Art Eyewitness Book Review: Uncovering Antioch by Robert Kanigel

 

                       

Uncovering Antioch

By Robert Kanigel

Simon & Schuster/383 pages/$30

Reviewed by Ed Voves

The 1930's excavation of the ancient city of Antioch by archaeologists from Princeton University, with support of the French government, is one of the great success stories in the recovery of the material remains of antiquity. It is also an example of the proverb, "be careful what you wish for - you might get it."

When the Antioch expedition was first conceived in the late 1920's, excitement over the 1922 discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamun was still high. Likewise, a joint British Museum/University of Pennsylvania expedition was conducting a "dig" of the ancient city of Ur, in southern Iraq. Fabulous artifacts, including some believed to be directly relevant to the Bible, were being unearthed. 

Antioch, located in Syria, was the Roman Empire's third city in size and importance. Though located in a fertile, climate-friendly region, Antioch was unknowingly built astride a geological fault line. It was devastated by a massive earthquake in 526. The citizens of Antioch rebuilt their beloved metropolis to some degree, but it never fully recovered. 

What treasures, buried by the killer quake, might lie under the ruins of Antioch?

The Princeton archaeologists certainly recovered phenomenal works of art during the eight years they spent at Antioch, 1932-39. But, as Robert Kanigel's compelling account of the excavations relates, these discoveries were overwhelmingly of one artistic genre. Moreover, it was a type of art which the Princeton scholars and their French colleagues had not expected to find, certainly not in the vast numbers which they discovered.

Mosaics ... Mosaics and, yet more, mosaics.

A 1932 photo from the Antioch excavations, showing clearing of the floor of a building known as the Atrium House. The mosaic, at left, is the Dancing Satyr, now in the collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art.

The Dancing Satyr Mosaic (left) before being removed from the Atrium House floor and, now, as it appears at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

The Princeton archaeologists unearthed entire mosaic floors, covered with intricate depictions of scenes from Greek mythology. Walkways and garden paths decorated with eye-dazzling geometric patterns. All composed of small fingernail-sized pieces of stone or glass, called tesserae.

The Dancing Satyr Mosaic from the Atrium House (detail) 

According to Kanigel, three hundred mosaics were excavated during the eight-year "dig" at Antioch. It was as if Goethe's poem,The Sorcerer's Apprentice, had come true. The Princeton team kept digging, the mosaics kept appearing. Local landowners raised the rental fees for the fields surveyed as likely sites for new discoveries... and the "dig" resumed.

At the height of the annual campaigns, in the mid-1930's, so many mosaics had been unearthed that they were stacked-up against nearby walls (below), as if they had just been massed-produced in a workshop or factory. 

A color photo of mosaics being readied for shipment to the museums which had financially-backed the Antioch excavations, 1932-39

Some of the Antioch mosaics were colossal in size. The Worcester Art Museum's Hunt Floor Mosaic measures slightly over 246 by 281 feet (625.8 x 716.2 cm.) and weighs around 1200 lbs.

Gallery view of the Worcester Art Museum's Hunt Floor Mosaic

The Princeton team should not have be surprised that mosaics were a major feature of Antioch's culture. Pompeii, by comparison, had many well-known mosaics. It was the content of the Antioch mosaics and the dates of their creation which raised the eyebrows of the excavators and of the scholarly community reading the annual reports from the field. 

The subject matter depicted on the Antioch mosaics was almost entirely devoted to Greek gods and goddesses. In Christian parlance it was "pagan" art. 

Fragment of a Floor Mosaic depicting Tethys in a Marine Background, 

c. 250-275. Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art

This was no small point. Antioch was one of the earliest cities where Christians established congregations. In fact, the Acts of the Apostles, 11:26, affirms that Antioch was the first place where the followers of Jesus were called Christians. Two of the most important Christian theologians of the post-Apostolic age, St. Ignatius and St. John Chrysostom, were from Antioch.

Yet, no Christian art works or artifacts, of any real significance, were ever unearthed during the 1930's excavations. Nor did the Princeton team ever discover the remains of a Christian church, many of which certainly existed.

This is indeed puzzling. Most of the mosaics excavated in Antioch date to the third through sixth centuries. During all this period, Christianity was in the ascent, while belief in the gods and goddesses of Olympus was fading away. 

What caused this perplexing failure to create public art matching Christian piety in Antioch? Was it a case of the age-old dilemma, "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak"?

Saints and sinners do figure in Kanigel's account, though none of the latter are especially culpable. Kanigel's protagonists date more from the twentieth century than antiquity. They share in the familiar strengths and weaknesses of modern times, giving Kanigel plenty to work with in shaping an enthralling narrative.

Uncovering Antioch is an astutely written account of academic "politics", international diplomacy and personal ambition. As readers of Kanigel's earlier books know, he has an almost uncanny knack of taking an unconventional subject and explaining it with insight and elan.

In the case of Uncovering Antioch, Kanigel performs a "magic-trick" of sustained narrative brilliance. He summons the ancient past to life, evokes the "between-the wars" era of the 1920's and 30's, recounts the epic eight-year "dig" at Antioch and then ties-up the "loose ends" in such a way that both the general reader and the scholar of archaeology will comprehend all of the arcane details.

