Syro-Hittite Monumental Art and the Archaeology of Performance: The Stone Reliefs at Carchemish and Zincirli in the Earlier First Millennium BCE

by Alessandra Gilibert

Overview

The ceremonial centers of the Syro-Hittite city-states (1200-700 BC) were lavishly decorated with large-scale, open-air figurative reliefs – an original and greatly influential artistic tradition. But why exactly did the production of such an array of monumental images ever start? This volume explores how Syro-Hittite monumental art was used as a powerful backdrop to important ritual events, and opens up a new perspective by situating monumental art in the context of public performances and civic spectacles of great emotional impact, such as processions, royal triumphs, and dynastic funerals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783110222265
Publisher:	De Gruyter
Publication date:	05/26/2011
Series:	Topoi Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	223
File size:	16 MB
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About the Author

Alessandra Gilibert, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.

Editorial Reviews

"[...] Gilibert’s volume is a well-written, interesting, and creative analysis of the architecture and relief programs at Carchemish and Zincirli. It will be crucial reading for the burgeoning number of scholars interested in Syro-Anatolian archaeology and also constitutes an essential case study for all archaeologists interested in performance and the materialization of ideology cross-culturally."
James F. Osborne in: American Journal of Archaeology 10/2012

"[...] Gilibert’s book is a solid work that embeds a traditional art historical perspective into a more dynamic way at looking at the relationship between visual art and archaeological contexts in the process of reconstructing ancient ceremonial performances. This perspective is very innovative, especially for the study of ancient Near Eastern societies, and gives a multidimensional perspective on archaeological material that is now envisioned as part of a broader network of signifiers in which the material culture, the landscape, and the architecture are all connected in the cognitive schemata of the ancient people."
Nicola Laneri in: BMCR 2012.01.32

From the Publisher