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Paolo Matthiae

Università degli Studi "La Sapienza" di Roma, Scienze dell'Antichità, Emeritus

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Paolo Matthiae is Emeritus Professor of Archaeology and Art History of the Ancient Near East in Sapienza University of Rome, and Fellow of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Rome), Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (Paris), Akademie der Wissenschaften (Wien), Royal Swedish Academy (Stockholm) and Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (Berlin). He received the Ad Honorem Doctorate from the Universities of Madrid and Copenhagen. He is the discoverer of Ebla in Northern Syria, where he started the excavations in 1964 and directed 47 work seasons till 2010. He was named in 1995 by the President of Italian Republic Knight of Great Cross for cultural merits, the highest of the Italian honours. Between his many publications Ebla. An Empire Rediscovered (Doubleday 1978), Il sovrano e l’opera. Arte e potere nella Mesopotamia antica (Laterza 1994), L’arte degli Assiri (Laterza 1996), La storia dell’arte dell’Oriente antico, 3 vols (Electa 1996-2000), Prima lezione di archeologia orientale (Laterza 2008), Gli Archivi Reali di Ebla (Mondadori 2010), Ebla, la città del trono. Archeologia e storia (Einaudi 2012), Ebla and Its Landscape. Early State Formation in the Ancient Near East (with N. Marchetti, eds, Left Coast 2013), Studies on the Archaeology of Ebla, 1980-2010 (Harrassowitz 2013).

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Frances Pinnock

Università degli Studi "La Sapienza" di Roma

Università degli Studi di Milano - State University of Milan (Italy)

Marco Ramazzotti

Università degli Studi "La Sapienza" di Roma

Mohammed Alkhalid

Sapienza University of Roma

Università degli Studi di Perugia

Università degli Studi "La Sapienza" di Roma

Marie Christine Comte

Università degli Studi "La Sapienza" di Roma

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Papers by Paolo Matthiae

Proceedings of the 6 th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East

by Paolo Matthiae and Frances Pinnock

In the excavation campaigns of 2006-2007 at Ebla two important discoveries occurred: the identifi... more In the excavation campaigns of 2006-2007 at Ebla two important discoveries occurred: the identification and excavation of the first temple of Early Bronze IVA and the finding of two precious, almost complete, miniature statues of females of an exceptional craftsmanship of the same period. In this contribution a description and interpretation of these remarkable discoveries are presented.

Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden Studia Eblaitica Studies on the Archaeology, History, and Philology of Ancient Syria

MATTHIAEFsDonbaz11.pdf

Kapak resmi / Cover image Veysel Donbaz tarafından yazılmış replika / Replica by Veysel Donbaz DU... more

Collapse or Continuity ? environment and Development of Bronze Age Human landscapes edited by Palaeoprecipitation Trends and Cultural Changes in Syrian Protohistoric Communities: the Contribution of δ 13 C in Ancient and Modern Vege tation

by Paolo Matthiae, daniele morandi bonacossi, and Nicole Taylor

MARE INTERNUM ARCHEOLOGIA E CULTURE

MATTHIAE_BAAL_X.pdf

BAAL Hors-Série X 5 The tradition of the dead kings' deification and the faith in the basic prote... more BAAL Hors-Série X 5 The tradition of the dead kings' deification and the faith in the basic protection they offered to the community of the living, the ruling house, and the whole society date back from the Early Syrian period, Early Bronze IVA, as documented by the archaeological and epigraphic data of Ebla. In the Old Syrian period, Middle Bronze I-II, at Ebla the Sanctuary B2 was the venue where the material cult for these protective entities were celebrated, as well as the communal banquets, when the deified ancestors' aid was necessary in critical moments of the urban life. The myths, and rituals of Ugarit of the Middle Syrian period, Late Bronze II, perfectly illustrate the rites, and ceremonies for which at Ebla one can find the physical background in the architecture of the cultic places, and the visual representations of the artistic works.

MATTHIAERitGuerPer11.pdf

In the Egyptian representations of war of the XIX th and XX th Dynasties, in the great temples of... more In the Egyptian representations of war of the XIX th and XX th Dynasties, in the great temples of the New Kingdom, all the scenes were related to an ideological-cultic reference point of the temple topography, and narration was accomplished in strongly stereotyped formulas, because war was felt as a recurring myth restoring cosmic order, and peace as an order myth, guaranteed by the Pharaohʼs divinity. In imperial Assyria between the IX th and the VII th centuries BC, on the contrary, war was represented, inside the secular spaces of royal palaces, in changing and renovating forms, because war was not a myth, but rather a historical reality, and peace assumed the strongly canonized forms of the triumph rite.