The saga of the Antioch excavations can only be briefly reprieved here. In 1927, a Princeton academic, Charles Rufus Morey, launched the bold enterprise when he learned that the French were considering an expedition to Antioch. France governed Syria as part of the post-World War I settlement, but needed funding to carry out the "dig."

Morey struck a deal with the French. He promised to finance the effort for two digging "campaigns, beginning in 1932, and recruit American team members for the excavations. By the terms of the agreement, the French and the Americans would each get a third of whatever treasures would be unearthed. The remaining third would be donated to a new, projected museum in Syria.

What the Princeton/French team needed was a sensational discovery which would grab international news headlines and generate cash flow to keep the "dig" going. They got their wish almost immediately when the astonishing mosaic, The Judgement of Paris, was unearthed in 1932. Dating to the era of the Roman emperors, Trajan and Hadrian, c. 115 to 150, this incomparable mosaic was sent to the Louvre.

 

The Judgement of Paris mosaic, c. 115 to 150

Detail of The Judgement of Paris mosaic, c. 115 to 150

After that, the mosaics kept coming and coming. But Uncovering Antioch is not a mosaic-driven story, despite the wealth of knowledge and insight which Kanigel provides for these ancient artworks. This is primarily a story of human dynamics.

The "Main Street Dig" excavations to determine the course of Antioch's main concourse, buried under layers of sediment over the centuries

Like all great story-tellers, Kanigel finds a way into the minds and souls of the individuals he writes about. Like the heroes at Troy, they went out to the dusty, sometimes flooded, fields around Antioch for year-after-year in what was truly an epic endeavor.

A 1933 photo showing some of the participants in the Antioch excavations.  At left, in suit and tie, is the first director, Clarence Fisher; seated at right is William "Sandy" Campbell, who succeeded him in 1934. Standing behind his wife & son, is Jean Lassus.

In the above photograph, we see several of the remarkable team who rescued the Antioch mosaics from their centuries-long confinement below ground.There is the taciturn Clarence Fisher, a specialist in Egyptology who led the initial campaigns, his charismatic successor, William "Sandy" Campbell, and the charming, yet thoroughly professional, French archaeologist, Jean Lassus, later a hero of the World War II anti-Nazi Resistance.

Among the many notable protagonists of Uncovering Antioch, it should be noted, is the author himself.

      Robert Kanigel, author of Uncovering Antioch  

Kanigel, a man of many accomplishments, is also an "amateur" mosaicist. His personal commentary on making mosaics - of modest dimensions, no floor-sized hunting scenes - enlivens the account of the aftermath of the 1930's dig. 

Even more worthy of note are Kanigel's reflections on the emotional impact of working with and studying mosaics from antiquity. In a moving passage, he writes:

Early in my evolving fellowship with the mosaics, as I encountered them on museum walls, online, or in the pages of books, I developed genuine intimacy with only a few of them. But with time, seen repeatedly and in varied contexts, they together worked their way into me, with their gods and goddesses, warriors, heroes, Greek inscriptions, animals wild and domestic, food, drink, revelry, jewels, scenes sweet and grotesque, wild hair, piercing eyes...

I positively agree with these insights on the way that ancient works of art can "work their way" into one's mind and thoughts. In my case, it is the Fayum mummy portraits which I regularly examine at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that have "worked their way into me."

As I finished reading Uncovering Antioch, I could not help but compare one of the  Fayum portraits from the Met with a type of mosaic discussed in the book. These are termed "personifications." Kanigel describes them as "well-coiffed and bejeweled woman of imposing aspect." 

These stylish beauties are posed in conjunction with a word in Greek signifying a special attribute or desired aspect of the "good life" of this world.

At left, a "personification" mosaic from Antioch, Agora, contrasted with a Fayum Mummy portrait (photo by Anne Lloyd, 2019)

An especially impressive "personification" from the collection of the Worcester Art Museum shows a young woman with the inscription "Agora" above her, denoting "abundance of the marketplace."

I have yet to visit the Worcester Art Museum (WAM) and meet "Lady Agora" in person. After looking - and looking - at her via WAM's website, I can only shake my head in wonder. She is an allegorical figure, yet her physical presence is palpable. She even has the "strong eye, weak eye" which is visible in many a living human countenance.

Did a real woman from Antioch pose for this "personification", as the Egyptian woman did (either before or after death) in the case of the Met's Fayum portrait? 

If both images depict real women, then both died well-onto two thousand years in the past. Yet so vivid, so "alive" are these portraits - as is the lively, insightful text of Uncovering Antioch - that two thousand years ago seems like yesterday.

***

Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved

Archival photos courtesy of the Committee for the Investigation of Antioch-on-the-Orontes. https://ochre.lib.uchicago.edu/antioch                                                                                                                                                    

 Introductory Image: Cover art of of Uncovering Antioch by Robert Kanigel, 2026. Courtesy of Simon & Schuster

Committee for the Investigation of Antioch-on-the-Orontes.  Floor of the triclinium of Atrium House being cleared, 1932.  Photograph N108

Committee for the Investigation of Antioch-on-the-Orontes. The Dancing Satyr Mosaic before being removed from the Atrium House floor.  Photograph N111

Dancing Satyr Mosaic from the Atrium House (Fragment of floor mosaic depicting a dancing satyr), Early 2nd century. Mosaic: Stone, glass, and lime mortar, 73 5/8 x 44 1/2 x 2 7/8 in. (187 x 113 x 7.3 cm.) Baltimore Museum of Art, Antioch Subscription Fund. #1933.52.2.

