2013. Animals for gods, animals for humans. Archaeozoology of Hatra. In Peruzzetto A., Metzger F....

Animals, Gods and Men

from East to West

Papers on archaeology and history in honour of

Roberta Venco Ricciardi

Edited by

Alessandra Peruzzetto

Francesca Dorna Metzger

Lucinda Dirven

BAR International Series 2516

2013

BAR S2516 2013 PERUZZETTO, DORNA METZGER & DIRVEN (Eds) A

NIMALS, GODS AND MEN FROM EAST TO WEST

Dirven 2516 cover.indd 1 16/05/2013 14:19:17

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Alessandra Peruzzetto, Francesca Dorna Metzger, Lucinda Dirven Roberta Venco Ricciardi: a life with the Past…………………………………………………………..vii Bibliography of Roberta Venco Ricciardi………………………………………………………………ix

ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND IRAN

Stefano Valentini Snakes on pottery…………………………………………………………………………….….………..1 Muayad Said Damerji A flask from the tomb of Mulissu-Mukannishat-Ninua in Nimrud…………………………..…………13 Hikmat Basheer al-Aswad

Hybrid creatures (part human, part animal) in Ancient Mesopotamia…………….……….……….…..19

Olivier Lecomte & Marjan Mashkour La cigogne, la chèvre et les renards………………………………………………………….…….……27

Sylvia Winkelmann Transformation of Near Eastern animal motifs in Murghabo-Bactrian Bronze Age art…………….….47

ANCIENT AND CLASSICAL GREEK WORLD

Anna Margherita Jasink The bull’s head symbol from the Tel Haror fragment to the Linear B writing………………………….65

Maria Clara Conti Tile stamps depicting a frog on the roof tiles of Selinus (Sicily)…………….………...……...………..73

Rosina Leone

A female figure with swan in the Camillo Leone Museum in Vercelli…………………………...…….81

HELLENISTIC, PARTHIAN AND SASANIAN

Pierre Leriche Héraclès, l’anguipède et le géant. Le médaillon (emblêma) de Termez : un nouvel épisode de gigantomachie…………………………………………...……………………….85 Jean-Baptiste Yon

Weasels and calves. Animals and onomastics from Qaryatain to the Euphrates……………..…………99 St John Simpson

Rams, stags and crosses from Sasanian Iraq: elements of a shared visual vocabulary from Late Antiquity…………………………………………………...…….103

Table of contents

Marco Moriggi Devilish apparitions in Mesopotamian incantation bowls. Preliminary remarks about demons in the guise of animals………………………….………………..119

Alessandra Cellerino & Vito Messina

Terracotta animal figurines from Veh Ardashir (Coche) in the collection of the Museo Civico d’Arte Antica e Palazzo Madama (Torino)………………………….…………..123

HATRA

Marjan Mashkour & Alessandra Peruzzetto Animal remains at Hatra, City of the Sun. First archaeozoological evidence for the Parthian period………………………………..……………135 Lucinda Dirven

A goddess with dogs from Hatra………………………………………………….……………………147 Ted Kaizer The fish of Allat at Hatra……………………………………………..………………………………..161 Francesca Dorna Metzger & Monica Girardi Griffins in the architectural decoration at Hatra……………………………………………………….169 Enrico Foietta & Ilaria Bucci A gazelle pendant from Hatra. A comparative analysis………………..………………………………181 Roberto Bertolino Scriptorial evidence of scratched inscriptions from Building A in Hatra…………………..….………187

.

MISCELLANEOUS

Neda Parmegiani Lambs and the tradition of the pallium……………………………………………………..………….193

Roberto Parapetti & Aysar Akrawi The fantastic world of Mun’im Furat, Iraqi sculptor…………………………………………………..197

List of contributors with e-mail addresses…………………………………….………………………………205

135

ANIMAL REMAINS AT HATRA, CITY OF THE SUN FIRST ARCHAEOZOOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE PARTHIAN PERIOD

