2009
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“An Architectural 'Logogram' at Urkesh?,”
in P. Negri Scafa and S. Viaggio (eds.), Dallo Stirone al Tigri. Dal Tevere all'Eufrate. Studi in onore di Claudio Saporetti, Roma: Aracne, pp. 23-29.
Interpreting excavated structures is, of course, a main goal for any archaeologist: this paper goes further beyond, trying to extrapolate also the mind rationale of ancient people who built these ancient structures.
The Temple Terrace at Urkesh is for sure one of the best-preserved monumental complexes of the third millennium BC: it is characterized by Temple BA, a glacis, a monumental access, an escarpment on which a staircase (flanked by a trapezoidal 'apron') was constructed, the plaza JP and a surrounding wall, possibly presenting a postern.
Along this revetment wall (specifically on spots J1 and J2), some triangular patterns are clearly visible (a parallel has also been detected at Tell Chuera), which does not present any structural reason: thus, the author suggests that this pattern could have been an indication of a “subtle ideological nuance, namely, that it recalls the mountains which are ever present in the background landscape of the city; [...] the pattern is well known as a motif in cylinder seals of the same period, [...] interpreted as representing the god Kumarbi 'walking on the mountains', as the myths say” (p. 28).
Furthermore, “the triangular motif is, of course, the pattern found in the early pictogram for 'mountain', Sumerian KUR. [...] It is for this reason that I refer to this formal detail as an 'architectural logogram'” (p. 29).
[M. De Pietri – November 2019]
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