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    Violence Into Order Materiality and Sacr PDF

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    & McDONALD INSTITUTE MONOGRAPHS Rethinking materiality the engagement of mind with the material world Lenn mee Cee and Colin Renfrew Chapter 22 Violence into Order: Materiality and Sacred Power in Ancient Iraq David Wengrow Tn exploring the materiality of sacred power, my paper sce to go beyond 2 dichotomy that has Figenced archaclogica interpretations of ideology inenly tates Tis isnot the distnction alten awn [Between modern and archaic frm of power, a> Trpedively based upon authonaran ahd sacred Principles (discussed by Rowlands this volume), Rather, 15a elated dichotomy of method inthe way that pover i recognized and interpreted in the ‘Symbolic behaviour of ites, and its archaeological trace So what this dichotomy, and why sould _anemphasis on materiality have anything td th Tn his work onthe early development of Ege lsh consttional thought, the Nstorian J GA Pocock (1957) argued that what constitutes conte: porary historical consciousness in Europe developed through an anezenes of two dnc kinds of proc cess My brie! summary of they two modes oF i foriedl awareness is inevitably something of 4 cartaturs, but nevertheless sere to make pont. “Th fit i a conelousnensof Historical content in wat Renew (his volume) apy terme "the poor tan’ rubbish Iti based on the conviction tat Concealed beneath cistomary prices of the ak ing ee, depasison, and decay nf everyday thing, ie tobe found the workings of cllecive ind — habitus —re from the dct fal from above The second Kind of Ntorcl awareness deers pr manly upon wate sources and manures con Struct past of momentous events and decisions, taken by gest leaders whose vison approximates 0 that of god Insarchocology the lege this oppsition i pariculaely clear nthe diferent methods and inter fats that have charaesiaedrexarch in Europe, a ‘opposed to thse regons once habitually deseibed 25 the Orient The development of European ant- _qarianism during the seventeenth entry reflected i interest in resnotacing fora of cocarmrahy [rior to the appeecance of kingship, as pat of Efouder charter forthe Mberation of Europea peor ples Pocock 1957) By contas the developret of Erchaslogy inthe Middle Est fom the ephteenth to the early twentieth century war driven wards ‘he resurection of ancien forms of kingship and the ‘lization where, as recorded in Graeco oman and biblical soures, they first rove and fl. The Aciperment of facogiyeh and cuncfomn f= fished this exote stage with lndividual and often Courfal royal protagonists. 1 notbl, in this ‘egard that the prehistory of Egypt wast dscov- fred by cident rather than design (ee Hoffman 1991), This desire to excavate Inst Kingdoms should ofcourse be seen ints colonial conten fl Wengrow 20(3). Prom a British perspective thas parteulary ‘rong resonance wid the poley of lade Rule fand a related desire to recapeue, in the cortex of temple, a pit of hearchy that was gradually di "sppearing rom the metropolis oe Canadie 201) Kingship and castom Discussions of ideology in ary stats have often taken the opposition between customary packce and the activities of Kings as thelr staring point Gee Liverant 1985, for tag). Here {wish to argue tht preielybecnace of cisnct genealogy in uso ‘ea experienc, this opposition shoul be apen 0 {ueston asa method of archacologia ntrpet fon. To illustrate the point, and to iteedice the ‘ain subject ofthis paper ts usfalto const wo Fepresenaions ofa singe theme: the building 2 tines of ancin® Mesopotamian Kings “The fis is Pieter Breughel's well-known sh teonth-cetury painting. The Tower of Bull (sce Sigur around hin, proceeding rough ‘he Dulin scene nfl royal regalia, sind eleganiy wielding a rod of com mand, His presence is clearly ofa dit ferent order to that of the manifold ‘caftamen ord meal labourers whote Seiviticy recede into the background tthe pining, where the huge tower ff under construction, In atordance With biblical morality, however there {re no gods inthe bright Bie skies Shove Breugha' tower only clouds, ‘his