Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-07T22:08:34.728Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Note on the Assyrian “Goat-Fish”, “Fish-Man” and “Fish-Woman”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

Anthony Green
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In their recent edition of inscribed material from Fort Shalmaneser at Nimrud, Dalley and Postgate (1984: No. 95, pp. 159 ff., Pl. 22) have published and discussed a text recording the measurements, apparently in preparation for their covering in gold leaf, of statues for a temple of Nabu, probably the Nabu Temple at Kalḫu itself. As extant, “face B” begins with the dimensions for the statue or statues of the uridimmu (UR.ID[IM?]), which is probably to be identified as an upright figure with human head, arms and torso but the lower body and legs of lion, a type known in the Assyrian period on the palace reliefs and among the apotropaic foundation figurines (Wiggermann, in press: § VII C 5; cf. Green 1985: 77, with Fig. 1 and Pls. XIIIb, XIVa, b).

The next section (ll. 10 ff.) concerns statues of the suḫurmāšu, or “Goat-fish” (literally “Carp-goat”), and kulullû, “Fish-man”. As Dr. Dalley points out, these creatures are known among the apotropaic figurines and named in the appropriate rituals (Dalley and Postgate 1984: 162, n. to ll. 15–19; citing Rittig 1977 for the figurines). An example of the Goat-fish omitted from Rittig's catalogue is shown on Plate V; its inscription (er-ba taš-mu u ma-ga-rù), corresponding to the form prescribed in KAR, no. 298, rev. line 5 (Gurney 1935: 70 f.; Rittig 1977: 157, 167) proves the identity as the suḫurmāšu(cf. Rittig 1977: 188 f., § Ib.2; 206; Green 1983: 93, n. 54; Wiggermann, in press: § VII C 10 b). The mention of statues of the type in the Nimrud text is a significant testimony to their original presence in the repertoire of Assyrian monumental art, for which no examples are now known (notice their absence in the review by Kolbe 1981), although an example is to be found on one face of a ninth(?)-century smaller-scale stone altar from Nineveh (Plate VIa), and statues of the creature appear to be depicted on a Middle Assyrian (Fig. 1 ) and post-Assyrian (Plate Xc) seals. This fact further supports the apparent identical, or at least very close, repertoires of apotropaic figures as foundation figurines and in monumental sculpture (Green 1983).