UNE HYPOTHÈSE SUR LA DÉESSE À L'ICONOGRAPHIE HATHORIENNE DANS LA GLYPTIQUE PALÉOSYRIENNE

age of a goddess wearing a Hathoric tiara including horns and a Sun disc is present in the Syrian... more age of a goddess wearing a Hathoric tiara including horns and a Sun disc is present in the Syrian world of the Bronze and Iron Ages in the Byblos milieu, and it was certainly used as a representation of the local Ba'alat. However, she is also present in the Old Syrian glyptic in seals which cannot be ascribed to workshops of the Byblos region, and in the glyptic contexts where she appears in some instances also the images of the Rapi'uma, the deified royal ancestors of the Old and Middle Syrian religious world, are represented. This leads to infer that in the Syrian glyptic of Middle Bronze I-II this figure with an Egyptianizing iconography may have been used in order to represent the Sun-goddess Shapash. Moreover, it is peculiar that in the Old Syrian glyptic there is no female divine figure who may with some certainty be identified with Shapash. L'image égyptienne de la déesse Hathor dans l'iconographie classique de la figure féminine avec la cheve-lure ornée du disque solaire entre les cornes de vache sans aucun doute à l'époque perse, mais certainement déjà au Fer II-III si non même bien de siècles auparavant, était employée dans le monde phénicien pour représenter la grande déesse de Byblos, la Ba'lat Gubal. 1 La stèle de Yehawmilk de Byblos le montre de toute évidence, 2 même s'il y a des indices que celle hathorienne n'était pas la seule iconographie utilisée à Byblos dans les mêmes années pour représenter la déesse principale de la ville. 3 La date à laquelle faire remonter l'emprunt de l'iconographie égyptienne pour la figuration de la grande déesse de Byblos est difficile à établir, mais la grande antiquité de l'identification entre Hathor de Dendérah et Ba'lat de Byblos, 4 dont les indices les plus anciens peuvent remonter jusqu'à la VI ème Dynastie, permet de supposer que la fin de l'Ancien Empire égyptien peut être une date douée de quelque vraisemblance. 5 L'iconographie hathorienne, malgré la grande importance de la Ba'lat, n'est pas fort documentée à Byblos même et, sauf dans la glyptique du Bronze Moyen (env. 2000-1600 av.J.-Chr.) à la période paléosyri-enne, elle est assez rare dans les productions artistiques de la côte de la Méditerranée et de la Syrie intérieure. En Haute Syrie elle apparait parmi les images de divinités égyptisantes présentes dans la décoration d'un lit ou d'une chaire en ivoire du Palais Septentrional d'Ébla du Bronze Moyen II, à dater probablement vers 1700 av.J.-Chr. 6 Une statuette de déesse debout en bronze avec des restes d'un revêtement en argent entrée * istituzione e mail.

Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden Studia Eblaitica Studies on the Archaeology, History, and Philology of Ancient Syria

Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden Studia Eblaitica Studies on the Archaeology, History, and Philology of Ancient Syria

Studia Eblaitica Studies on the Archaeology, History, and Philology of Ancient Syria