Committee for the Investigation of Antioch-on-the-Orontes. Color photograph of mosaics from Antioch being prepared for shipment. Photo by G.E. Kidder Smith.  Photograph ANT PH KS 8015.

Gallery view of the Hunt Floor Mosaic gallery at the Worcester Art Museum.   https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosaics,_Worcester_Art_Museum_-_IMG_7443.JPG

Fragment of floor mosaic depicting Tethys in a Marine Background, c. 250-275. Mosaic: Stone and lime mortar, 76 1/4 x 53 5/8 x 2 5/16 in. (193.7 x 136.2 x 5.9 cm.) Baltimore Museum of Art

Mosaic of the Judgment of Paris, from Antioch on the Orontes, 115-150 AD. Mosaic (polychrome):196 cm x 196 cm x 8 cm. Estimated weight: 120 kg. Louvre Museum, Paris.

Committee for the Investigation of Antioch-on-the-Orontes. Photograph of the Main Street dig. Workmen placing shoring timbers in postion. Photograph N294.

Committee for the Investigation of Antioch-on-the-Orontes. Staff of 1933 Season. Photo N1269b. 

Photograph of Robert Kanigel. Courtesy of Simon & Schuster

Floor Mosaic of Personification of Agora (Abundance of the Marketplace), late 4th century. Mosaic: marble, limestone and glass embedded in lime mortar: 80.6 x 98.4 cm (31 3/4 x 38 3/4 in.) Worcester Art Museum, funded by bequests of Rev. Dr. Austin S. Garver and Sarah Garver.

Anne Lloyd, (Photo 2019) Portrait of a Young Woman in Red (detail), c. 90-120 AD. A.D. 90–120. Encaustic on limewood with gold leaf: H. 38.1 x W. 18.4 cm (15 x 7 1/4 in.) Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Art Eyewitness Review: She Who Wrote: Enheduanna at the Morgan Library

 

She Who Wrote:
 Enheduanna & Women of Mesopotamia, ca. 3400-2000 BC

Morgan Library & Museum

October 2022 - February 19, 2023

Reviewed by Ed Voves

Over the years, the Morgan Library and Museum has mounted a number of outstanding exhibitions highlighting the brilliant achievements of women writers and artists.

Here are just a few of these Morgan presentations that spring to mind: A Woman's Wit: Jane Austin's Life and Legacy (2009-2010); I'm Nobody! Who are You? the Life and Poetry of Emily Dickinson (2017); and one of my "top ten" exhibits, Charlotte Bronte: an Independent Will (2016-2017).

During 2020-2021, many centennial events were planned by museums in tribute to the 19th Amendment giving American women the right to vote. It was only to be expected that the curators at the Morgan would mount an exhibition to celebrate a notable woman or a theme related to women's history - and indeed they did have one scheduled for the autumn of 2021. Their choice of topic was brilliant, if unusual: the story of Enheduanna, history's first writer.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022)

 Entrance to She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia, at the Morgan Library & Museum

Let us underscore this fact, Enheduanna, a noble woman from ancient Mesopotamia, was the first author, male or female, to be recorded in the annals of civilization. 

Events - in the shape of the Covid-19 pandemic - interfered with the Morgan's exhibition. Entitled She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia, ca. 3400-2000 BC, it was delayed until October 2022. The  exhibit, now in its final days, is a splendid one, but Enhedeuanna's long wait for recognition is actually a very long story and a rather complicated one.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Gallery view of

 She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia

Enheduanna was the daughter of Sargon of Akkad, the conquering warlord who united the city states of Mesopotamia into what many regard as history's first empire. 

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Enheduanna's Name in Cuneiform 

Enheduanna, whose name means "high priestess, ornament of heaven," lived around 2300 BC. She was a politically powerful figure during her lifetime and remained influential through her writings for many centuries afterward.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022)

 The Disk of Enheduanna, 2300 BC

Eventually, Enheduanna faded into the dust of the past. Then, in 1927, a  circular stone object was uncovered in an archaeological "dig" in present day Iraq. Measuring 10 1/8 inches (25 cm) in diameter and 2 3/4 inches (7 cm) thick, the alabaster Disk of Enheduanna had been smashed into fragments thousands of years ago. But once it was pieced together, it portrayed Enheduanna, in a profile view, showing her as a priestess engaged in a religious ritual.  

A cuneiform tablet, created at a later date in antiquity, displayed a poem written by Enheduanna, The Exaltation of Inanna.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022)

 Tablet inscribed with The Exaltation of Inanna

These archaeological finds are immensely important, proving that Enheduanna was a major writer, many centuries before Homer or Herodotus. Yet, it has taken decades since these discoveries for her status and literary stature to be fully recognized.

The announcement of firm, archaeological evidence of the first author in history should have been a "stop the presses" event. Had the identity been that of an already well-known figure like Sargon or a person in some way related to the Holy Bible, the event would have almost certainly received greater publicity. 

As a woman, virtually unknown to history, Enheduanna had one strike - a big one - against her. Two more strikes made it even more difficult for her to get the credit she deserves. 