Marjan Mashkour & Alessandra Peruzzetto

Hatra, a large pre-Islamic city, is one of the most prestig-ious sites of the Jezirah of northern Iraq (80 km to the south-west of Mosul) contemporaneous to the Greco-roman period.1 The sub-circular fortified city, with its 160 square hollow towers, had a circumference of 6 kms, covering 300 hectares (FIG. 1). It is presently believed that the site was occupied from approximately the late-Achaemid period until AD 240 when it was defeated by the Sasanian army.2 The city had an important role along the inter-river trade routes between Assur and central Mesopotamia to the south, and Syria (Palmyra) to the west (FIG. 2). It is primarily renowned for its richly deco-rated and monumental religious architecture and its wealth of sculptures. Local coins show that the main shrine of the city was dedicated to the sun god, Shamash. In addition to the temenos with its impressive Great Iwan complex (FIG. 3) and other monumental temples, fourteen smaller shrines have been unearthed in the city. Hatra’s great urban and monumental development is part of the general situation of the Near East during the time of Ha-drian and the Antonine dynasty, reflected by the Pax Romana after the Trajanic wars. The imposing character of the religious architecture of Hatra has given birth in modern Iraq to a flourishing artistic interpretation of the ancient religious ceremonies (FIG. 4). Bedouin tribes were an important component of the so-ciety of Hatra, as evidenced also by funerary inscrip-tions,3 and it is believed that the original settlement of Hatra could have been occupied by nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes, because of water richness of the area, since the Assyrian period.4 Besides the Iraqi excavations that mostly focussed on the monumental parts of the site,5 an Italian expedition under the direction of Prof. Roberta Venco Ricciardi excavated in Hatra from the 1980s a large house, called Building A, that probably belonged to the priest of the Temple of Shahiru (FIGS 5, 6) and twenty-nine small soundings inside the temenos.6 The archaeozoological study of Hatra Almost 6000 animal bones unearthed during seven exca-vation campaigns (1987–89 and 1995–98) have been studied by the first author with a particular focus on con-

1 Hauser (1998), Venco Ricciardi, (1992); idem (1999). 2 Venco Ricciardi & Peruzzetto (2013), p.89. 3 al Salihi (1972), p.20, figs 21–22. 4 Oates (1968), p.62 and Venco Ricciardi & Peruzzetto (2013), p.83. 5 Safar & Mustafa (1974). 6 Venco Ricciardi (1996a).

texts with well defined chronology in the two main areas of the site excavated by the Italian team. The soundings in the temenos discovered the earlier occupation of the site,7 while the three main phases of Building A are dated from the second half of the 2nd century AD to the first half of the 3rd.8 These phases have been artificially num-bered 1 to 11 for the convenience of the graphical repre-sentations. The preservation condition of the bones was generally very satisfying with almost 68% of the material that could be identified on a taxonomic level. As it can be observed in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 most of the remains belong to sheep (Ovis aries) and goat (Capra hircus) with a clear preference for the first (FIG. 9). One of the morphological characteristics of these animals is visible in their very twisted horn cores (FIG. 10a, b). Cattle (Bos taurus) is the second domestic exploited animal at the site. It should be noted that many of the bones belonging to these speci-mens were juvenile or sub-adult. Another important com-ponents of the faunal remains of Hatra are gazelles. Boar (Sus scrofa) and hare (Lepus europaeus) were also hunted in small quantity. Apart from these mammalian food resources, bird remains as chicken (Gallus domesticus), stock dove (Columba oenas) and a small grey goose (Anser sp.) as we will see further on, were present in important quantities in some parts of the site. Other faunal remains like those of deer (Cervus/ Dama), mostly represented by their antlers, equids or camelids were also found at the side but seem not have had a nutri-tional status. Equid remains belong in majority to donkey as represented here by several finds in the temenos and in Building A (FIG. 11). Temenos soundings One of the priorities of this archaeozoological study was a better understanding of the earlier occupations of the site before the construction of the monumental temples. The question particularly addressed the Bedouin occupa-tion of this site and their possible interaction with the sedentary people. Two soundings in the Temenos, Te 1 and Te 24, with detailed stratigraphical correspondence, were selected for this purpose. The earliest phases of these occupations,

7 Venco Ricciardi (2001) and Venco Ricciardi & Peruzzetto (2013) where the earlier phases are dated to late Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods. 8 Dorna Metzger (2000), p.189.