by Paolo Matthiae and Frances Pinnock

MATTHIAEFsFales12.pdf

by Paolo Matthiae and daniele morandi bonacossi

La déesse nue et le dieu au panache

La fameuse inscription votive sur un torse basaltique acéphale d'un roi d'Ébla, Ibbit-Lim, fils d... more La fameuse inscription votive sur un torse basaltique acéphale d'un roi d'Ébla, Ibbit-Lim, fils d'Igrish-Kheb, à dater avec toute vraisemblance dans la première moitié du XX ème siècle av. J.-Chr., au Bronze Moyen IA (env. 2000–1900 av. J.-Chr.), qui a permis, en 1968, d'identifier Tell Mardikh à Ébla (Matthiae – Pettinato 1972) et qui présente toujours des difficultés mineures de lecture (Lambert 1981), dans l'interprétation la plus convaincante donne une information importante sur l'histoire des cultes de la grande ville paléosyrienne archaïque (Gelb 1984): l'«apparition» à Ébla de la déesse Ishtar, événement qui se serait vérifié, selon le texte même de l'inscription, huit ans avant la dédicace de la statue votive du roi et qui aurait donné origine, d'une façon tout à fait inusuelle au moins dans le monde paléobabylonien, à une véritable série de noms d'année, au moins huit. Cette «apparition» de la grande déesse ne peut pas être interprétée comme l'introduction du culte d'Ishtar à Ébla, car la déesse, nommée d'une façon fort significative la «Lionne» (Archi 1993; Pomponio – Xella 1994, 63–67), – il est vrai – sans avoir un rôle de tout premier plan (Mander 2008, 58–59; Biga – Capomacchia 2008, 141), était quand même bien présente dans le panthéon de la grande ville protosyrienne mûre de l'époque des Archives Royales, entre 2400 et 2300 av. J.-Chr. (Archi 1979–1980; Matthiae 2008, 143–144). Étant donné que cette «apparition» fut clairement registrée par la chancellerie d'Ibbit-Lim comme un événement mémorable pour la ville d'Ébla si elle fut choisie pour nommer une dizaine d'années de règne du souverain, il paraît qu'on doive en déduire que elle a fort probablement dû signifier, d'un côté et surtout, l'ascension de la déesse au rôle de divinité poliade et, de l'autre et par conséquent, son élévation à patronne de la royauté éblaïte (Matthiae 2003). L'«apparition» d'Ishtar à Ébla, peut-être assez tôt, si non au début même du règne d'Ibbit-Lim, fut, donc, une manifestation extraordinaire de la déesse, déjà vénérée dans la ville depuis des siècles, qui fut vraisemblablement interprétée par le clergé et par le roi de la ville, certes tout récemment refondée sur les ruines de la ville protosyrienne récente (env. 2300–2000 av. J.-Chr.), comme une prise de possession de la ville neuve par une divinité (Matthiae 2010, 210–214) pouvant peut-être assurer à ce nouveau centre urbain un destin de gloire que les vieux dieux du panthéon n'avaient pas réussi à renouveler après deux graves destructions 1. 1 Les deux premières destructions d'Ébla sont celle vers 2300 av. J.-Chr. qui mit fin à la grande époque de la ville des Archives Royales (Bronze Ancien IVA correspondant à la Période Protosyrienne mûre) et celle autour de 2000 av. J.-Chr. (Bronze Ancien IVB correspondant à la Période Protosyrienne récente, qui est une phase, pas encore trop bien connue, de décadence de la ville, lors que l'hégémonie politique fut, au début d'Armi/Armanum et, ensuite, d'Urshaum/Urshum : Matthiae 2010, 192–208): sur les différences dans la documentation

THE LIONS OF THE GREAT GODDESS OF EBLA: A HYPOTHESIS ABOUT SOME ARCHAIC OLD SYRIAN CYLINDERS

In the great sacred area of Ish tar, dating from Middle Bronze 11, recently brought to light in t... more In the great sacred area of Ish tar, dating from Middle Bronze 11, recently brought to light in the Lower Town north of Ebla, in the square stretching between the great Temple P2 and the imposing Monument P3, 1 a favissa excavated in the rock was identified, and almost completely excavated, whose presence was indicated by some big squared limestone blocks, only in part found in place (Fig. 1). 2 This favissa opened almost exactly in the point of intersection of the central axes of the two buildings, nearly 35 m away from their facrades. There they had thrown a large amount of bowls and small size vases, among which some small jars decorated with clay naked female figurines, lions and birds applied on the shoulders and to the necks. With the pottery we found some votive offeri ngs including clay naked female figurines and bronze serpents and toggle pins, several stone and gold beads, fragments of different precious materials, among which lapis lazuli, and a miniature camelian figurine of a crouching lion of an excellent workmanship (Fig. 2). 3

EDIZIONI QUASAR SCIENZE DELL'ANTICHITÀ

Mura di legno, mura di terra, mura di pietra:

Figurative Themes and Literary Texts

A main problem for the studies which, since the first discoveries of Oriental Archaeology, tried ... more A main problem for the studies which, since the first discoveries of Oriental Archaeology, tried to investigate the meanings of artistic works, not in the values they expressed, for historical reconstruction, through formal aspects, namely stylistical in the proper sense, but rather in the themes dealt with through the choice of subjects, was the relation between artistic images and literary images and, in a more general sense, between figurative representation and textual representation. Although we cannot try here a comprehensive evaluation of this relation in the development of our studies in general and in the history of art of Ancient Mesopotamia in particular, it is not inopportune to take into consideration how, in such development, the problem itself was put in different terms, reductive or extensive, was circumscribed and precised, and. lastly, was criticized and challenged. The oldest type of relation they tried to establish between art and literature, since the last two decades of last century, already in Joachim Ménant's work, in substance did not take into account the time variable, namely the chronological differences in the production of the artistic and literary works put into correlation. 1 In this way of doing, where the type of relation taken into consideration was schematically reduced to the possibility that figurative works were really not more than the illustration of literary works, risks were, of course, serious and multiple. We can recall two major risks: on the one hand, a figurative work many centuries older could be thought to be inspired by a much later literary work; on the other hand, a literary work with a circulation limited to some milieus, or to ancient periods, could be considered active in influencing later figurative works. This formulation, which would nowadays be defined anti-historical, had its deep motivation in the fact that, in the first phases of the archaeological, philological, and historical reconstruction of Mesopotamian civilization, research privileged the characterization of unitarian aspects, beyond time and space differences. The chronologically undifferenced interpretation and reconstruction which were for a long time dominant in the handbooks about Mesopotamian civilization led to perceive as uninfluential, in the comparations 1 J. Ménant, Les pierres gravées de la Haute Asie. Recherches sur la glyptique orientale, I, Paris 1983. FIGURATIVE THEMES AND LITERARY TEXTS