image from the Esopesn Renainance may be contrasted ith the decoration of «royals, dati tothe cloae ofthe tid lena fragments of which were discovered by Leonard Weoley within the sacred rocinct of Ur el Maayan sath frig ig, 221; 3nd wee Canby 201) Thassos onument whch ong nally stood over theee mates high sully esocated with UrNamo, founder of the 3d Dynasty of Ur, but cannot infact be firmly atebute Yo ypartcularking five registers eid carving are selceny preserved {allo the reconstruction of oones of royal actin taking place before gods, ‘dented by thelr horned headdress, The lower repsters of the cbverse, shown here, contain a construction Scene in which the clos interaction of Givin, royal and nonroyal proago sists hing. The laterbeat sks ‘on their heads and lim adders, while in the third register, behind the figure (of god, walks aking carrying a bum ‘le of building tools on his back with the stele bear scene of musi eres Hing, and animal slaughter, which nay ‘elt to the consecration ofthe Bld Ing. The upper registers on bo aces ‘contin bstion scenes, which conven tionally signiy a rlationship of pt tion ofa transfer of blessing beeen igure 22S of Ur-Nam, ate hr milena dovinurt end eubontinate partic renstracton by Birk la (Afr Suter 200,33 Sse 1:16) this eae the King and the gos (ase Winter 1986 Suter 200, 219-20, Kenge Brandt 1989, pl.2. Inthe foreground, work- The decoration ofthe UrNammu Stele, while fers have left her Iibours te grovel atthe fect af «clearly relating to spheres of royal and divin action, ‘onaich He ie depicted on larger sale than the rots tht action within a widely accesible area of 22. ‘Violence ino Oneer customary practice, What is commemorated i not thatthe king has commanded the ceation of great Dulin, dhs being «prerogative of gods, but that Ihe hl pavtiipted inthe material proces fits ‘eaton. Simla representations ofthe King as an ‘ive particpant inthe coneracton of mud rick temples which were conceived quite Merally as ‘Rouse for he gods, are found ins wide varity of cto and inscriptions sources from ancient aq, ene of which are dscussed blow, The physicality ‘ofthis participation is often stesed in dette ret ‘rencs tothe techniques of balding the forming Sind placing of mi-bricks, the ming of mortar ind other pracios which extend back tothe early Stages of Rolie le in the Near East (ee eg Wengrow 198) In this way royal ideology draws Upon, represents, and traneforms an extensive a Chive of socal memory, embodied and reprodiced through concrete forms of action ne mater worl ‘Gcaly the interpretative postion being devel: coped here has affites withthe recent furh ina thacology, and in elated disciplines, towards a onsensul notion of Ideology a5 deriving ts sy ‘hog fore from normative pattern of ct (DeXarzas this volume). Asa historian recently put 1 ‘go are areal areola is that to sy, they ae embedded in practice (Chakrabarty 2000, Tes cd Bloch 1987) As curenly formulated ina hacology, however, the desre to navrow the gap between mind and matte, of cogtve and practical ‘etivity,efers ite scope in my view fran under ‘tending of power. Specially seems to lead oan Impose betwen 2 totalizing view oF ideology a Hfostyle or worldview, and an awareness of Machiavelisn ature and potential for manipula ion by leaders for particular ends. In doing away ‘vith the Marian distinton between knowledge Sd action, theories of materal engagement tat hold these dimensions of experience ns kind of ypost ‘Ss Rentew this ome) are challenged to some ternative indes forthe analysis of power relations (ne way of going about this is 10 try 10 Mentiy procenes by which notions of power — such a thse relating to the legitimate use of violence and to lations of hierarchy and patronage — re ier porated into the materia peace out of which ete Hologies ae constructed (ct. Bloch 1982). ‘Accordingly, muck ofthis paper fe concemed with aculating a dalcia relaonship in Meso potamian royal representation between the exercise Dtviolnce-~ both over mans and als nthe no human domaine of gods animal, platy, weather, tle and the eataahment and saintnance af 260 transcendent order of vitality