Expelling demons at Nineveh: The visibility of benevolent demons in the palaces of Nineveh

Iraq ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 83-92
Author(s):  
Tallay Ornan

As has been shown and extensively dealt with in early and more recent scholarship, Neo-Assyrian palatial wall reliefs went through many thematic changes throughout their two hundred and fifty years of existence. One of their conspicuous traits was a gradual abandoning of magical-religious subject matters, represented by protective supernatural beings, in favour of larger and more detailed historical compositions — mostly of a belligerent nature — revealing, for the first time in antiquity, a truer sense of narrative display. As the narrative-historical themes were rightly considered to be an innovative and prominent contribution of Assyrian imagery to the history of art, extensive efforts have been devoted to the study of these compositions within the context of Assyrian palaces.In the present contribution I intend, however, to concentrate on the “losing” side of Assyrian palatial decoration, namely to focus on the visibility of apotropaic fantastic creatures rendered on wall reliefs and to offer some explanation for their gradual expulsion from the pictorial display of the Assyrian palace. Following Porada, in this essay these hybrids are called demons, in accordance with the Greek term daimon. Benevolent demons appear already in early ninth-century Neo-Assyrian wall reliefs, both in temples, as shown by a small number of slabs from the Ninurta Temple at Nimrud, and much more commonly in palaces, in particular within the North-West Palace.

Iraq ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter V. Bartl

The orthostats from the North-West Palace of Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC) at Nimrud are among the most outstanding works of art from the Ancient Near East. Today they are to be found in museums all over the world and are looked at every day by thousands of visitors. Numerous books and articles have been written about their style, their meaning and their reconstruction. Thus one would think that nothing could have escaped the eye of observers. Nevertheless, some details have been largely overlooked by researchers. Among these is the incised decoration on the edges of the garments of some of the figures depicted, showing a wide range of simple geometric and floral designs as well as complex mythical and narrative scenes. It thus forms a valuable part of the repertoire of Neo-Assyrian artistic motifs and can help us understand the essence and meaning of Neo-Assyrian political art. The evidence of these incised decorations is not only of importance for the history of art but is also fundamental to the understanding of the significance of the clothes and of the figures wearing them, forming an integral and essential part of the mythical symbolic character of the figures.


Archaeologia ◽  
1887 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-438
Author(s):  
G.L. Gomme

In the north-west of Wilts is a district which contains some remarkable reminiscences of the two dominant races who have influenced the history of this country. In tracing out the history of this district, as it has come down to us by the traditions and records of early chronicle writers, we arrive at an important epoch when for the first time is brought into strongly marked prominence the outline of the community which had settled there. This community, known to us later under the local name of Malmesbury, is one of the most perfect types of the primitive village which has survived in England, and to the elucidation of its chief characteristics it is proposed to devote some little attention. Keeping before us the outline made known from early records we shall see how this is gradually filled in from facts, which though gleaned from later and modern records, are nevertheless stamped as belonging to the earliest stages of history. And when this local mosaic is completely pieced in we shall be able, I think, to satisfy ourselves that what has so persistently clung to locality in later days originally belonged to a social group, types of which are still to be found in Eastern Europe and India, where society is in a state of arrested progress and has not advanced along the lines which mark its development in Western Europe.


Abstract: The article is devoted to the history and theory of ancient technological features of embroidery in the works of traditional applied art of the North-West of Russia (Leningrad, Vologda, Novgorod and Pskov regions). The author analyzes various techniques, ornaments, and color solutions of traditional embroidery. Describing a kind of technological variety of embroidery skill, the author believes that the artistic merits of embroidery in the North-West of Russia is the brightest page in the world history of art. Keywords: traditional applied art, European art, color scheme, national features, artistic and technological techniques, folk customs, ornament.


PMLA ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-355
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Lorden

AbstractScholarship has often considered the concept of fiction a modern phenomenon. But the Old English Boethius teaches us that medieval people could certainly tell that a fictional story was a lie, although it was hard for them to explain why it was all right that it was a lie—this is the problem the Old English Boethius addresses for the first time in the history of the English language. In translating Boethius's sixth-century Consolation of Philosophy, the ninth-century Old English Boethius offers explanatory comments on its source's narrative exempla drawn from classical myth. While some of these comments explain stories unfamiliar to early medieval English audiences, others consider how such “false stories” may be read and experienced by those properly prepared to encounter them. In so doing, the Old English Boethius must adopt and adapt a terminology for fiction that is unique in the extant corpus of Old English writing.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 70-73
Author(s):  
Agarza Medzhidovich Khalidov

The study of petrophytes, as a peculiar group of plants, is important for understanding the history of the flora and nature in general. Their ecological characteristics, taxonomic composition, geographic and genetic relationships and other characteristics carry information about the stages of development of the mountain country and its flora. Rutulsky district is a part of Highland Dagestan and borders on the Republic of Azerbaijan in the South, Akhtynsky and Kurakhsky districts in the East, Tlyaratinsky and Charodinsky districts in the North-West, Kulinsky, Agulsky and Laksky districts of the Republic of Dagestan in the North. The relief of Highland Dagestan, which is the area of our research, is characterized by a large slope, stony and rocky mountains. The following paper contains taxonomic, biomorphic, ecological analyses of petrophyte complexes of the studied area and an analysis of endemism and relict flora of petrophytic complexes. Herbarium material has helped to find the dominant family, genera and species of petrophyte complexes of the area. Biomorphic and environmental groups of petrophyte complexes have been studied. Confinement of petrophytes to different environmental conditions has been established. Endemic, relict and protected species of petrophyte complexes have been identified.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad Riley

