Salvete Omnes,
a short entry but the study is enjoyable and well researched -
a Master thesis by Stephanie Baldwin - Bit by Bit: an Iconographic Study of horses in the reliefs of Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (883-859B) - Univeristy od Stellenbosch.
The study can be had from the author's Academia page .
Enjoy
Salvete Omnes,
browsing the vastness of Wiki Commons I cam across some great photos from a museum in Turkey/Turkiye - Van Museum-
these are dioramas showing the ancient inhabitants of the Lake Van region kingdom - the kingdom of Urartu - and the Urartu people, some of the fierce and skilled highlanders (the Armenian Highlands) of Anatolia's ancient and multi-ethnic past.
During the Iron Age the Urartians, on their western edges, became the arch-enemies of the New Assyrian state. Perhaps this article of your interest - the Origin of the Ruling Elites of Urartu. & War and identity in the early history of Urartu.
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| breeders of fine horses - the Assyrians if victorious in their raids and wars against Urartu always demanded horses as booty and tribute |
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| women of Urartu -from Academia |
ps
I would like to visit these sites one of these days, perhaps must make a Turkiye trip soon.
Valete
Salvete Omnes,
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| king Shalamanser III, son of Ashurnasirpal II, king of Assyria, ruled from 859-824BC |
a little trip into the depths of the Western Asia during the early Iron Age, when Assyrian kings and their warriors dominated and told that world about their conquests and grandeur through monumental art and inscriptions.
the martial and equestrian art & history connected to the Neo-Assyrian king Shalmaneser III and his conquests I have already presented on my blog.
Today we will visit the so called Black Obelisk, from the British Museum collections, when British subjects uncovered, pillaged and bought old art from many ancient but often forgotten locations.
The Obelisk or stela, from 1846AD in the British possession, came from the Neo-Assyrian Kalhu (Nimrud, near present day city of Mosul) where sir Austen H. Layard discovered this obelisk there during his voyages (you can listen to his own writings about his explorations in Niniveh and Babylon on Librivox).
and shows the triumphal reception of many processions of various vassals and tribute bearers, showing obeisance to the Assyrian king and his court in his 31 year of campaigning and waging power from the land of Assur.
Among them we have a horse from Gilzanu brought by Gilzanean delegation led by Sua, the king - older article on Gilzanu here. Already at the end of the Bronze Age Assyrian sources mentioned Gilzanu (in present Iran) as the area where they got horses, by tribute and commercial exchanges. During the period of of early Neo-Assyrian empire this Gilzanu region/kingodm has been associated with the sites in Northern Iran, among them there is one tepe (hill) known as Hasanlu in the Gadar River valley in the Zagros Mountains (shared nowadays between Iran, Iraq and Turkye). In the stela king had the tribute specified to have been horses trained to harness (chariot horses) and donkeys.
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| the led by a groom horse seem to have some sort of an armor covering his, it is a stallion, throat, neck and chest |
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| with a bow in his hand great king Shalmaneser III receives obeisance from Sua, ruler of Glizanu |
a close up onto the Bactrian Camels, also from Gilzanu
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| prostrated king Jehu son of Omri showing obeisance to Shalmanaser III |
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| Jehu's tributary procession |
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| the Black Obelisk aka stela in the British Museum |
ps
Polish historian prof. Lukasz Niesiolowski-Spano of the Department of History, Warsaw University - his academia page - sees Omri as the first king of Israel, while he also wrote a fascinating article about David, the historical figure and the king of Hebrew Bible.
Valete
Salvete Omnes,
we have not visited the ancient Assyrian in a while.
And as usual with the Neo-Assyrian kingdom their horse is featured and it is shown prominently in this relief, these chariot horses are tribute from the Chaldeans and Neo-Hittites.
. This dais was found in the eastern end of the throne room (T1) at Fort Shalmaneser in the city of Nimrud (in modern-day Nineveh Governorate, Iraq) in 1962 CE. The front and sides of the dais were carved in relief depicting various tributary scenes. The dais was completed around 846-845 BCE (and that would be the king's 13th year of reign).
This scene is part of a long tributary one where the Shalmaneser III (r. 858-824 BCE) receives Chaldean tribute from Musallim-Marduk, son of Ukani. On the right, a groom leads a pair of horses, unharnessed except for the halter by which they are controlled. This is followed by a second group of tribute bearers. The procession is headed by a bearded male figure (probably the prince). Before him, a smaller male figure (child), probably his son, appears. Both raise their hands in a homage or submission gesture. They are followed by a chamberlain bearing his staff of office, followed by a bearded figure carrying in his extended hands a small tray of loaf-like objects, perhaps ingots of some relatively precious metal.
This scene is part of a long tributary one where Shalmaneser III (r. 858-824 BCE) receives tribute from Qalparunda (c. mid 9th Century BCE) of the Land of Unqi (a Luwian Syri-Hittite state, also known as Pattin). This is the rear part of the tributary procession. The rear is brought up by two grooms in long, belted tunics, one brandishing a whip, and each leading a pair of ornately caparisoned horses
During the ransacking of the Iraq Museum in April 2003 CE, this object[dais] was not vandalized and remained intact. It is on display at the Assyrian Gallery of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Republic of Iraq.
Valete
ps the description comes from the Wiki Commons page on the details of this dais -