and secusty through the bllding and renovation of temples. The die. tie between violence and order aso has spatial spect which accords sell with ideas proposed by Mary Helms (1985) ner book, Cr andthe King Hel Royal aggression i represented asthe exten lon of agency outwards from the het of the city State Into mythologized spaces trom which exotic materiale like mets timber, and precious stones tsa derive. Thee same materials, ne the biog Pies of conquest they embody ae twarsformed by royal agency atthe centre ito sensuous objec, Smongst which temples as halbtatons of the gods fads pour cosmlogicaland pla sigaicance ‘Tho temple-cstate in early rag: 2 Brief overview Daring the fourth millenium x, following some five ose lena of sete village fein the Nese Ena the ste of Uk (Wark) in southern lag ex panded toa sizeof 250 hectares. lively debate furrenty underway concerning how this ‘npr. ‘sented urban development relates to the growth of ‘uprergionl works of neacion linking sot frag to the surrounding Fer Crescet and eourcesich hinterlands (Rothman 200). The ue ban landscape at Warka was dominated by a series tfmonumertal buildings, some of which closely fol Towed the layout of earlier village howse-forms (Wengrow 198, 90-99) The invention of he rato ‘umetorm srpt during the inter fourth leis (Url Eanns IV) responded tothe scale of mana eral functions ened out by dese institutions (Nie et 199), These were dicted mainly towards the regulation of labour and production, in which the processing of secondary animal and plant prod ‘sets clsey played a major role: Ths same period also saw the development ofan iconography of fulerthip ateted mainly on eyinder seals which features a dominant male igure engaged in various ‘stiles. They inclade violence agansthumans and Shimale, traveling in bost feeding herds and as ‘fetal devotion Schmand Besserat 1995 Bochmer 1999) Ax with later Mesopotamisn sal, however ‘tives elaing to building ace nt attested point to which Tetum below Wieluen soures indicate that during the sue geding dynastic periods the household (Sumerias Akkadian: bis) remained a baie template or the ‘organization of uber insiaion, amongst which {emples continued to play a major rae (Celb 1979) They were subject to continual rebuilding by gor rations of rulers who were often caefl To follow Chapeer 22 Figure 22.2. Page of Ur-Nonshe, mid-tid mien ct Ar Suter 200,37; Sealer. 18) ‘he ground plan of earlier structures Some temple ‘plone were founded upon an archtecturll palmpect extending bakitoprelierte Lines (eg Strid, in southern ag) and from a east the ate {hid millennium ac onwards they incorporated the ‘mlt-evel bullings known as zigguras. The tem ple precinct therefore constitted an elevated site ‘within the urban landscape, reinforcing ole 8 Place of cntact with seed power, sing both the {od en hc uman delegates Van de ero 1997) ‘Temples combined manager rls, including the maintenance of a lage dependent workforce ‘sith the zeligios function of proving habitation fora god. Cite might house any mamber of dito: st give time, but each also claimed s privileged {eledonship with « parteulae Ghy-god. Activity fe Tnung to temples was aot permeated at al imes by & Sens of the ‘unease implied in some euler ‘accounts but tock place within a variety of eitnet fontexts, some religious and others primarily ad ‘initrative and commercial ee Goorge 1935 59). Mathematical texts of the Ur lt and Old Babylonian pesiods india the existence of purely Secular, ational approaches lo quanty surveying ‘Operating slongalde the more ceremonial aspects of temple constuction (Robson 199) Its the later, however to which now retrn ‘King « has bul temple y for god 26a formula reiterated countless tes and in a ange of uv ing medi fom ancient Iraq These aad to stil wider variety of commemorative tratgies, many of Thich ae lat to us. Recent commentators have fr {ised upon the Getive qual of such statements, ‘whlch ate Interpreted as an ideological device in- tended toexche el laborers fom the wards of ‘prodaction (Liverani 1985, 256; Polo 199, 179 Besides tendency to simplify the experience of po- alters, tu ew takes