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST, A LIFE

by Paolo Matthiae and Anne Goddeeris

LE FORME e LA STORIA

 Maria G. Lo Duca Glottodidattica, educazione linguistica, linguistica educativa… ed altro ... more  Maria G. Lo Duca Glottodidattica, educazione linguistica, linguistica educativa… ed altro  Paolo Bertinetti Chi crede nell'utilità degli studi letterari?  Gian Mario Anselmi e Francesca Tomasi Informatica e letteratura  Francesco Benigno Cos'è la storia oggi? Riflessioni sul mutamento di una disciplina  Fabio Ciaramelli Accesso alla verità o interrogazione sul significato? Una riflessione filosofico-politica sul ruolo della filosofia  Franco Farinelli Sulla genealogia del sapere geografico (e per l'agenda geografica post-moderna)  Alessandro Lutri intervista Pietro Clemente Di certe idee sugli studi antropologici in Italia  Marco Mazzone conversa con Vittorio Gallese e Pietro Perconti Scienza cognitiva e saperi umanistici: il caso dei neuroni specchio Saperi umanistici e lavori  Antonio Pioletti intervista Roberto Antonelli Saperi umanistici, crisi e insegnamento  Tomaso Montanari Il disastro dei Beni culturali  Mario Andreose L'editoria fra tradizione e innovazione  Antonio Pioletti intervista Francesco Merlo A proposito di informazione  Salvo Scibilia intervista Aldo Biasi La comunicazione, il commercio e l'arte  Sommario R u b b e t t i n o

From Source to History Studies on Ancient Near Eastern Worlds and Beyond Dedicated to Giovanni Battista Lanfranchi on the Occasion of His 65 th Birthday on

by Paolo Matthiae and daniele morandi bonacossi

Lo studio della Storia Antica è sempre stato, per Gianni, piacere intellettuale, dovere sociale e... more Lo studio della Storia Antica è sempre stato, per Gianni, piacere intellettuale, dovere sociale e morale e prosecuzione di quell'idea di "uomo di studio", imparata dal padre Luigi e così ben impressa nel suo cuore e nella sua mente. A lui, Gianni fa riferimento, quando studia, quando insegna, quando scrive. Fonti, documenti, testi, sono imprescindibili punti di partenza delle sue analisi, con il pensiero che guarda sempre al mondo dell'Oriente Antico. Uomo integerrimo e puro, non conosce la competizione e forse per questo, arriva sempre tra i primi. Ha molto a cuore i suoi allievi: di loro, non esita a metter in luce le qualità positive, soffocando in un "sono giovani" le intemperanze e gli umani difetti. Lo ammiro perché non conosce invidia, ira, malizia, sospetto: lo amo perché mi ha insegnato a guardarmi da questi subdoli amici. Ines

MatthiaeOpenSpeech_ 2016 ICAANE Basel Vol 1.pdf

It is a great pleasure for me to open, on behalf also of the International Scientific Committee ,... more It is a great pleasure for me to open, on behalf also of the International Scientific Committee , the 9 th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, which once again witnesses an extraordinary participation of colleagues from all over the world. At the same time, it is a privilege to express the deepest gratitude to the Academic Authorities of Basel University, and in particular to Rector Antonio Loprieno, for having generously accepted to host this Congress, which has become the universally asserted forum for dialogue , debate, and discussion about the research, studies, methods, and problems of Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology, and, in part at least, of Islamic Archaeology. It is a special honour for me, at the beginning of our work, to warmly welcome the Directors, and responsible for the Cultural, and Archaeological Institutions of the Near Eastern countries, who have the duty, heavy as much as meritorious, to promote archaeological research, to spur studies, to take care of the preservation of heritage, as well as to preserve, exploit, and divulge the extraordinary meaning of the universal cultural heritage present in their Countries. The search for new data, both in field archaeology, and in surveys is the primary duty for us, the archaeologists, and, to state it clearly, it is our passion, and often, though not always, it is the primary reason for this profession, to which we dedicate our lives, our intellectual energies, and our practical capacities. In this Congress, which sees us meeting all together in order to discuss the results of our research should we ignore that this primary field research, which more than any other allows to enrich the patrimony of basic data for the interpretation of the civilizations of the past, in several Countries of the Near East is threatened, limited, and sometimes simply stopped for basic security reasons, as never happened before? Should we ignore that, while we try with every mean to go on with our field research, in order to better reconstruct centuries, and millennia basic for the history of humankind, the peoples, and communities of some Countries in the Near East are once again heavily suffering for economic, social, humanitarian crisis, which repeat themselves, and enlarge themselves, creating the heaviest hardships for peoples? Should we ignore that in these situations of crisis the extraordinary treasure of the monumental, artistic, archaeological, and immaterial cultural heritage is exposed to continuous, and repeated risks, and is nowadays threatened

