University of Cambridge
Daimonic Imagery and the Formation of Cultural Consensus in the Neo-Assyrian period (ca. 1000-609 BCE)
Abstract
dc:description.abstractThe Neo-Assyrian period (ca. 1000-609 BCE) was an era of unprecedented imperial expansion in ancient Southwest Asia. Modern research to reconstruct its political and socio-cultural history has mainly focused on the royal family, the operations of state institutions, and the accumulation of cuneiform scholarship. Less examined is the influence of personal religion on the consistency of material practices and cultural norms between royal and non-royal social groups. One aspect of Neo-Assyrian religious practice that can be used to address this lacuna are depictions of beneficent anthropomorphic and theriomorphic beings posturing and performing in monumental palaces, houses, and on personal objects. Past research on these beings, here called ‘daimons’, has sought to identify their iconography and understand their main function as apotropaic guardians. This putative function is based on a combination of written evidence, which describes their role as defenders against unwanted incursions from malevolent entities such as demons, disease and other ill-wishers, and visual examples stationed at entrances, along the walls, and beneath the floors of Neo-Assyrian palaces. Left unexplored is how the study of daimons can enable comparative discussions about social and cultural conventions underlying emic conceptions of the supernatural, particularly on objects which are small-scale and circulate outside of royal contexts. This thesis examines daimonic clay figures and glyptic with daimonic imagery in order to explore the relationship between official and non-official traditions of image-making, the relationship between written evidence about and visual examples of daimonic beings, the role of media in configuring iconographic and functional difference, and the extent to which daimonic imagery plays a role in the presentation of personal and institutional identity. The analysis focuses on material from major sites in the Assyrian heartland, i.e. Assur, Kalḫu, Dur-Šarruken, and Nineveh, and also incorporates materials from sites experiencing varied degrees of Assyrian influence, i.e. Hasanlu, Ur, Guzana, and Dur-Katlimmu. It uses these assemblages to assess the stability of ‘Assyrian ways’ of using daimonic imagery both within and outside of imperial centers. Comparing clay figures with glyptic at multiple scales, from the individual object to building assemblages and between sites, allows for insights into how and why daimons were used in particular contexts. Thus, daimonic imagery is applied as a lens through which to explore how cultural consensus was negotiated and replicated throughout the Neo-Assyrian period. In creating an updated corpus of daimonic clay figures, this thesis underlines the research potential for studying complete assemblages of figures as opposed to well-preserved examples of specific iconographic types. The result is a novel contribution to Mesopotamian iconography and Neo-Assyrian patterns of image-making, and advances art historical discourse regarding the impact of written knowledge on the production of visual culture.
Degree
thesis:*- Name dc:type.qualificationname
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Level dc:type.qualificationlevel
- Doctoral
- Grantor dc:publisher.institution
- University of Cambridge
- Year dc:date.issued
- 2024
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Maynard, Glynnis
- Advisors dc:contributor.advisor
-
- McMahon, Augusta
- Worthington, Martin
- Tenney, Jonathan
Subjects
dc:subject × 3Rights
dc:rightsIdentifiers
dc:identifier.*- DOI dc:identifier.doi
- https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.115674
- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/379680