A Sacred Landscape of Sumer: Statuettes from Ur Depicting a Goat on a Tree

The statuettes commonly referred to as “Ram Caught in a Thicket” (2500 BC) may well be associated with what is known from later texts (2nd millennium BC) as the (daily) determining-of-the-fates ritual that occurred at sunrise. Symbolic elements (tree, rosette, leaf, possible mountain), and motifs (q...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Miller, Naomi F. (Auteur)
Collaborateurs: Jones, Philip ; Pittman, Holly 1947- ; Zettler, Richard L.
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Publié: [2020]
Dans: Journal of ancient Near Eastern religions
Année: 2020, Volume: 20, Numéro: 1, Pages: 27-47
Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés:B Sumer / Ur / Figurine / Soleil / Aufgang (Astronomie) / Rite / Paysage / Sainteté (motif)
Classifications IxTheo:AF Géographie religieuse
AG Vie religieuse
BC Religions du Proche-Orient ancien
Sujets non-standardisés:B Sumer
B Mesopotamia
B sunrise rituals
B Royal Cemetery of Ur
B Ram Caught in a Thicket
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Résumé:The statuettes commonly referred to as “Ram Caught in a Thicket” (2500 BC) may well be associated with what is known from later texts (2nd millennium BC) as the (daily) determining-of-the-fates ritual that occurred at sunrise. Symbolic elements (tree, rosette, leaf, possible mountain), and motifs (quadruped facing a tree) occur in other media—glyptic, musical instruments—and their meaning informs the unique combination of elements found in these two statuettes. It is proposed that the statuettes are offering stands. The composition as a whole represents a sacred landscape rather than a charming genre scene. It is likely that the statuettes were associated with the daily ritual of the determining of the fates, which would push the later attestations of that ritual and the cosmological view behind it back to the mid-third millennium BC.
ISSN:1569-2124
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal of ancient Near Eastern religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341311