Proceedings of the 6 th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East

by Paolo Matthiae and Frances Pinnock

In the excavation campaigns of 2006-2007 at Ebla two important discoveries occurred: the identifi... more In the excavation campaigns of 2006-2007 at Ebla two important discoveries occurred: the identification and excavation of the first temple of Early Bronze IVA and the finding of two precious, almost complete, miniature statues of females of an exceptional craftsmanship of the same period. In this contribution a description and interpretation of these remarkable discoveries are presented.

Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden Studia Eblaitica Studies on the Archaeology, History, and Philology of Ancient Syria

MATTHIAEFsDonbaz11.pdf

Kapak resmi / Cover image Veysel Donbaz tarafından yazılmış replika / Replica by Veysel Donbaz DU... more

Collapse or Continuity ? environment and Development of Bronze Age Human landscapes edited by Palaeoprecipitation Trends and Cultural Changes in Syrian Protohistoric Communities: the Contribution of δ 13 C in Ancient and Modern Vege tation

by Paolo Matthiae, daniele morandi bonacossi, and Nicole Taylor

MARE INTERNUM ARCHEOLOGIA E CULTURE

MATTHIAE_BAAL_X.pdf

BAAL Hors-Série X 5 The tradition of the dead kings' deification and the faith in the basic prote... more BAAL Hors-Série X 5 The tradition of the dead kings' deification and the faith in the basic protection they offered to the community of the living, the ruling house, and the whole society date back from the Early Syrian period, Early Bronze IVA, as documented by the archaeological and epigraphic data of Ebla. In the Old Syrian period, Middle Bronze I-II, at Ebla the Sanctuary B2 was the venue where the material cult for these protective entities were celebrated, as well as the communal banquets, when the deified ancestors' aid was necessary in critical moments of the urban life. The myths, and rituals of Ugarit of the Middle Syrian period, Late Bronze II, perfectly illustrate the rites, and ceremonies for which at Ebla one can find the physical background in the architecture of the cultic places, and the visual representations of the artistic works.

MATTHIAERitGuerPer11.pdf

In the Egyptian representations of war of the XIX th and XX th Dynasties, in the great temples of... more In the Egyptian representations of war of the XIX th and XX th Dynasties, in the great temples of the New Kingdom, all the scenes were related to an ideological-cultic reference point of the temple topography, and narration was accomplished in strongly stereotyped formulas, because war was felt as a recurring myth restoring cosmic order, and peace as an order myth, guaranteed by the Pharaohʼs divinity. In imperial Assyria between the IX th and the VII th centuries BC, on the contrary, war was represented, inside the secular spaces of royal palaces, in changing and renovating forms, because war was not a myth, but rather a historical reality, and peace assumed the strongly canonized forms of the triumph rite.