te acount of the materiality ofthe sources tvough which such state ‘mente were communicated, These demand 2 more ‘omplesfamework of interpretation. The ears thematic precursors to the decora ‘on ofthe Ur Nami See form part of series of ‘arved limestone plagues, dating to the mid hid ‘allenic (Ely Dyna -l) and documented ‘Broughout Mesopotamia and beyond (Boose 1971 (66-118) The largest measure around halfa mate on tach sie and ule none hasbeen found in Pe ‘ry contest of cisplay, their secondary findpote Sand decorative content suggest that they were ‘Routed high-status inition (oe Hanon 1963, 115-53) A sere of four plagues rom Tell ancient (Gir) in southern rn bar depictions of Ur Nanshe, ing Gumevian’ LUGAL ~ ‘great man’) of Lagash fand founder ofits fst dynacty (eg Fig 222) He Sppests together with his wife, dren, a sre ‘de oeoor sabe chore, Each plas bens ‘siptons naming hese individuals and commer ‘ling UrNars'sconstrtion of temple fo the ly-god (Boese 1971, pls. 281-2 301-2: Frankfort 1996, 7, fig 73)- Into cases te recorded that he ent out ‘hips of Dilan’ to acquire tmber from “foreign lands’ (Cooper 1986, 22-4, L312, 15) Dima is metione iter incripSone aa ure of copper, dates timber and peep also peal It Jha Been identied with moder hain but ke the Cedar Forest in the Epic of Gilgamesh (Foster e 1 2001s also rendered as part ofa mythologized Tandscape occupied by sem-human and divine be- ings (Creeford 1956). The pictorial scenes nto which the Dilmun in sesiptions are inserted, one of which i iksrted here how Ur Nene carrying abasket on Ns het ‘This actiity te associated in fate texts with the king's ‘ceremonial oe informing and laying the fst mud bse ofa new temple The procedie smart vividly ‘voked ina temple hymn of Gudea, rele of Lagash {Bt cloe of the third rilenura ve which wat insrsed over two large ay cylinders found at Tell. ‘The hymn naraes Gude actions in rebullding Eninn the House ofthe god Ningie eras te brand-new crying basa and set t Viounce nto Order efoe the mol, ‘oud putt sayin th moa; aced precy at Pred [oy Nagi a suzeeded amusing mest ena ick or the (Alter Eazard 197, 9; Cylinder A, Column 18 This particular image of labour was not etic to buildingmonuments during Euly Dynastic tes, Noceroyal figures carying thin baskets inthe ‘samme manner as UsNanshe appear onthe most mous and complex royal mantment of the period, the ole See ofthe Vulture. The sole dates fo 2400 gn he reign of Eannatum, and commeme> Tales his victory for Lagach over the neighbouring ‘Giyesate of Usain a vile dgpute overland ‘and water cighta A lnginent fom the hid reister ‘fit reverse sie hasbeen reconstructed as showing [seated figure similar to that ef UrNanshe before “hom extn a scene of animal sserifce and iba tion (Winter 1985, 15 igs 612, The basket-ariers relocated adjacent io his group of igure eeling Tadders like those onthe lar bling stele of Ur ‘Namunsand Gudea (Suter 2000 fg 10) Ther arg, -nowever,s destined for aburialmound singabove {pile of corps ater than 3 emple construction, “Thisimagery i unusual in coresponding direty to rien phrase in Sumerian he esped upbural ‘inund fo then — wed pet ofthe ak victory ‘Statement in Pre-Sargoni necrpion and found it ‘Oid Akad inserpions as we (Cooper 1950, 46, Image, inscription, andthe dissbution of royal, aa {A notorious diticaly in assigning strong ideology ‘al functions to monuments sud those discussed ‘Solaris the nabilty of mostculjects ether to acess ‘or fully inderstand them. Theater point cane ‘Srestate, since complex manent ae not neces Savy ead in complos way and thee visual content ‘often focuses around widely comprehensible themes. ‘A more fareaching rensearnet ofthe fue of ‘acces is provided by Winter (00) ina discussion ‘Sf reatonships between monumental palace ret ‘of the Neo-Assjrian period (s9-mid rt muller mim san imagery on cortemporary cylinder zeals Shr steocs the compleneriary functors of static and mobile imagery ant the ative role of ‘eal in dstbuting the Hi of te palace beyond its natral bounds. The power of he monumental i ge located, not justin ts physcal materiality, but ints capacity tobe replated inthe inter