In 1922, the discovery of the tomb of King Tutankamun raised the bar of ancient celebrity status to a very high degree. And then, in the same year that the Disk of Enheduanna was unearthed, another dramatic discovery was made, this time at Ur, Enheduanna's own "backyard." This revelation all but consigned her to the footnotes of the annual archaeological reports of field work in Mesopotamia. 

Ed Voves, Photo (2022) Queen Puabi’s Funerary Ensemble

In 1927, Leonard Woolley, the same archaeologist who found the battered pieces of the Disk of Enheduanna, excavated the tomb of Queen Puabi, filled with exquisite treasures including her glittering headdress, ear rings and necklaces, believed by some art lovers to be the most beautiful royal regalia in all of history. 

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Gallery view of the Enheduanna exhibition  showing Queen Puabi’s Funerary Ensemble

One of the major incentives in visiting the Morgan exhibition is the impressive display of Puabi's "crown" or headdress, on loan from the University of Pennsylvania Museum. In a sense, Puabi is upstaging Enheduanna again, as the breathtakingly beautiful ensemble of gold jewelry and precious stone beads dominates much of the exhibition gallery. But thanks to the Morgan's curator, Sidney Babcock, Enheduanna eventually asserts her own royal presence.

 

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022)

 Curator Sidney Babcock, with The Disk of Enheduanna

Throughout much of in the twentieth century, Enheduanna languished in the shadows of the fine print of scholarly journals. Then in 1968, a very detailed study of Enheduanna's poem, The Exaltatation of Inanna, was made by a noted scholar, William Hallo, assisted by J.J.A. van Dijk. Hallo's book is the kind of academic work almost never read by the public, but it established beyond doubt that Enheduanna was one ot the pioneers of world literature:

...at or near the beginning of classical Sumerian literature, we can now discern a corpus of poetry of the very first rank which not only reveals its author's name, but delineates the author for us in truly autobiographical fashion. In the person of Enheduanna, we are confronted by a woman who was at once princess, priestess and poetess, a personality who set the standards in all of her roles for many succeeding centuries, and whose merits were recognized, in singular Mesopotamian fashion, long after.

This is precisely what the Morgan exhibition asserts, so memorably and cogently, with a trove of treasures related to Enheduanna and the women of Mesopotamia.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Gallery view of

 She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia

Queen Puabi lived around 2500 BC, approximately two centuries before Enheduanna. Both women resided in the city of Ur and were Akkadians, that is members of the Semitic-speaking nobility, rather than the indigenous Sumerians, who had been subjected to Akkadian rule. Although the focus of the Morgan's exhibit is the role of women in Mesopotamia, a subtext - which cannot be ignored - is the dynastic politics which directly engaged both Puabi and Enheduanna.

When Sargon completed the Akkadian take-over of Mesopotamia, Enheduanna was installed as high priestess of the cult of the moon god, Nanna, of Ur. But her most important duty was to promote the assimilation of Sumerian religious beliefs to those of the Akkadian ruling elite. 

Enheduanna the poet is given credit for a major poem or hymn, The Exaltation of Inanna. To Akkadians like Enheduanna, Inanna was known as Ishtar or Istar. Over the centuries, Inanna/Ishtar would reappear in the Greek world as Aphrodite, goddess of love. Inanna/Ishtar certainly promoted beauty and fertility in Mesopotamia but, especially as Ishtar, this goddess was also a terrifying exponent of war.

The dual faces of Inanna/Ishtar are brilliantly contrasted in the Morgan exhibition by two important artifacts. 

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022)

 Fragment of a Vessel with Frontal Image of a Goddess, ca. 2400 BC

The first is a fragment of a vessel showing a Sumerian goddess, probably Inanna. Dating to ca. 2400 BC, this divine being reveals an earth goddess character. It evokes the nourishing, life-sustaining agricultural revolution which made Sumer the template for all of the later Mesopotamian - and Western - societies.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Cylinder seal & modern impression

 The Goddesses Ninishkun and Ishtar, ca. 2334–2154 BC

Ishtar, as she is appears in an impression made by a cylinder seal, is very different. Her face, masterfully carved by the intaglio process, so that the diminutive seal could be pressed into clay, projects an impassive savagery. This withering look is reinforced by the lion she grips by a leash and the battle-axe or mace which she holds in her other hand. 

Enheduanna's own words, as set-down in cuneiform on a one-tablet edition of The Exaltation of Inanna, dating to 1750 BC, reveal the shifts from nurture to aggression which could happen without warning. At first, we are regaled with visions of Inanna's benevolence.

Queen of all cosmic powers, bright light shining from above,              

Steadfast woman, arrayed in splendor, beloved of earth and sky,

In the second stanza, the mood shifts to images of destruction and war.

You spew venom on a country, like a dragon.                                    

Wherever you raise your voice, like a tempest, no crop is left standing.

These are hardly the comforting, humane sentiments provided by the Morgan's exhibitions on Jane Austin and Emily Dickinson! Needless-to-say, Enheduanna's era was very different from England and America during the 1800's. It was a very violent world. The foot of Ishtar, firmly planted on the lion's rump on the cylinder seal impression (above), likely symbolizes the military campaigns waged by Sargon and his successors to repel raiders from the deserts surrounding Mesopotamia

Enheduanna composed hymn poems to appease Inanna/Ishtar, who could turn from a caring, protective deity to a wrathful one with the suddenness of a river in flood or a blinding sandstorm. Enheduanna knew from personal experience what rapid shifts in political fortune could bring. At one point, she was driven into exile when a usurper seized control of Ur.