UNE HYPOTHÈSE SUR LA DÉESSE À L'ICONOGRAPHIE HATHORIENNE DANS LA GLYPTIQUE PALÉOSYRIENNE

age of a goddess wearing a Hathoric tiara including horns and a Sun disc is present in the Syrian... more age of a goddess wearing a Hathoric tiara including horns and a Sun disc is present in the Syrian world of the Bronze and Iron Ages in the Byblos milieu, and it was certainly used as a representation of the local Ba'alat. However, she is also present in the Old Syrian glyptic in seals which cannot be ascribed to workshops of the Byblos region, and in the glyptic contexts where she appears in some instances also the images of the Rapi'uma, the deified royal ancestors of the Old and Middle Syrian religious world, are represented. This leads to infer that in the Syrian glyptic of Middle Bronze I-II this figure with an Egyptianizing iconography may have been used in order to represent the Sun-goddess Shapash. Moreover, it is peculiar that in the Old Syrian glyptic there is no female divine figure who may with some certainty be identified with Shapash. L'image égyptienne de la déesse Hathor dans l'iconographie classique de la figure féminine avec la cheve-lure ornée du disque solaire entre les cornes de vache sans aucun doute à l'époque perse, mais certainement déjà au Fer II-III si non même bien de siècles auparavant, était employée dans le monde phénicien pour représenter la grande déesse de Byblos, la Ba'lat Gubal. 1 La stèle de Yehawmilk de Byblos le montre de toute évidence, 2 même s'il y a des indices que celle hathorienne n'était pas la seule iconographie utilisée à Byblos dans les mêmes années pour représenter la déesse principale de la ville. 3 La date à laquelle faire remonter l'emprunt de l'iconographie égyptienne pour la figuration de la grande déesse de Byblos est difficile à établir, mais la grande antiquité de l'identification entre Hathor de Dendérah et Ba'lat de Byblos, 4 dont les indices les plus anciens peuvent remonter jusqu'à la VI ème Dynastie, permet de supposer que la fin de l'Ancien Empire égyptien peut être une date douée de quelque vraisemblance. 5 L'iconographie hathorienne, malgré la grande importance de la Ba'lat, n'est pas fort documentée à Byblos même et, sauf dans la glyptique du Bronze Moyen (env. 2000-1600 av.J.-Chr.) à la période paléosyri-enne, elle est assez rare dans les productions artistiques de la côte de la Méditerranée et de la Syrie intérieure. En Haute Syrie elle apparait parmi les images de divinités égyptisantes présentes dans la décoration d'un lit ou d'une chaire en ivoire du Palais Septentrional d'Ébla du Bronze Moyen II, à dater probablement vers 1700 av.J.-Chr. 6 Une statuette de déesse debout en bronze avec des restes d'un revêtement en argent entrée * istituzione e mail.

Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden Studia Eblaitica Studies on the Archaeology, History, and Philology of Ancient Syria

Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden Studia Eblaitica Studies on the Archaeology, History, and Philology of Ancient Syria

Studia Eblaitica Studies on the Archaeology, History, and Philology of Ancient Syria

by Paolo Matthiae and Frances Pinnock

MATTHIAEFsFales12.pdf

by Paolo Matthiae and daniele morandi bonacossi

La déesse nue et le dieu au panache

La fameuse inscription votive sur un torse basaltique acéphale d'un roi d'Ébla, Ibbit-Lim, fils d... more La fameuse inscription votive sur un torse basaltique acéphale d'un roi d'Ébla, Ibbit-Lim, fils d'Igrish-Kheb, à dater avec toute vraisemblance dans la première moitié du XX ème siècle av. J.-Chr., au Bronze Moyen IA (env. 2000–1900 av. J.-Chr.), qui a permis, en 1968, d'identifier Tell Mardikh à Ébla (Matthiae – Pettinato 1972) et qui présente toujours des difficultés mineures de lecture (Lambert 1981), dans l'interprétation la plus convaincante donne une information importante sur l'histoire des cultes de la grande ville paléosyrienne archaïque (Gelb 1984): l'«apparition» à Ébla de la déesse Ishtar, événement qui se serait vérifié, selon le texte même de l'inscription, huit ans avant la dédicace de la statue votive du roi et qui aurait donné origine, d'une façon tout à fait inusuelle au moins dans le monde paléobabylonien, à une véritable série de noms d'année, au moins huit. Cette «apparition» de la grande déesse ne peut pas être interprétée comme l'introduction du culte d'Ishtar à Ébla, car la déesse, nommée d'une façon fort significative la «Lionne» (Archi 1993; Pomponio – Xella 1994, 63–67), – il est vrai – sans avoir un rôle de tout premier plan (Mander 2008, 58–59; Biga – Capomacchia 2008, 141), était quand même bien présente dans le panthéon de la grande ville protosyrienne mûre de l'époque des Archives Royales, entre 2400 et 2300 av. J.-Chr. (Archi 1979–1980; Matthiae 2008, 143–144). Étant donné que cette «apparition» fut clairement registrée par la chancellerie d'Ibbit-Lim comme un événement mémorable pour la ville d'Ébla si elle fut choisie pour nommer une dizaine d'années de règne du souverain, il paraît qu'on doive en déduire que elle a fort probablement dû signifier, d'un côté et surtout, l'ascension de la déesse au rôle de divinité poliade et, de l'autre et par conséquent, son élévation à patronne de la royauté éblaïte (Matthiae 2003). L'«apparition» d'Ishtar à Ébla, peut-être assez tôt, si non au début même du règne d'Ibbit-Lim, fut, donc, une manifestation extraordinaire de la déesse, déjà vénérée dans la ville depuis des siècles, qui fut vraisemblablement interprétée par le clergé et par le roi de la ville, certes tout récemment refondée sur les ruines de la ville protosyrienne récente (env. 2300–2000 av. J.-Chr.), comme une prise de possession de la ville neuve par une divinité (Matthiae 2010, 210–214) pouvant peut-être assurer à ce nouveau centre urbain un destin de gloire que les vieux dieux du panthéon n'avaient pas réussi à renouveler après deux graves destructions 1. 1 Les deux premières destructions d'Ébla sont celle vers 2300 av. J.-Chr. qui mit fin à la grande époque de la ville des Archives Royales (Bronze Ancien IVA correspondant à la Période Protosyrienne mûre) et celle autour de 2000 av. J.-Chr. (Bronze Ancien IVB correspondant à la Période Protosyrienne récente, qui est une phase, pas encore trop bien connue, de décadence de la ville, lors que l'hégémonie politique fut, au début d'Armi/Armanum et, ensuite, d'Urshaum/Urshum : Matthiae 2010, 192–208): sur les différences dans la documentation