136

with constructions made with mud bricks, were first con-sidered. A great quantity of animal bones was yielded from these two soundings. The major consumed meat was sheep and goat followed by cattle. Dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) and equid bones (mainly donkey – Equus asinus) are significantly represented, though they were not used for consuming, at least the latter. Their presence is related to traction and transport. Bird bones are very little represented in these contexts, and are actu-ally a feature of differentiation between the Bedouin settlement and the more prestigious and later settlement in Building A (see below). However, hunting was also practiced among this initial supposed nomadic communi-ty of Hatra, since gazelle (Gazella), hemione (Equus hemionus) and boar (Sus scrofa) are represented in the remains of these soundings. Building A Another priority of this study was the characterisation of the faunal remains from Building A. Only the most archi-tecturally significant rooms were selected for a wider understanding of their functions during the use of the house: 1) The representation area with two “Iwan sys-tems” (S6, S7, S8, and S15, S16, S19) in the eastern and southern parts of Building A; 2) The domestic contexts in the northern part including S26, S27, S33, S34 and C3 (FIG. 11).9 The faunal spectra of these two sectors do not show any major and significant difference. It seems however that within the minor species (Ea, Ss, Le, Cf), pooled together because of their very low representation, there is a slight difference (see FIGS. 7, 12). This difference is due to more abundant remains of equids in the domestic area. If there is practically no taxonomic difference between the two sectors, there are qualitative differences in the nature of some of the deposits that will be addressed further below. One of the fascinating aspects of the animal finds was the discovery of approximately twenty pairs of horn cores of gazelle (Gazella cf subgutturosa) (FIG. 13a, b), in the two Iwan systems, in S19 (FIG. 6), next to the room with the wall painting depicting a hunting scene, S15 (FIG 14a).10 The reason of the presence of this large number of gazelle horn cores in the room is unclear. The hypothesis of them being trophies could be defended by the proximity of this deposit with the hunting scene room (S15). It should also be noted that a sculptured stone head of a cervid, was found in the same room (FIG 14b). The empty holes on its head suggest that they might have borne real antlers. Surprisingly in the same room, along with the gazelle horn cores, several fragments of cervid (Cervus/Dama) antlers were also found (FIG. 13c). These specimens de-picted the removal of the beams. All these finds are em-phasising the importance of hunting as a prestigious ac-tivity for the inhabitants of this building and for Hatra in

9 See details for the architectural description in Venco Ricciardi (1996a). 10 Venco Ricciardi (1996b).

general, as various scenes were depicted in multiple graf-fiti found in the site (FIG 14c, d).11 Worked animal bones are not limited to antlers; several other finds show sawing of the horn cores. This might have been for the extraction of the horn sheath and the use of it in craft activities as it is very usual during this period in the Hellenistic world.12 It is noteworthy that all the bones fragments, namely the gazelle horn cores and the cervid antlers with removed beams, and the sawn caprini horn core, were found only in the two Iwan sys-tem rooms [S6, S7, S15, S16, S19] (FIG. 13a, b, c; FIG. 15 a, b). These finds with the association of the wall painting and the cervid sculpture (FIG 14a, b) can be considered as the peculiar features of this part of the building with ac-tivities related to hunting and bone manufacture. In the domestic area (S22), the only recovered worked bone was a caprini talus, probably used as a game (FIG. 15c). Conclusion Sheep, goat and cattle constitute the major domestic ani-mals that were exploited. Another important source of meat supply was the gazelle, as in the first period of oc-cupation of the site by the Bedouins, evidenced in the soundings of the temenos. There are main differences between the animal bones from the temenos and Building A. In the latter it is attest-ed a more intense use of cattle at all phases, and the qua-si-exclusive exploitation of birds, mostly chicken but also partridge and goose. Instead, it seems that equid and camelid remains were more abundant in the initial phase of the occupation of the site in the temenos; this is partic-ularly true for the camelids. Hatra offers a great potential for archaeozoological re-search on domestic and wild herbivores of a city located on a trade route during the Parthian period (247 BC–224 AD). In fact, the faunal remains from Hatra constitute almost a unique comprehensive faunal assemblage from this period, as a collection of this size and of such a cul-turally secure and defined context is not known elsewhere in the Parthian territory that stretched from eastern Iran to the northern reaches of the Euphrates. The amazing well preservation of bones has allowed collection of thousand of metrical data on domestic and wild taxa that could be used as a reference material for this region for the de-scription of domestic breeds and wild species such as gazelles. These data will be published in specialised pub-lications. Also, because of the presence of a nomadic component in the early phases of the history of Hatra, the site becomes a suitable case to develop the questions of seasonal mo-bility of the Bedouin communities and their herds in the Jezirah. This prospect can be approached through stable