The Morgan curators utilize the surviving archaeological evidence to confirm what Hallo asserted back in 1968. Enheduanna, as "princess, priestess and poetess" did "set the standards in all of her roles for many succeeding centuries..."

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Gallery view of

 She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia

Two principal means of illustrating Enheduanna's life and times are used: a brilliant selection of cylinder seals with modern-day impressions and an imposing array of statues and figurines depicting the women of Mesopotamia, perhaps Enheduanna herself.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Detail of The Disk of Enheduanna

It is almost a miracle that Enheduanna's image in profile survived the smash-up of the Disk of Enheduanna. This was certainly an act of politically-motivated vandalism. Enheduanna is shown to be an older, full-faced woman on the Disk. It is tempting to think that perhaps the serene Seated Female Figure with Vessel in Hands, from Ur, III period (ca. 2112–2004 BC) might be a representation of Enheduanna. 

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022)

 Seated Female Figure with Vessel in Hands,

 ca. 2112–2004 BC

Could the fragmentary statuette of a woman with arching "Frida Kahlo" eyebrows be Enheduanna? Or might she be the formidable High Priestess with glaring inlaid eyes?

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022)

 Fragment of a Statuette of a Female Figure, 2334-2154 BC

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) 

Head of a High Priestess, ca. 2334–2154 BC

All this is idle, almost silly, speculation. What these small statues identify is not a particular person but the strength, intelligence and resilience of the women of Mesopotamia, talents which Enheduanna certainly exemplified.

Resilience, most of all. The ability to endure hard work, the constant risk of famine or floods and the ever-present threat of war characterized the lives of the women of the ancient Sumerian cities. 

Ed Voves Photo (2022) 

Standing Female Figure, from Assur, ca. 2400 BC

This durability seems to have rubbed-off on the striking alabaster figure of a be-robed woman, found by German archaeologists in a temple complex in Assur, the birthplace of the later Assyrian Empire. This lady worshiper, battered but unbowed, survived the destruction of the Assyrian strongholds during the seventh century BC. Then, after being unearthed shortly before World War I, she nearly succumbed to the aerial bombardment and Soviet assault on Berlin during World War II. That's a lot of history to endure!

While these statues anchor the Morgan exhibition (along with Puabi's regalia), perhaps the most important works to complement The Disk of Enheduanna are the amazing cylinder seals. 

When pressed into clay or other substances, the cylinder (carved into a rare, precious stone like lapis lazuli) created a sealing bond over documents, vessels, containers, even doors, a bond that could not be broken except when properly mandated.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) 

 Cylinder seal and modern impression

 Shumshani, High Priestess of the Sun God, ca. 2250 BC

Cylinder seals thus provided testimonials that the rule of law, instituted by the gods and the monarch-priests who served them, was being obeyed.  As a priestess, Enheduanna devoted herself to uphold correct forms of social conduct, as well as religious belief. This was no easy task. Inanna/Ishtar, as mentioned earlier, was a capricious, unpredictable goddess. Enheduanna composed hymn poems to appease the gods and keep their rage at bay.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) 

 Cylinder seal and modern impression

 Ishtar receiving Worshipper: Hero Combating Lion, 2250 BC

The scenes which emerge, as if by magic, when the cylinder is rolled over clay illustrate Enheduanna's beliefs and poems, in short, her world. There is no better way to comprehend Enheduanna and Mesopotamian culture than to spend time studying cylinder seals, of which the Morgan possesses one of the finest collections among American museums.

 It is some regret to me that I was only able to make one short visit to She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia, and post a last-minute review. But the Morgan exhibition is so brilliant that I could not let it go without the notice and praise which it deserves.

Thanks to She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia at the Morgan Library and Museum, Enheduanna's honored place in literature and history now seems secure. That could change, however. Our world, built on apparently secure foundations is actually a fragile edifice, as Enheduanna well knew. 

Vulnerable to desert storms, political folly and human forgetfulness, civilization can soon return to the sands.

***

Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved                                

Introductory image courtesy of the  Morgan Library & Museum and the Louvre

Introductory Image:

Seated Female Figure with Vessel in Hands. Mesopotamia, Neo-Sumerian, Girsu (modern Tello) Ur III period (ca. 2112–2004 BC). Musée d' Louvre © MN-Grand Palais

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Entrance to the exhibition, She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia, ca. 3400-2000 BC, at the Morgan Library and Museum.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Gallery view of She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia, ca. 3400-2000 BC at the Morgan Library and Museum.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Enheduanna's Name in Cuneiform from the gallery of the Morgan exhibition, She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia, ca. 3400-2000 BC. 

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) The Disk of Enheduanna. Mesopotamia, Akkadian, Ur (modern Tell el- Muqayyar), gipar, ca. 2300 BC.  Collection  the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Tablet inscribed with The Exaltation of Inanna, poem by Enheduanna. Mesopotamia, Nippur (modern Nuffar), ca. 1750 BC. Collection the University of Pennsylvania Museum.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Queen Puabi’s Funerary Ensemble. Mesopotamia, Sumerian, Ur (modern Tell el-Muqayyar), Early Dynastic IIIa period,ca. 2500 BC. Collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum. 