THE LIONS OF THE GREAT GODDESS OF EBLA: A HYPOTHESIS ABOUT SOME ARCHAIC OLD SYRIAN CYLINDERS

In the great sacred area of Ish tar, dating from Middle Bronze 11, recently brought to light in t... more In the great sacred area of Ish tar, dating from Middle Bronze 11, recently brought to light in the Lower Town north of Ebla, in the square stretching between the great Temple P2 and the imposing Monument P3, 1 a favissa excavated in the rock was identified, and almost completely excavated, whose presence was indicated by some big squared limestone blocks, only in part found in place (Fig. 1). 2 This favissa opened almost exactly in the point of intersection of the central axes of the two buildings, nearly 35 m away from their facrades. There they had thrown a large amount of bowls and small size vases, among which some small jars decorated with clay naked female figurines, lions and birds applied on the shoulders and to the necks. With the pottery we found some votive offeri ngs including clay naked female figurines and bronze serpents and toggle pins, several stone and gold beads, fragments of different precious materials, among which lapis lazuli, and a miniature camelian figurine of a crouching lion of an excellent workmanship (Fig. 2). 3

EDIZIONI QUASAR SCIENZE DELL'ANTICHITÀ

Mura di legno, mura di terra, mura di pietra:

Figurative Themes and Literary Texts

A main problem for the studies which, since the first discoveries of Oriental Archaeology, tried ... more A main problem for the studies which, since the first discoveries of Oriental Archaeology, tried to investigate the meanings of artistic works, not in the values they expressed, for historical reconstruction, through formal aspects, namely stylistical in the proper sense, but rather in the themes dealt with through the choice of subjects, was the relation between artistic images and literary images and, in a more general sense, between figurative representation and textual representation. Although we cannot try here a comprehensive evaluation of this relation in the development of our studies in general and in the history of art of Ancient Mesopotamia in particular, it is not inopportune to take into consideration how, in such development, the problem itself was put in different terms, reductive or extensive, was circumscribed and precised, and. lastly, was criticized and challenged. The oldest type of relation they tried to establish between art and literature, since the last two decades of last century, already in Joachim Ménant's work, in substance did not take into account the time variable, namely the chronological differences in the production of the artistic and literary works put into correlation. 1 In this way of doing, where the type of relation taken into consideration was schematically reduced to the possibility that figurative works were really not more than the illustration of literary works, risks were, of course, serious and multiple. We can recall two major risks: on the one hand, a figurative work many centuries older could be thought to be inspired by a much later literary work; on the other hand, a literary work with a circulation limited to some milieus, or to ancient periods, could be considered active in influencing later figurative works. This formulation, which would nowadays be defined anti-historical, had its deep motivation in the fact that, in the first phases of the archaeological, philological, and historical reconstruction of Mesopotamian civilization, research privileged the characterization of unitarian aspects, beyond time and space differences. The chronologically undifferenced interpretation and reconstruction which were for a long time dominant in the handbooks about Mesopotamian civilization led to perceive as uninfluential, in the comparations 1 J. Ménant, Les pierres gravées de la Haute Asie. Recherches sur la glyptique orientale, I, Paris 1983. FIGURATIVE THEMES AND LITERARY TEXTS

