https://urkesh.org/MZ/A/J05/D/I/0054.htm

Unit Book J5

The Mittani Staircase - Version 1a

J5.54

Processed on 2024-11-03

1. OVERVIEW

Roster Date Author Record
Category !! !! clay artifact
Best definition 2009-08-09 !! figurine [Input: T830EA4.j]
Best image 2009-10-01 jW [Input: TX01JW1.j]

2. IDENTIFICATION

Designation

Roster Date Author Record
Definition 2009-08-09 eA figurine [Input: T830EA4.j]
Description (summary) 2009-08-09 eA It is a fragment of one body animal figurine. There are only the hind legs and the tail. The body is painted with the horizontal and vertical brown lines and one side also with black lines. [Input: T830EA4.j]

3. STRATIGRAPHY

Volumetric Localization

Roster Date Author Record
Locus 2009-08-05 jN k33 [Input: T820SE2.j]
Relays (applicable to elements) 2009-08-05 jN r1322 (##### ##### - ##### / Relay location: bottom centre) [Input: T805sE.r]

Contact Association

Roster Date Author Record
Type of contact: contemporary events/movable items 2009-08-05 jN i54 (figurine) sits in f229 (accumulation A) [Input: T820SE2.j]

Spatial Aggregation

Roster Date Author Record
q-lot with which item is associated 2009-08-05 jN q347 (bones, items, pottery) [Input: T820SE2.j]

Time Sequencing

Roster Date Author Record
Stratum (to which element belongs) 2012-10-16 !! s161J5B [Input: WX16JW.j]
Phase (to which element belongs) 2012-10-16 !! h7jJ5B [Input: WX16JW.j]

4. TYPOLOGY

Measurements

Roster Date Author Record
Height 2009-08-09 eA 2.9 [Input: T830EA4.j]
Length 2009-08-09 eA 5.7 [Input: T830EA4.j]
Width 2 or diameter of body 2009-08-09 eA 2.7 [Input: T830EA4.j]

Items Field Record

Roster Date Author Record
Field definition 2009-08-05 jN figurine [Input: T820SE2.j]
Field height 2009-08-05 jN 3.2 [Input: T820SE2.j]
Field length 2009-08-05 jN 6.2 [Input: T820SE2.j]
Field width 1 2009-08-05 jN 2.5 [Input: T820SE2.j]
Field width 2 2009-08-05 jN 3.3 [Input: T820SE2.j]
Field ware or material 2009-08-05 jN clay [Input: T820SE2.j]
Field shape 2009-08-05 jN cylinder [Input: T820SE2.j]
Field color 2009-08-05 jN tan [Input: T820SE2.j]
Notes on field record 2009-08-05 jN lower half of a painted animal figurine [Input: T820SE2.j]

Morphology

Roster Date Author Record
Ware or Material, species 2009-08-09 eA clay-baked [Input: T830EA4.j]
Color 2009-08-09 eA pinkish white [Input: T830EA4.j]
Color number (Munsell) 2009-08-09 eA 7.5YR 8/2 [Input: T830EA4.j]
Condition 2009-08-09 eA It is broken. [Input: T830EA4.j]
Notes on items 2014-03-30 rAH    In studying Bos 206, a related stratified find from the Bos corpus in the royal storehouse, some parallels can be seen, although i54 is less clearly articulated. However, the exercise may call attention to the fact that the sexual parts of cattle are carried forward in the belly. This may explain the interruption of the painted pattern on the ventral surface of this representation.
   The representation compares favorably to Bos 206 in ventral, dorsal and right median plane views. The angle at which the representation is held in V22d3632 (the caudal section of the right median plane) falsifies somewhat the curve of the back; in fact, it is rather more gradual in its decline, and in the same plane, rather than descending as the photograph would indicate.
   It is not unusual for w3 to be ever so slightly wider than the forequarters and the torso. That is the case here, so at least in the last two measurements, the ratio would appear to be 1 : : 1, a solid Bos characteristic. [Input: Y401JW.j]
2014-03-30 rAH    This is a most interesting object, albeit fragmentary. There is painted decoration, perhaps saddle bags, or a coverlet/blanket thrown over the dorsal surface. The patterning is grid-like, quite regular. It does not appear to be in imitation of animal hair, but rather a covering. Interesting that the "net" effect continues under the body to the ventral surface. This might argue for an abstract rendering of bodily fur (but unlikely). Munsell value of the paint is Khabur red.
   In photograph V22d3633, which I take to be the ventral view of the fragment, the pattern of the lines is disrupted, just to the front of the genital area. There is a triangular/pointed extension of the painted decoration to just below the tail, as if indeed the covering were terminated there, a sort of unusual "all weather wrap" -- ?
   Fingerprints do their part to interrupt the pattern. This is a most unusual manufacturing detail; as, apparently, the fingerprints come on top of the paint. Why this is so is difficult to say. The handling and modeling of such figures, particularly those with painted decoration, must surely have something to do with the making and unmaking of these representations. [Input: Y401JW.j]

6. REFERENCE

Analogical Record

Roster Date Author Record
Photo of individual elements (studio)

2009-08-11 dM [Input: J05_VWX.j]

2009-08-11 dM [Input: J05_VWX.j]

2009-08-11 dM [Input: J05_VWX.j]

Disposition

Roster Date Author Record
Storage 2009-09-25 !! ZSB 002-023 [Input: J05ZSB.j]