This paper examines renewable energy developments on Aboriginal lands in North-West Western Australia at three scales. It first examines the literature developing in relation to large scale renewable energy projects and the Native Title Act (1993)Cwlth. It then looks to the history of small community scale standalone systems. Finally, it examines locally adapted approaches to benefit sharing in remote utility owned networks. In doing so this paper foregrounds the importance of Aboriginal agency. It identifies Aboriginal decision making and economic inclusion as being key to policy and project development in the 'scaling up' of a transition to renewable energy resources in the North-West.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4-2021) ◽  
pp. 28-36
Author(s):  
O. V. Shabalina ◽  
◽  
K. S. Kazakova ◽  

The article presents materials from the personal fund of the largest hydropower engineer of the North-West of the USSR S. V. Grigoriev, belonging to the Museum-Archive of History of Studying and Exploration of the European North of the Barents Centre of Humanities of the KSC RAS. The personal documents of the scientist and the practitioner are sources of biographical information given in the article and potential sources for research in the field of the history of the scientific study of water bodies, rivers and the development of hydropower in the Arctic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-72
Author(s):  
Boris I. Chibisov

Introduction. History of the North-West area of Novgorod land at the end of the XV century attracted the attention of researchers mainly in the socio-economic aspect. This is due to the fact that Novgorod scribal books are dated by the end of the XV century. From the standpoint of socio-economic history their value is not in doubt, but from an ethno-historical point their onomastic content is underestimated. Materials and methods. The main source of research was the scribe book of the Vodskaya Pyatina 1499/1500. The descriptive method of research is to identify and record the Baltic-Finnish oikonyms (names of rural settlements) and anthroponyms mentioned in the scribe books. Baltic-Finnish anthroponyms are identified on the basis of an analysis of formal indicators of borrowing the anthroponyms. Results and Discussion. There are several areas where the Baltic-Finnish oikonymy and anthroponymy were concentrated, namely Korboselsky graveyard in the northern Prinevye, Lopsky and Terebuzhsky graveyards in the southern Ladoga, as well as Dudorovsky and Izhora graveyards south of the Neva. Archaeological sources record a significant presence of the Izhora antiquities. The presence of Karelians is noted in the northern Prievye and southern Ladoga. Slavic onomastic materials are recorded throughout Orekhovsky and Ladoga counties, but to mostly in the cities of Oreshka, Ladoga and their nearest areas. Conclusion. By the end of the XV century the north-western graveyards of Novgorod land were inhabited by representatives of various ethnic groups: Slavs, Vodians, Izhora and Karelians, as evidenced by the data of anthroponyms and toponyms of the scribe’s books and confirmed by archaeological sources.


2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph W. Ball ◽  
Jennifer T. Taschek

AbstractAcanmul is a medium-size center located at the north end of the Bay of Campeche about 25 km northeast of the city of Campeche. Between 1999 and 2005, three independent sets of investigations and major architectural consolidation were carried out at the center by archaeologists from the Universidad Autónoma de Campeche (UAC), the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), Centro Regional de Campeche, and UAC in collaboration with San Diego State University. These efforts produced a wealth of new information on the archaeology of the central Campeche coast, including new insights into the emergence and evolution of the northern slateware tradition and the architectural history of the central coast from Preclassic through Postclassic times. New data concerning changing relationships through time of the central coast Maya to both the interior central and southern lowlands and to the northern plains also were documented, as was the mid ninth century sacking of the center. This article synthesizes the findings of the three separate institutional efforts at Acanmul and offers a number of new cultural historical scenarios and hypotheses based on them.


Kavkazologiya ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 246-259
Author(s):  
L.B. KHAVZHOKOVA ◽  
◽  
R.S. ATLASKIROVA ◽  

The article is devoted to the study of the ballad genre in Kabardian literature: the features of its genesis and evolution are considered in the context of the general Adyge literary process. For the first time, the issues of the origin of the genre in national poetry are studied, the entire evolutionary path is traced, from the origins to the present. The specificity of mastering the genre by Kabardian authors is investigated, specific works are analyzed for compliance / non-compliance with its canons. The ballads of Z. Naloev, B. Utizhev, A. Orazaev, Kh. Kazharov, A. Bitsuev are subjected to a comprehensive, complex analysis, their content and structural-compositional features are revealed. The article uses a number of scientific methods, including the main ones - analysis, description, as well as comparative-historical and hermeneutic methods. The results obtained can be helpful in studying the history of the ballad genre in the Adyghe literature, more generally in the North Caucasian literature, as well as in compiling special courses and writing qualification and other types of research papers.


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