srl oman o serve a kind of social anchor o mage net for more ephemeral images of power. Ths ‘ects attention beyond although ot necessarily away ftom’ cf. Gell 1998) the meaning of particular seat designs, and towers thee role i ranforming the piace from a eonfned and hetergeneo troerire fntoa singular but datebuted agent acting sl ‘anual i multiple locations. The extent of com parable selaorships between static and mobile Limagery in earler periods s suggested by the fact tht animal fiezes and scenes of banqueting and ‘ombston Ear Dynastic cals (Amit 180 pl. = 102) all have generic counterparts nthe rele car sng of perorated wal paguen af the Kind discesed shove (Boese 1971, pls 62.171, 21). "Thowe elements of Neo-Assysian palace rie that may be traced among seal imagery derive from Scenes of hunting, warare,lbation, and heraldic figures flanking the so-called ‘sacred tree’ (Winter 268-6 ct. erbord 1982, 7-38). The ministre teal of seal carving required theve enc tobe re deze is abbreviated forms, which nevertheless = ‘ain the canal iconographic elements of te larger ‘counterpart Scene of building euch as those deco ‘ating the walls of Court VIinSennacheritsSouth- ‘vest Place at Nineveh ae not among ther, oF at Teast have not been identified, I seems worth co fidering whether thas tpparené absence fs due ‘more than jus the forma constraints of misatare faving, particulary as abbreviated versions of ‘monumental building scenes are virtually unknown ‘on seals of are periods as wel! “This possibilty may be fsther explored in re lation to the content ofthe place rele theraseves: asec (1991260) suggest that those from the pale ‘cof Sennacher encode a blateral image of ing. Ship relating ‘conquest at the periphery” to ‘consruction a the cee’ Scnes ofnantenting the ‘more accesible spaces ofthe palace, in hich vs tors were recived, project the extension of royal iovees to the outer athe of eopre by sili $ngression, and accompanying nsenpions tess the prlive specs of Kagohip. More privat areas Fowevr, are decorated with scones of construction and inscriptions conveying the rewards of benevo lent goverment These fo aspects ofthe decors {Sve programme are sony interned Contraction ‘workers inthe ater scenes are identified a inhabit- thts of hidden mountain regions, conquest of my [the king's} hands and nearby vols depict their deportation fom a and onthe eastern borer ofthe ‘Assyrian empire following abate Within the over- Alldecrative scheme ofthe pace, building soenes ‘Chapter 22 therefore constitute eu rinaing statement of the King’s capacity to tans form external violence int internal onder. aps ofbuilng wer ub fal to a wider comomny ff dstibuton might be Dest sought, not in the decoration of cylinder Seals, bt i elton #3 ‘ron clas of epigraphic Inatral rover 08 four dation insertions (or ‘which, see Ells 196). age within the walls fAtings, and foundations ‘of any ancien temple in Trag ace inscriptions re ‘cording the actions of pa. ‘Scale named Hangs ints for the benefit of 9 par Ucular god. They ate Carved ona variety of ob ject incaing ay tb lets cones, bricks, and figurines of ing, nals or gods (eg. Fg. 223), which were located within the fabric ofthe bling, Domctines rendering ther invisible from the out Sie, The extent of such paces may be Must by the massive csemate wall constructed during the late third millennia scto surround the sacred Precinct of the god Nanna at Ur. Driven into the mortar between the rick courses a rgular two rete interval re cay nl, each bering on is fem the inscription: “For Nanna the stn bull of Heaven most glorious son of nll his King. as Ur [Nam the mighty man, King of Ur, Bll his te le (Woolley &e Moore 198210) na revealing passage from hs excavation da ries, Woolley describes » peculiar sensation that [ripped him when removing similar inscriptions Eom another lenin within te seed proc {id lowe in so but when forthe fst ine te ple oe ot fom the mud wal and SE twig hac ae {in though be comes the Assyrian goverot Figure 223. Foundation ‘guint reign of erin he form ofa sp (After Ste 200, Fg 7, Seale appro. 