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Gallery view of the Enheduanna exhibition at the Morgan Library and Museum showing Queen Puabi’s Funerary Ensemble.  

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Sidney Babcock of of the Morgan Library and Museum, with The Disk of Enheduanna.  

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Gallery view of She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia, ca. 3400-2000 BC at the Morgan Library and Museum.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Fragment of a Vessel with Frontal Image of a Goddess. Mesopotamia, Sumerian, Early Dynastic, IIIb period, ca. 2400 BC. Collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Vorderasiatisches Museum.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Cylinder seal (and modern impression) The Goddesses Ninishkun and Ishtar. Mesopotamia, Akkadian, ca. 2334–2154 BC. Collection of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. 

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Gallery view of She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia, with a votive figurine in the foreground and Queen Puabi’s Funerary Ensemble.  

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Detail of The Disk of Enheduanna.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Seated Female Fgure with Vessel in Hands, ca. 2112–2004 BC. (Details above). Collection of the Musée d' Louvre. 

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Fragment of a Statuette of a Female Figure, possibly from Umma (modern Tell Jokha). Akkadian period, 2334-2154 BC) Collection of the Musée d' Louvre. 

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Head of a High Priestess (?) with inlaid eyes. Mesopotamia, Akkadian, Ur (modern Tell el-Muqayyar), ca. 2334–2154 BC. Collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum. 

Ed Voves Photo (2022) Standing Female Figure. Mesopotamia. Assur, Ishtar Temple, ca. 2400 BC. Alabaster. Collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Vorderasiatisches Museum

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Cylinder seal (and modern impression) Shumshani, High Priestess of the Sun God. Mesopotamia, Akkadian, Sippar (modern Tell Abu Habbah) , ca. 2250 BC. Lapis Lazuli. Collection of the Morgan Library and Museum.

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022)  Cylinder seal (and modern impression) Ishtar Receiving Worshipper: Hero Combating Lion. Mesopotamia, Akkadian, ca. 2250 BC. Lapis lazili. Collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Vorderasiatisches Museum

Ed  Voves, Photo (2022) Cylinder seal (and modern impression) Shumshani, High Priestess of the Sun God (as above).

Art Eyewitness Book Review: The Scythians by Barry Cunliffe

                                                                 

                           

The Scythians 

Nomad Warriors of the Steppe

By Barry Cunliffe

Oxford University Press/400 pages/$32.95

Reviewed by Ed Voves

During the battle of Stalingrad, 1942-1943, the keystone of the Soviet defensive position was a hill known as Mamayev Kurgan. A little over 300 feet in height, Mamayev Kurgan had been created by the hand of man, centuries earlier. The crucial "high ground" of the Soviet stand at Stalingrad was a funeral mound or tumulus, reputedly for one of the leaders of the Mongol invaders who had devastated Russia during the thirteenth century.

Mamayev Kurgan is one of thousands of such burial mounds which dot a huge swathe of Eurasia, stretching from Mongolia to Macedonia. From these buried tombs, an impressive array of treasures and artifacts have been recovered, relics of human societies which flourished and faded without the benefit of written records.

Among the ancient peoples who buried their dead in "kurgans," the Scythians are by far the most important. By two strokes of good fortune, the culture of these otherwise mysterious nomads is known to us in considerable detail. Herodotus, the Greek "father" of history, wrote about the Scythians at great length during the fifth century B.C. and modern day archaeologists have been able to verify much of his narrative, often with incredible precision.

The Chertomlyk Amphora, 4th century BC

These two "good turns" have led to another, an outstanding book by Barry Cunliffe.  Written with the general reader in mind, The Scythians tells a centuries-long, very complicated story with a concise mastery of detail. Cunliffe, one of the greatest authorities on archaeology today, is an accomplished literary stylist, writing with insight and human feeling.

This last point is worthy of comment, before proceeding further with this essay. The Scythians were a restless, wandering group of Indo-European peoples. They were hardy nomads who were able to thrive in conditions which most modern people could not endure. Their social ethos was marked by hunting and warfare which was vividly depicted on their works of art.

Cunliffe relates the evidence of extreme violence in Scythian society with a fine balance of judgement and understanding. He describes the gruesome discovery in a Siberian kurgan of the well-preserved remains of Scythian man who had been killed and scalped around 300 B.C. The excavation of Kurgan 2 at Pazyryk in the remote Altai Mountain confirmed descriptions by Herodotus of the savagery of Scythian warfare in the region surrounding the Black Sea.

The history of the Scythians is not for the faint of heart. Yet, it is sobering indeed to contrast the singe corpse of a scalped Scythian warrior with the estimated 30,000 German and Russian soldiers who were killed in the struggle for Mamayev Kurgan, just one of the zones-of-combat at Stalingrad. The ancient Scythians had no monopoly of violence.