11 Bertolino (2003) and Venco Ricciardi (1998). 12 McGregor (1985), p.51–53.

Animal remains at Hatra, City of the Sun

137

isotope analysis, a program that is currently in progress.13 Added to the archaeozoological analysis, these infor-mation will contribute to a better understanding of the formative context of Hatra and its environment. Acknowledgements The first author thanks Professor Roberta Venco Ric-ciardi, director of the Italian Archaeological Expedition in Iraq, for having invited her to study this faunal assem-blage. She would also like to thank the editors of this volume for their invitation in participating in this work in honour of Roberta for her contribution to the archaeology and history of the Parthian Empire.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

al-Salihi 1972 W. al-Salihi, ‘Hatra. Excavations in group of tombs 1970–71 Preliminary Reports’ in Sumer 28 (1972), p.17–20.

Bertolino 2003

R. Bertolino, ‘L'environnement de Hatra à travers ses graffiti : animaux et chasse 60–69’ in La campagne antique : espace sauvage, terre domestiquée [Cahier Kubaba 5], (Paris 2003), p.61–72.

Dorna Metzger 2000

F. Dorna Metzger, ‘L’Edificio A e la strada setten-trionale’ in Topoi 10/1 (2000) [2002], Dossier Hatra, p.179-195.

Hauser 1998

S. R. Hauser. ‘Hatra und das Königreich der Araber’ in J. Wiesehöfer (ed.), Das Partherreich und seine Zeugnisse (Stuttgart 1998) p.493–527.

MacGregor 1985

A. MacGregor, Bone, Antler, Ivory and Horn: The Technology of Skeletal Materials Since the Roman Period (London 1985).

Mashkour 2003

M. Mashkour, ‘Tracing ancient ‘Nomads’: Isotopic research on the origins of vertical ‘transhumance’ in the Zagros Region’ in Nomadic People 7 (2) (2003), p.36–47.

Mashkour 2009

M. Mashkour, ‘Les animaux à Hatra (Iraq)’ in Les Dossiers de l’Archéologie 334 (2009), p.40–45.

Mashkour & Vila 2003

M. Mashkour & E. Vila, ‘Archaeometrical approaches for tracking ancient Bedouins; a pilot project in north-ern Mesopotamia from IVth to Ist Millennia B.C.’ in T. Herzog & W. Holzwarth (eds.) Nomaden und

13 See for example a parallel program developed in Syria Mashkour (2003) and Mashkour & Vila (2003).

Sesshaften- Fragen, Methoden, Ergebnisse. [Orient- wissenschatliche Hefte. Mitteilungen des SFB Differenz und Integration 4/1. Orientwissen-schatliche Zentrum der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Heft 9], p.1–20.

Oates 1968

D. Oates, Studies in the Ancient History of Northern Iraq (London 1968).

Venco Ricciardi 1992

R. Venco Ricciardi, ‘Archaeological Research in Hatra’ in Mesopotamia 27 (1992), p.189–198.

Venco Ricciardi 1996a R. Venco Ricciardi, ‘Domestic Architecture at Hatra, Houses and Households in Ancient Mesopotamia’ in K.R. Veenhof (ed.), Papers read at the 40th Rencon-tre Assyriologique Internationale, Leiden, July 5–8–1993 (Istanbul 1996), p.309–321.

Venco Ricciardi 1996b

R. Venco Ricciardi, ‘Wall Paintings from Building A at Hatra’ in Iranica Antiqua 31 (1996), p.147–165.


R. Venco Ricciardi, ‘Pictorial Graffiti in the city of Hatra’ in E. Dabrova (ed.), Ancient Iran and the Me-diterranean World, Electrum, vol. 2 (Krakow 1998), p.187–205.


