Ambiguity of Divine and Royal Portraiture and the Hiyawan Image of Kingship: Political Identity through the Monuments of ÇİNEKÖY and KARATEPE

This paper examines the content of the ÇİNEKÖY and KARATEPE Inscriptions, the selection of scripts on the monuments, and the choices of iconography on the two statues of the Storm God. These monuments represent a regionally and temporally specific practice of representation that ambiguously blends e...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lovejoy, Nathan (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: University of Chicago Press 2022
In: Bulletin of ASOR
Year: 2022, Volume: 387, Pages: 113-138
Further subjects:B Que
B Iron Age
B monumentality
B script selection
B text and image
B faction
B Cilicia
B political identity
B Hiyawa
B Kingship
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This paper examines the content of the ÇİNEKÖY and KARATEPE Inscriptions, the selection of scripts on the monuments, and the choices of iconography on the two statues of the Storm God. These monuments represent a regionally and temporally specific practice of representation that ambiguously blends elements of divine and royal imagery into a new form, while taking a similar approach to the semiotics of rulership as the Neo-Assyrian kings. The combined elements of the monuments suggest a unique cultural strategy in which the agency of the ruler is blended with that of the Storm God, exemplifying the specific worldview of Iron Age Cilicia that informed their composition. The rulers who created these monuments sought to assert their political identity through the combination of the figural representations, the visuality of the scripts, and the content of the inscriptions; the two monuments illustrate a drastic change in the political agenda of the kingdom of Hiyawa, reflecting a shift in power among opposing political factions. These identities also contain a sense of intentional ambiguity, as the various elements do not immediately support the same message, but rather work together to propagate a multifaceted message of military prowess, commercial interconnectedness, and royal legitimacy and kingship.
ISSN:2769-3589
Contains:Enthalten in: Bulletin of ASOR
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1086/719049