I-II, ca. 2900–2550 BC) are a collection of twelve statues unearthed in 1933 at
Eshnunna
Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian (and later Akkadian) city and city-state in central Mesopotamia 12.6 miles northwest of Tell Agrab and 15 miles northwest of Tell Ishchali. Although situated in th ...
(modern Tell Asmar) in the
Diyala Governorate
Diyala Governorate ( ar, محافظة ديالى ) or Diyala Province is a governorate in central-eastern Iraq.
Provincial government
*Governor: Muthana al-Timimi
*Deputy Governor: Mohammed Jassim al-Jubouri
Council
Geography
Diyala Gov ...
of
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
. Despite subsequent finds at this site and others throughout the greater
Mesopotamian
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
area, they remain the definitive example of the abstract style of
Early Dynastic temple sculpture (2900 BC–2350 BC).
Discovery
![Diyala river](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Diyala_river.PNG)
In the late 1920s antique dealers in
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
were acquiring large quantities of unusual, high quality artifacts from the desert east of the
Diyala River
The Diyala River (Arabic: ; ku, Sîrwan; Farsi: , ) is a river and tributary of the Tigris. It is formed by the confluence of Sirwan river and Tanjaro river in Darbandikhan Dam in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate of Northern Iraq. It covers a total ...
, just north of its confluence with the
Tigris
The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...
.
[Karen L. Wilson, ''Excavations in the Diyala Region'', i]
''Art Of The First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus''
ed. Joan Aruz (New York and London: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yale University Press, 2003), 58. In 1929 the
Oriental Institute at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
obtained a concession to excavate the area.
James Henry Breasted
James Henry Breasted (; August 27, 1865 – December 2, 1935) was an American archaeologist, Egyptologist, and historian. After completing his PhD at the University of Berlin in 1894, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago. In 1901 he ...
(1865–1935), the founder of the institute, invited the Dutch Archeologist
Henri Frankfort
Henri "Hans" Frankfort (24 February 1897 – 16 July 1954) was a Dutch Egyptologist, archaeologist and orientalist.
Early life and education
Born in Amsterdam, into a "liberal Jewish" family, Frankfort studied history at the University of Amster ...
(1897–1954) to lead the expedition. Between 1930 and 1937 Frankfort and his team conducted extensive horizontal and vertical excavations on four mounds:
Khafajah
Khafajah or Khafaje (Arabic: خفاجة; ancient Tutub, Arabic: توتوب) is an archaeological site in Diyala Province (Iraq). It was part of the city-state of Eshnunna. The site lies east of Baghdad and southwest of Eshnunna.
History of arch ...
,
Tell Asmar
Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian (and later Akkadian) city and city-state in central Mesopotamia 12.6 miles northwest of Tell Agrab and 15 miles northwest of Tell Ishchali. Although situated in the ...
(ancient Eshnunna),
Tell Agrab
Tell Agrab (or Aqrab) is a tell or settlement mound southeast of Eshnunna in the Diyala region of Iraq.
History
Tell Agrab was occupied during the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic periods through the Akkadian and Larsa periods. It was during ...
, and
Ishchali
Tell Ishchali (also Iščāli or Šaǧālī) an archaeological site in Diyala Province (Iraq). It is thought to be ancient Nerebtum or Kiti and was part of the city-state of Eshnunna. It was occupied during the Old Babylonian period.
Ancient name
...
.
They uncovered temples, palaces, administrative buildings, and houses ranging in date from about 3100 to 1750 B.C. The hundreds of artifacts recovered from the stratified ruins of these ancient civic structures greatly enhanced understanding of Early Dynastic periodization.
[Jean M. Evans, "The Square Temple at Tell Asmar and the Construction on Early Dynastic Mesopotamia ca. 2900-2350 B.C.E.", ''American Journal of Archaeology'' 11 (2007): 600.]
Among the most well-known and best preserved objects are the twelve statues known collectively as the Tell Asmar Hoard. The hoard was found during the 1933-34 excavation season at Tell Asmar beneath the floor of a temple dedicated to the god
Abu
Abu or ABU may refer to:
Places
* Abu (volcano), a volcano on the island of Honshū in Japan
* Abu, Yamaguchi, a town in Japan
* Ahmadu Bello University, a university located in Zaria, Nigeria
* Atlantic Baptist University, a Christian university ...
. The statues were neatly stacked in an oblong(non-square
rectangle
In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that all of its angles are equal (360°/4 = 90°); or a parallelogram containi ...
) cavity beside an altar in the sanctuary. The careful placement suggests that they were buried intentionally. However, the reason for the burial and person(s) responsible for doing so remains unclear. Frankfort, who wrote extensively on the subject, suggests that a priest periodically buried old or badly damaged statues in order to make room in the temple for their replacements.
[Henri Frankfort, ''Sculpture of the Third Millennium B.C. from Tell Asmar and Khafãjah'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1939).]
The statues
The statues of the Tell Asmar Hoard range in height from 21 cm (8.2 in.) to 72 cm (28.3 in.). Of the twelve statues found, ten are male and two are female. Eight of the figures are made from gypsum, two from limestone, and one (the smallest) from alabaster.
