“The Courtiers of the Queen of Urkesh: Glyptic Evidence from the Western Wing of the Royal Storehouse AK,”
Subartu 4/2, pp. 195-216.
The corpus of Urkesh glyptics is indeed one of the most valuable discoveries from this site (so important for the ensured identification of Tell Mozan with the ancient Hurrian capital): 11 rollings of 5 king’s (Tupkish) seals, 72 rollings of 8 queen’s (Uqnitum) seals, and 81 of 4 of household’s (the nurse Zamena [28 sealings], the cook Tuli [27 sealings] and other unnamed courtiers [particularly, 26 belonging to Innin-šadū) seals, representing a total amount of 164 rollings of 17 seals [for all these sealings, see Tupkish; Uqnitum; cortiers; see further Buccellati and Kelly-Buccellati 1995; cf. also Buccellati and Kelly-Buccellati 1996].
The sealings present a specific typology and style, strengthening the bounds with the royal couples (and mostly with the queen); three peculiar features can be outlined: 1) the delineation of specific ‘professions’; 2) a compositional scheme linking the text box to the iconographic depiction; 3) a combined naturalistic and expressionistic style.
The sealings belonging to Zamena (the nurse, whose name is analysed by G. Wilhelm on pp. 197-198), specifically nos. h1 and h2, present a negative carving displaying Zamena’s ‘portrait’. Many other sealings, ideologically connected also to the latter ones, portray children (a depiction attested also on seven Akkadian seals published in Boehmer 1965 [see bibliography at the end of the paper] and on two sculptures from Tell Chuera and Halawa), a clear message connected to the royal offspring and the importance of a legitimate succession to the throne (a dynastic program where the nurse played a key-role, as e.g. Kubatum, wife of Shu-Sin ans wet nurse of Amar-Suen, during Ur III period).
Similarly, the sealings of the cook (properly, the queen’s kitchen ‘chef’) hint to a message related to the control of the royal storage in the Palace.
The sealings of Innin-šadū (bearing an Akkadian name) offer a common contest scene with two groups of three contestants: they can be dated to the early Akkadian period, probably a connection to Southern Mesopotamian glyptic style.
In conclusion, five main features of Urkesh glyptic can be outlined (see p. 203): 1) the developing of narrative programs; 2) a stylistic integration of form and contest; 3) the attestation of ‘multiple entitlements’; 4) a clear reference to day-to-day operational administration; 5) the existence of stratified assemblages of seal impressions of the third-millennium BC (probably, a Hurrian equivalent of the E2.MI3 organization.
Back to top: Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati 1998