Rising moon at Tell eŝ-Ŝerīʿa/Tel Seraʿ: a neo-assyrian bronze crescent standard and the iconography of the moon god Sîn of Ḫarrān in Southern Levant : ritual paraphernalia and military insignia?

Neo-Assyrian influences over southern Levant had been long debated and criticised. During the 8th and 7th centuries BC the veneration of the moon god Sîn of Ḫarrān experienced a remarkable international reputation, possibly linked to the deity’s peculiar status as a protective and legitimating autho...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Moriconi, Alessandro (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Akademie [2018]
In: Ägypten und Levante
Year: 2018, Volume: 28, Pages: 409-418
Further subjects:B Bronze
B Keels
B Iron Age
B Symbolism
B Altars
B Divinity
B Neo Assyrian
B Tel Seraʿ
B Bronze crescent standards
B Iconography
B Seals
B Stelae
B 7th century
B Cylinders
B Southern Levant
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Summary:Neo-Assyrian influences over southern Levant had been long debated and criticised. During the 8th and 7th centuries BC the veneration of the moon god Sîn of Ḫarrān experienced a remarkable international reputation, possibly linked to the deity’s peculiar status as a protective and legitimating authority for the Neo-Assyrian westward imperialism under the Sargonid kings. As Stratum V at Tel Seraʿ shows a meaningful Neo-Assyrian milieu pertaining architectural and material records, this paper dedicates a closer focus to a very rare bronze crescent standard, one of the three only records thus far known for this special item, which can be considered the threedimensional counterpart to both tasseled and pendants- equipped lunar crescent standards portrayed on western royal stelae as well as on glyptic records. Since the crescent represents a meaningful religious emblem into the Levantine cultural framework during the Iron Age, the aim of this paper is to investigate a specific dimension of the Neo-Assyrian cultural impact over southern Levant, focusing on the symbolism and meaning conveyed by the bronze lunar crescent standard unearthed at Tel Seraʿ, and on its possible use as a ritual paraphernalia and/or military emblem.
ISSN:1813-5145
Contains:Enthalten in: Ägypten und Levante
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1553/AEundL28s409