All the figures, with the exception of one that is kneeling, are rendered in a standing position. Thin circular bases were used as supports and large wedge shaped feet provided the larger statues with added durability. The males wear kilts with a patterned hem that covers the midsection and thighs. Their broad shoulders and thick, circular arms frame the bare chest, which is partially covered by a black, stylized beard. All the males, with the exception of one that is bald and clean shaven, have long hair rendered in two symmetrical halves that frames the smooth surfaces of the cheeks and forehead. The large eyes, which are undoubtedly the most striking stylistic feature that the statues share in common, are made from inlays of white shell and black limestone; one figure has pupils of
lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color.
As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, ...
.
These materials are secured to the head with bitumen, which was also used as a pigment to give the beard and hair its characteristic black color. Both the hair and the clothing, though abstracted, accurately reflect
Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
ian styles of the Early Dynastic period.
The hoard was discovered in a temple dedicated to Abu, the ancient Near Eastern god of fertility. Evidence from Early Dynastic ruins at
Khafajah
Khafajah or Khafaje (Arabic: خفاجة; ancient Tutub, Arabic: توتوب) is an archaeological site in Diyala Province (Iraq). It was part of the city-state of Eshnunna. The site lies east of Baghdad and southwest of Eshnunna.
History of arch ...
suggests that the statues may have been arranged along the walls of the sanctuary either on the floor or on a low mud brick bench before they were buried.
Some of the statues are inscribed on the back and bottom with a name and personalized supplicatory message, while others simply state “one who offers prayers.” These inscriptions indicate that the statues functioned as a surrogate for male and female worshipers who wished to leave their prayers with the god. In the 3rd millennium B.C., the price for a votive statue likely depended on its size, and possibly what stone was used.
Frankfort argued that the largest figure in the hoard is not an
effigy
An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...
of a human worshiper, but rather a representation of the patron deity Abu.
[Thorkild Jacobsen, "God of Worshipper". In ''Essays in Ancient Civilizations Presented to Helene J. Kantor'', (Chicago: Oriental Institute of Chicago, 1989) 125.] He calls attention to a number of features that set this particular statue apart from the rest including: the size, the unnaturally large eyes, especially the pupils, and the emblematic carving of an eagle with outstretched wings, flanked by two recumbent mountain goats carved on the base.
Gallery
Sumerian worshipper statues, part of the "Tell Asmar Hoard" at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad; 7 statues (out of 12) are on display in the Sumerian Gallery of the Iraq Museum.
File:Sumerian worshiper from Khafajah, Iraq Museum.jpg, Male worshiper, Iraq Museum
File:Sumerian Status from Tell Asmar, part of the Tell Asmar Hoard.jpg, Male and female worshippers, Iraq Museum
File:State from the Tell Asmar, Iraq Museum.jpg, Male worshipper, Iraq Museum
File:Statue of male worshipper from Tell Asmar.jpg, Male worshipper, Iraq Museum
File:Statue from Tell Asmar.jpg, Female worshipper, Iraq Museum
File:Statue of a Sumerian seated worshiper from Tell Asmar.jpg, Seated worshiper, nude male, Iraq Museum
Notes
References
Henri Frankfort, Thorkild Jacobsen, and Conrad Preusser, ''Tell Asmar and Khafaje: The First Season Work in Eshnunna 1930/31'', Oriental Institute Publication 13, 1932
Henri Frankfort, Tell Asmar, Khafaje and Khorsabad: ''Second Preliminary Report of the Iraq Expedition'', Oriental Institute Publication 16, 1933
Henri Frankfort, ''Iraq Excavations of the Oriental Institute 1932/33: Third Preliminary Report of the Iraq Expedition'', Oriental Institute Publication 17, 1934
Henri Frankfort with a chapter by Thorkild Jacobsen, ''Oriental Institute Discoveries in Iraq, 1933/34: Fourth Preliminary Report of the Iraq Expedition'', Oriental Institute Publication 19, 1935
Henri Frankfort, ''Progress of the Work of the Oriental Institute in Iraq, 1934/35: Fifth Preliminary Report of the Iraq Expedition'', Oriental Institute Publication 20, 1936
Henri Frankfort, Seton Lloyd, and Thorkild Jacobsen with a chapter by Günter Martiny, ''The Gimilsin Temple and the Palace of the Rulers at Tell Asmar'', Oriental Institute Publication 43, 1940
Bibliography
*Evans, Jean. 2012. ''The Lives Of Sumerian Sculpture: An Archaeology of the Early Dynastic Temple''. Chicago: University of Chicago.
*Evans, Jean. 2007. The Square Temple at Tell Asmar and the Construction of Early Dynastic Mesopotamia, ca. 2900-2350 B.C.E. ''American Journal of Archaeology'' 4: 599-632.
*Frankfort, Henri. 1939. ''Sculpture of the 3rd Millennium B.C. from Tell Asmar and Khafajah''. The University of Chicago, Oriental Institute Publications 60. Chicago.
*1943. ''More Sculpture from the Diyala Region''. The University of Chicago, Oriental Institute Publications 60. Chicago.
*Jacobsen, Thorkild, "God or Worshipper", in ''Essays in Ancient Civilization'' Presented to Helene J. Kantor, edited by A. Leonard Jr. and B.B. Williams, p 125-30. Chicago. 1989.
{{Iraq Museum
3rd-millennium BC works
1933 archaeological discoveries
Archaeological discoveries in Iraq
Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)
Alabaster
Objects in the National Museum of Iraq
Sculptures of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sumerian art and architecture
Sculptures of deities