Gold Plaque of a Scythian Horseman Hunting a Hare, 4th century BC

The Scythians spent most of their lives hunting game animals and guiding vast herds of horses, sheep and cattle from one pasture to another. Some of the Scythians traveled over vast stretches of Eurasia. Others adhered to a regional mode of living, shepherding their animals on a seasonal rotation to mountain pastures in the summer and more protected valleys during the arduous Siberian winters. This was the life style of the Scythians who lived in the Altai Mountains on the present Russia/China border. 

The Altai region was the original homeland of the Scythians. Here in remote antiquity, they domesticated the horse, without a doubt their supreme achievement. With the incredible mobility conferred by riding, especially as horses were bred to a bigger and more powerful size, the Scythians were able to travel incredible distances. Nature provided them with a ready-made highway, the grasslands known as the steppes. Several hundreds of miles wide, the steppes extended from the Altai Mountains to the Great Hungarian Plain in Central Europe.

Gallery shot of From the Lands of the Scythians, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975

The map above was featured in the spectacular exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1975, From the Lands of the Scythians. The expanse of olive green which extends across the top of the map represents the steppes. More arid land, in tan, lay to the south, between the Caspian Sea and the mountains of Afghanistan. Cunliffe cogently describes the westward trek of the Scythian nomads, repeated many times, over this vast domain.

There were four distinct groups of nomadic peoples who shared the Scythian way of life: Kimmerians, Scythians, the Sakas, who veered southward past the Caspian and the Aral Sea where they ranged against the Persian Empire, and the Sarmatians (not to be confused with the biblical Samaritans). Like ripples in a pond, the movement of one group pushed its predecessor to look for new pastures and new horizons further to the west.

The epic venture of the Scythians occurred from around 900 B.C. to 100 B.C., roughly during the period of the rise of the Greek city-states to the establishment of the Roman Empire. The last of the Scythian groups, the Sarmatians, would fight against the legions of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius.

The central episode in this story, and the one which holds the most fascination for art lovers, concerns the Scythians who eventually settled in the region known as the North Pontic Steppe. Located on the north shores of the Black Sea, this area was the site of numerous Greek colonies, several on the Crimean peninsula. The mutually beneficial relationship of Greeks and Scythians shaped the course of Greek history and produced the glittering treasures which I saw in the From the Lands of the Scythians exhibit in 1975.

Gallery of From the Lands of the Scythians, with the Solokha Comb displayed at right

Many of the kurgans were robbed of their treasures in ancient times but several were overlooked or only partially looted. The "grave goods" crafted by Greek artists for the Scythian elite are truly stunning. One kurgan in particular, Kul'-Oba, in the Crimea, has yielded such a trove of magnificent works of art that it can be likened to the tomb of King Tutankhamun. 

The Kul'-Oba burial site was located very close to the Greek colony of Panticapaeum, so there is not doubt about where these sensational artifacts were created. The kurgan featured a stone-built tomb, in which a Scythian king was laid to rest with an ensemble of golden objects for his use in the afterlife. Along with him was the body of his wife and a servant, who was likely sacrificed as part of the funeral ceremony.

The Kul'-Oba treasures were recovered in 1830 by a team which included museum professionals. Thus, a rigorous method of digging and record keeping could establish dates and other evidence which otherwise would have been lost. Over and over again, the results of such scientific excavation verify the accuracy of Herodotus' account.

The Kul'-Oba Gold Beaker, 4th century BC

If the Kul'-Oba treasures testify to the skill of the Greek artists residing in the Black Sea colonies, these masterpieces also reflect the customs and practices of Scythian everyday life. More importantly, the Greek-produced art works illustrate the political and religious ideals of the Scythians and their view of the cosmic order. Cunliffe's analysis is especially brilliant in the way that he shows that it was the Scythians, not the Greeks, who set the terms of the cultural agenda. 

While Greek influences were recognized, Cunliffe writes, the "nomad tradition remained strong, allowing in only those alien expressions that sat comfortably with their central beliefs and values."

Cunliffe's book features ten in-depth profiles of Scythian works of art, including the fabulous Kul'-Oba beaker shown above.  Cunliffe raises a novel theory that the scenes on the beaker held a deeper meaning for the Scythians than merely illustrating their social life and customs. The scenes on the golden masterpiece may represent episodes of the Scythian foundation myths.

Plaque in the Shape of a Recumbent Deer, 4th century BC

Such a deep "reading" seems a likely interpretation for the golden figurines of recumbent stags found in Scythian tombs, including Kul'-Oba. These are not merely depictions of noble beasts being devoured by natural predators such as snow leopards and mythological griffins. Cunliffe and other scholars believe that these golden deer reflect the struggle for survival and the cycle of life. In one of the most moving passages of his book, Cunliffe writes:

For pastoralists husbanding the flocks and herds in the mountains and forests, deer and other herbivores - the elk, the moose, and the ram - would have been familiar sights and scenes of predation would not have been uncommon. Life's struggle was ever present: it was the very essence of living and it is no surprise that it became a central theme in Scythian art. Here it was conceptualized to fit into a world view of the supernatural we can only guess at but the deer, or its herbivore substitutes, may have been conceived of as the Tree of Life sustaining a world always in tension...

Far to east of the Kul'-Oba kurgan, excavators during the 1920's discovered and excavated kurgans at Pazyryk in the Altai Mountains, mentioned earlier in reference to the victim of the grisly scalping attack. Climatic conditions had kept the soil underneath the graves in a state of permafrost. Thus the clothing, woven and leather artifacts such as saddles and saddle cloths, wooden objects, even the tattooed bodies of the deceased had remained in remarkable states of preservation.