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST, A LIFE

by Paolo Matthiae and Anne Goddeeris

LE FORME e LA STORIA

 Maria G. Lo Duca Glottodidattica, educazione linguistica, linguistica educativa… ed altro ... more  Maria G. Lo Duca Glottodidattica, educazione linguistica, linguistica educativa… ed altro  Paolo Bertinetti Chi crede nell'utilità degli studi letterari?  Gian Mario Anselmi e Francesca Tomasi Informatica e letteratura  Francesco Benigno Cos'è la storia oggi? Riflessioni sul mutamento di una disciplina  Fabio Ciaramelli Accesso alla verità o interrogazione sul significato? Una riflessione filosofico-politica sul ruolo della filosofia  Franco Farinelli Sulla genealogia del sapere geografico (e per l'agenda geografica post-moderna)  Alessandro Lutri intervista Pietro Clemente Di certe idee sugli studi antropologici in Italia  Marco Mazzone conversa con Vittorio Gallese e Pietro Perconti Scienza cognitiva e saperi umanistici: il caso dei neuroni specchio Saperi umanistici e lavori  Antonio Pioletti intervista Roberto Antonelli Saperi umanistici, crisi e insegnamento  Tomaso Montanari Il disastro dei Beni culturali  Mario Andreose L'editoria fra tradizione e innovazione  Antonio Pioletti intervista Francesco Merlo A proposito di informazione  Salvo Scibilia intervista Aldo Biasi La comunicazione, il commercio e l'arte  Sommario R u b b e t t i n o

From Source to History Studies on Ancient Near Eastern Worlds and Beyond Dedicated to Giovanni Battista Lanfranchi on the Occasion of His 65 th Birthday on

by Paolo Matthiae and daniele morandi bonacossi

Lo studio della Storia Antica è sempre stato, per Gianni, piacere intellettuale, dovere sociale e... more Lo studio della Storia Antica è sempre stato, per Gianni, piacere intellettuale, dovere sociale e morale e prosecuzione di quell'idea di "uomo di studio", imparata dal padre Luigi e così ben impressa nel suo cuore e nella sua mente. A lui, Gianni fa riferimento, quando studia, quando insegna, quando scrive. Fonti, documenti, testi, sono imprescindibili punti di partenza delle sue analisi, con il pensiero che guarda sempre al mondo dell'Oriente Antico. Uomo integerrimo e puro, non conosce la competizione e forse per questo, arriva sempre tra i primi. Ha molto a cuore i suoi allievi: di loro, non esita a metter in luce le qualità positive, soffocando in un "sono giovani" le intemperanze e gli umani difetti. Lo ammiro perché non conosce invidia, ira, malizia, sospetto: lo amo perché mi ha insegnato a guardarmi da questi subdoli amici. Ines

MatthiaeOpenSpeech_ 2016 ICAANE Basel Vol 1.pdf

It is a great pleasure for me to open, on behalf also of the International Scientific Committee ,... more It is a great pleasure for me to open, on behalf also of the International Scientific Committee , the 9 th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, which once again witnesses an extraordinary participation of colleagues from all over the world. At the same time, it is a privilege to express the deepest gratitude to the Academic Authorities of Basel University, and in particular to Rector Antonio Loprieno, for having generously accepted to host this Congress, which has become the universally asserted forum for dialogue , debate, and discussion about the research, studies, methods, and problems of Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology, and, in part at least, of Islamic Archaeology. It is a special honour for me, at the beginning of our work, to warmly welcome the Directors, and responsible for the Cultural, and Archaeological Institutions of the Near Eastern countries, who have the duty, heavy as much as meritorious, to promote archaeological research, to spur studies, to take care of the preservation of heritage, as well as to preserve, exploit, and divulge the extraordinary meaning of the universal cultural heritage present in their Countries. The search for new data, both in field archaeology, and in surveys is the primary duty for us, the archaeologists, and, to state it clearly, it is our passion, and often, though not always, it is the primary reason for this profession, to which we dedicate our lives, our intellectual energies, and our practical capacities. In this Congress, which sees us meeting all together in order to discuss the results of our research should we ignore that this primary field research, which more than any other allows to enrich the patrimony of basic data for the interpretation of the civilizations of the past, in several Countries of the Near East is threatened, limited, and sometimes simply stopped for basic security reasons, as never happened before? Should we ignore that, while we try with every mean to go on with our field research, in order to better reconstruct centuries, and millennia basic for the history of humankind, the peoples, and communities of some Countries in the Near East are once again heavily suffering for economic, social, humanitarian crisis, which repeat themselves, and enlarge themselves, creating the heaviest hardships for peoples? Should we ignore that in these situations of crisis the extraordinary treasure of the monumental, artistic, archaeological, and immaterial cultural heritage is exposed to continuous, and repeated risks, and is nowadays threatened