R. Venco Ricciardi, ‘Hatra, città del sole’ in Missioni Archeologiche Italiane, La Ricerca Archeologica, An-tropologica, Etnologica (Roma 1999).

Venco Ricciardi 2001 R. Venco Ricciardi,‘Recentes découvertes dans le Temenos d’Hatra’ in Etudes Mesopotamiens (Paris 2001), forthcoming.

Venco Ricciardi 2004 R. Venco Ricciardi,‘Immagini graffite dall’Edificio A di Hatra’ in Parthica 6 (2004), p.203-225.

Venco Ricciardi & Peruzzetto forthcoming

R. Venco Ricciardi & A. Peruzzetto, ‘The ancient phases of the Great Sanctuary at Hatra’ in L. Dirven (ed.), Hatra. Politics, Culture and Religion between Parthia and Rome [Oriens et Occidens 21] (Stuttgart 2013), p.81-89.

Safar & Mustafa 1974

F. Safar & M. A. Mustafa, Hatra, the City of the Sun God (Baghdad 1974). [in Arabic].


138

Fig. 1

Fig. 2


139

Fig. 3

Fig. 4


140

Fig. 5

Fig. 6


141

Fig. 7

Fig. 8


142

Fig. 9

Fig. 10


143

Fig. 11a

Fig. 11b

Fig. 12


144

Fig. 13


145

Fig. 14


146

Fig. 15

List of figures: Fig. 1 Plan of Hatra (Scale 1:4000) after Venco Ricciardi (1999). Fig. 2 Map of the Near East with localisation of Hatra. Fig. 3 The Great Iwan and examples of Parthian sculpture. Pictures by curtsey of Roberta Venco Ricciardi. Fig. 4 Modern oil painting (by the artist Hafez al-Darubi) representing celebrators in one of the temples of Hatra (after Safar & Mustafa 1974 p.24–25). Fig. 5 Building A and the street from south. Fig. 6 Plan of Building A illustrating the two Iwan system (After Venco Ricciardi [2004], p.204, fig. 1). Fig. 7 Distribution of major taxa in different excavated phas-es; Ss, Eh, Cl, Mst, Le stand for Sus scrofa, Equus hemionus, Canis lupus, Mustelida, Lepus europaeus. Fig. 8 Faunal spectra of Hatra, from the origin to the abandonment of the site. For the correspondence of the period codes refer to FIG. 7. Fig. 9 Sheep and goat ratio in Hatra. For the correspondence of the period codes refer to FIG. 7. Fig. 10a Temenos Te1 6.121–121 – goat (Capra hircus). Fig. 10b Temenos Te1 S6 121-121 – sheep (Ovis aries) horn cores. Fig. 11a Temenos Te1 6.105 – donkey (Equus asinus) cranium. Fig. 11b Building A S25 – donkey (Equus asinus) phalanges 1, 2 and 3. Fig. 12 Building A faunal remains. Fig. 13a, b Building A S19: right (a) and left (b) horn cores of gazelle (Ga-zella cf subsutturosa). Fig. 13c Building A S19 – worked fragment of antlers of deer (red or fallow deer) Fig. 14a Building A S15 – hunting (after Venco Ricciardi [1996], fig.10). Fig. 14b Building A S15 – sculpture of a deer head with a hole on the top, probably for bearing antlers. Fig. 14c, d Graffiti hunting scenes (after Bertolino [2003], figs 1, 4) representing gazelle hunting (c), hare and partridge (d). Fig. 15a Building A S16 – sawn horn core on the basal side of a goat Capra hircus. Fig. 15b Building A S7 – a pedicle of a cervid antler showing removal of the beam. Fig. 15c Build-ing A S22 – left talus of a caprini (sheep/goat), polished on the lateral side.

2013. Animals for gods, animals for humans. Archaeozoology of Hatra. In Peruzzetto A., Metzger F....

Documents

Transcript of 2013. Animals for gods, animals for humans. Archaeozoology of Hatra. In Peruzzetto A., Metzger F....