Saddle Cover from Pazyryk, 5th century BC

The Pazyryk discoveries revealed the Scythians to have been supremely gifted artists in their own right. Their mastery of wood-carving, weaving, dying and embellishing cloth and many other craft skills proved that their common culture was a heritage which they cherished and sought to preserve.


The Scythians fought to preserve their independence, too. The Scythians of the Pontic Steppe had many foes, but one extremely formidable foe, the Persian Empire. This was another point in common with the Greeks of the Black Sea colonies and with Athens, which also successfully resisted Persian expansion. Eventually, the Pontic Steppe Scythians were hemmed in by the next nomadic wave, the Sarmatians. The Pontic Steppe Scythians and the Greeks living on the Crimea joined forced to create a formidable, if little known realm, the Bosporan Kingdom around 480 BC.

The Sarmatians feature only briefly in the last chapter of Cunliffe's narrative. He relates how they frequently raided the Roman Empire, usually crossing the Danube River when the overstretched legions were engaged elsewhere. On one occasion, during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, ca. 170, the Sarmatians did not retreat fast enough and were crushingly defeated. Rather than massacre the survivors, Marcus Aurelius enlisted them into a military unit and sent them to distant Britain, too far for them to escape back to their homeland.

 Tombstone of a Sarmatian Cavalryman in Britain, late 2nd century AD

During the 1800's, a crude stone memorial was discovered in England, featuring an armor-clad horseman with a pointed helmet and dragon banner. These were items of battle gear of the Sarmatians, hearkening back to the ancient customs and beliefs of the Scythians. 

Cunliffe quotes Herodotus who stated that the Scythians thrust a sword into a specially-prepared mound of earth. This sword-mound was an object of worship, as close as these nomads came to building a shrine or temple. Could this Scythian sword-cult have been brought to Britain by the Sarmatian troops, merging with Celtic and Nordic folklore to create the legend of Arthur and the sword in the stone? 

Cunliffe does not comment on this theory. He wisely adheres to the vast haul of archaeological evidence and the writings of Herodotus as the foundation of his book.

The Scythians, superbly written and lavishly illustrated, is the best account of these hard-riding nomads we are likely to have for a long time to come. Especially worthy of note are the excellent maps and diagrams, expertly placed to help the reader chart the wanderings of the Scythians in some of the world's most remote locations. If Cunliffe does not stray into the realm of speculation, this outstanding Oxford volume is a better book for his wise decision to stay on the "beaten path."

However, I can't easily dismiss the tantalizing possibility that the Arthurian romance is linked to the Scythians. These horsemen of the steppes gallop in-and-out of the pages of history, grabbing a hold on our imaginations. Yet, when we attempt to reach out to the Scythians and formulate a definitive estimate of their fascinating culture, they elude our grasp. 

Try and pin them down ... the Scythians just ride away, masters of their own destiny - and mystery.

 ***
Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved                                                                                           
Book Cover image, courtesy of Oxford University Press. Installation photos of the From the Lands of the Scythians exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975, © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Introductory Image:
Metropolitan Museum installation photo of the Solokha Comb, Scythian Culture, 4th century BC, State Hermitage Museum. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Chertomlyk Amphora, Scythian Culture. 4th century BC. Find Spot: Dnieper Region, near Nikopol, Chertomlyk Barrow. Material: Silver cast, with embossing, chasing, engraving, gilding: h. 70 cm. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. # Дн.1863-1/166 


Gold Plaque of a Scythian Horseman Hunting a Hare, Scythian Culture. 4th century BC. Find Spot: Kul-Oba barrow. Crimea, the environs of Kerch. Gold, stamped, chased and engraved: 5.2 x 4.2 cm. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. Entered the Hermitage in 1831, # КО.-48

Metropolitan Museum installation photo of the From the Lands of the Scythians exhibition, 1975, showing a map of the location of the Scythian tribal groups and their domains  © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Metropolitan Museum installation photo of the From the Lands of the Scythians exhibition, 1975, showing one of the galleries with the Solokha Comb displayed on the right. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Kul'-Oba Gold Beaker, Scythian Culture, 4th century BC.  Find Spot: Kul'-Oba barrow, Crimea, environs of Kerch. Gold, with chasing, soldering, engraving: height: 13 cm. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. Entered the Hermitage in 1831, # КО.-11

Plaque in the Shape of a Recumbent Deer, Scythian Culture. 5th century BC. Find Spot: Kul'-Oba barrow. Crimea, environs of Kerch. Gold, with chasing: 30.6 x14 cm. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. Entered the Hermitage in 1831, #  КО.-120

Saddle Cover, Scythian Culture. 5th century BC. Find Spot: Kurgan 1 at Pazyryk, Sayan-Altai Mountains. Felt, leather, fur and hair, with gold decoration: 119 x 60 cm. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. Entered the Hermitage in 1934, # 1295-150

Wolfgang Sauber, Photo (2011, Creative Commons) Tombstone of a Sarmatian cavalryman in the Roman army in Britain, late second century A.D. Collection of the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, England. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grosvenor_Museums_-Grabstein_3_Sarmate.jpg