Type
Research Article
Information
IRAQ , Volume 48 , 1986 , pp. 25 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AHw. Soden, W. Von, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch. 3 Bd. (Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften). Wiesbaden.Google Scholar
CAD. The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Chicago.Google Scholar
KAR. Ebeling, E., Keilschrifttexte aus Assur. Religiösen Inhalts. Fünftes Heft. Zweiter Bd., 1 Heft. (Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen in der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft, 34). Leipzig, 1923 (repr. Osnabrück, 1970).Google Scholar
Albenda, Pauline, 1983. A Mediterranean Seascape from Khorsabad. Assur 3[/3], 103 ff.Google Scholar
Andrae, W., 1938. Das wiedererstandene Assur (Sendschr. der D.O.G., 9). Leipzig (2te. Aufl. München, 1977).Google Scholar
Barnett, R. D., 1976. Sculptures from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (668–637 B.C.). London.Google Scholar
Bleibtreu, Erika, 1981. Rollsiegel aus dem Vorderen Orient: zur Steinschneidekunst zwischen etwa 3200 und 400 vor Christus nach Beständen in Wien und Graz. (Sonderaustellung der Ägyptisch-Orientalischen Sammlung im Münzkabinett der Kunsthistorischen Museums in Wien). Wien.Google Scholar
Boehmer, R. M., 1965. Die Entwickling der Glyptik während der Akkad-Zeit. Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Botta, P.-E., 1849–1850. Monument de Ninive, I–IV: Architecture, Sculpture et Inscriptions, V: Texte. Dessiné par M. E.-N. Flandin. Paris.Google Scholar
Collon, Dominique, 1986. Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum, Cylinder Seals, III: Isin/Larsa and Old Babylonian Periods. London.Google Scholar
Dalley, Stephanie and Postgate, J. N., 1984. The Tablets from Fort Shalmaneser (Cuneiform Texts from Nimrud, III). London.Google Scholar
Green, A., 1983. Neo-Assyrian Apotropaic Figures. Iraq 45, 87 ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, A., 1985. A Note on the “Scorpion-man” and Pazuzu. Iraq 47, 75 ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, A., in press. The Chronology and Identity of the Fish-cloaked Human Figure in Mesopotamian Art. To be published in the papers of the XXXIIe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, held in Münster, 8–12th 07, 1985.Google Scholar
Green, A., in prep. “Unprovenanced” Assyrian Clay Foundation Figurines in an Aššur-Style from Various International Collections.Google Scholar
Gurney, O. R., 1935. Babylonian Prophylactic Figures and their Rituals. LAAA 22, 31 ff.Google Scholar
Jeremias, A., 1929. Handbuch der altorientalischen Geistekultur. 2e. Aufl. Leipzig.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khalesi, Y. M. al-, 1966. Unpublished Clay Figurines in the Iraq Museum (Unpublished M. A. dissertation, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Baghdad).Google Scholar
Klengel-Brandt, Evelyn, 1968. Apotropäische Tonfiguren aus Assur. FuB 10, 19 ff.Google Scholar
Kolbe, D., 1981. Die Reliefprogramme religiös-mythologischen Charackters in neu-assyrischen Palästen: Die Figurentypen, ihre Benennung und Bedeutung (Europäische Hochschulschriften, Reihe XXXVIII: Archäologie, 3). Frankfurt am Main u. Bern. Google Scholar
Longpérier, A. de, 1854. Notice des antiquités assyriennes. 3e éd. Paris.Google Scholar
Loud, G. and Altman, C. B., 1938. Khorsabad, II: The Citadel and the Town (Oriental Institute Publications, 40). Chicago.Google Scholar
Lutz, H. F., 1930. Two Assyrian Apotropaic Figurines Complementing KAR. 298, Rev. 4–7. University of California Publications in Semitic Philiology 9[/7], 383 f.Google Scholar
Madhloom, T.A., 1970. The Chronology of Neo-Assyrian Art. London.Google Scholar
Mallowan, M. E. L., 1957. The Excavations at Nimrud (Kalḫu), 1956. Iraq 19, 1 ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mallowan, M. E. L., 1966. Nimrud and its Remains. 2 vols, and folder of plans and sections. London.Google Scholar
Moortgat, A., 1944. Assyrische Glyptik des 12. Jahrhunderts. ZA 48 = nF 14 (1944), 23 ff.Google Scholar
Moortgat, A., 1966. Vorderasiatischen Rollsiegel. Ein Beitrage zur Geschichte der Steinschneidekunst. 2e Aufl. Berlin.Google Scholar
Müller-Karpe, H., 1980. Handbuch der Vorgeschichte, IV: Der Bronzenzeit. 3 Hfte. München.Google Scholar
Münter, D. F., 1827. Religion der Babylonier: Dritte Beilage zur Religion der Karthager. Kopenhagen.Google Scholar
Oates, D., 1957. Ezida: The Temple of Nabu. Iraq 19, 26 ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porada, Edith, 1948. Corpus of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in North American Collections, I: The Collection of the Pierpont Morgan Library (Bollingen series, 14). Washington D.C. Google Scholar
Pottier, E., 1924. Musée National du Louvre: Catalogue des antiquités assyriennes. Paris.Google Scholar
Reade, J. E., 1979. Assyrian Architectural Decoration: Techniques and Subject-Matter. BaM 10, 17 ff.Google Scholar
Rittig, Dessa, 1977. Assyrisch-babylonische Kleinplastik magischer Bedeutung vom 13.–16. Jh. v. Chr. (Münchener Universitäts-Schriften Phil. Fachbereich, 12. Münchener Vorderasiatisches Studien, 1). München.Google Scholar
Seidl, Ursula, 1968. Die babylonischen Kudurru-Reliefs. BaM 4, 7 ff.Google Scholar
Strommenger, Eva, 1964. The Art of Mesopotamia. Photographs by M. Hirmer. London.Google Scholar
Strommenger, Eva, 1977. (ed.) Der Garten in Eden: Sieben Jahrtausende Kunst und Kultur am Euphrat und Tigris [various titles]. Mainz am Rhein.Google Scholar
Strommenger, Eva, 1979. (ed.) Sumer, Assur, Babylone: 7000 ans de culture et d'art sur le Tigre et l'Euphrate [various titles]. Mainz am Rhein.Google Scholar
Thompson, R. C. and Hutchinson, R. W., 1931. The Site of the Palace of Ashurnasirpal at Nineveh, excavated in 1929–30 on behalf of the British Museum. LAAA 18, 79 ff.Google Scholar
Tomabechi, Yoko, 1984. Catalogue of the Artifacts in the Babylonian Collection of the Lowie Museum of Anthropology (Bibliotheca Mesopotamica, 15). Malibu.Google Scholar
Unger, E., 1927. Mischwesen (Vorderasien). RLV VIII, 195 ff.Google Scholar
Unger, E., 1957. Fischkentaur. RLA III (1957–1971), 70 f.Google Scholar
Unger, E., 1966. Der Beginn der Altmesopotamischen Siegelbildforschung: Eine Leistung der Österreichischen Orientalistik (österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften Philosophisch-historische Klasse, Sitzungsberichte 250/2). Wien.Google Scholar
Van Buren, Elizabeth Douglas, 1933. The Flowing Vase and the God with Streams. Berlin.Google Scholar
Ward, W. H., 1910. Seal Cylinders of Western Asia (Carnegie Institution of Washington Publications, 100). Washington D.C. Google Scholar
Wiggermann, F. A. M., in press. Babylonian Prophylactic Figures: The Ritual Texts (Ph.D. Dissertation, Faculteit der Letteren, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam).Google Scholar