12.) tfebalders hod placed ther. (Wooley Moorey ‘These remarks convey the capacity of inscriptions sreapmiate pot agency aed fonder to content of present scion, Foundation nacrptons ext = ‘moral force, which operates via chains af causality Set in motion by dhe agent of thelr removal, but Ulumately extending beyond his sphere of contr ‘They implicate him physically in the severing of an ‘xsi bond between 3 ruler ands goa Tema be use here to adope the terms devel coped by Alfed Gel in hi (1998) theory of heart, ‘en The naripton cuy be thought of string the apency of the individual who removes back ‘upon sel, transforming him from an agent ito a Daten one who is acted upon, rather than aes {Two further detais are rsevant in supporting Gal's logical prontization of action over reflection inn derstanding the sei etcey of objects Fist is fot any intnsi property of foundation cones ot their inscriptions that generates an emotional te sponse, Rater i isthe conscousness af he agent that e is reversing a pat intention, disturbing 2 Por set of relatonhipe Secondly this eet was "xperenced by an archaeologist of the tenth cen apy who was hota subject of UNamama anda far ‘ tnybody knows, dd’ ubscrib tothe religion of anlent ea “All of this enhances our sense of how founds tions nsriptions functioned in thee orignal polit ‘al and cosmalogia! milieu. By preserving tangible Sign of ther activity within the fabric of temples, ing dstnbuted evidence ofthe pei relat ship the gods within carly delimited and con ‘ested spt arora that ofthe sacred architectural precincts atthe hear of cy-stats, where the pli fal landscape of the future was negotiated within ‘he materia confines of the dynastic past. Accord ingly the calculate legitimizing acts of particular rulers tok place within, and seprodced, 2 more ‘composing order ofprctic throug which har ‘monious contac betwsen humans and gods was ‘made and remade according toa patter, the fu ‘avons of which extended back beyond conscious ‘memory int the mythological ime of creation (se farther below) There i also a wider point to be made here concerning the ue of witen sources in archacooge ‘slinterpetation, which hs peshaps been obscured by recent polemics against ‘textual understandings ‘of material clare (et Boivin this volume) Theis Violence into Order that we should stop treating wri fen sources purely as mental sructures, simply Gecause they fan be rendered as speecvact Noe Is st sufficient jst 10 ae enowledge that inseptions are also objects, All engagements With text impose forme of boy ‘Senportnert ane ction (oe i Seton) upon waders and weit es In fugly iterate societies these are usually earned and adopted through unconscious Iutation, as part of the reper tone of sci sls equied d ing childhood In socal contexts there acest literacy or particularly potent kinds ‘of text is more restricted, the Body tecniqus of Tealng and writing ony be more conseousy elabo- ‘ated sod regulated us & sgn of ination. Puther- tore, texts engage both readers and writers In reciprocal relauonships with absent other= These relationships, though ot sways based upon direct bodily intercton nevertheless have a aca el 13: paychologica dimension. Accordingly #8 both ‘alld and feasible to reat wing san expect ofthe gent like properties of objects and material stuc- "res, located within athe than beyond networks ‘feo interaction,and orcealy exemplifying what Gas termed the extended mind To reinforce the importance of this pint, for ancients wells moder actors, tia worth cing at tome length rom an extensive foundation Insctip- ton aseovered at Ninvely which records the con struction ofthe temple Emenue by Shamshi-Adad | (@ 1819-1781 ac) On the tablet in guestion, te er ‘Sates that he was the first to eb thi trace seven generations of king: hat since the ime of Manisa, sm of Sargon of Abad ‘Theses and ay isp Manishisha were ‘ot emoved bt [stored] thal [pace e posted ny sles cy asriptate bee ces andy inept Therefore the pt cde hte ny clan bar gen meet af ‘le which iseecay renewed {nthe tur when the tmp Become i when ‘Baduchape witch bul become apni, fd the Kg whom the ot nl pointes Gry acon tery Ca ‘ero the os and ay isp of Man he Figure 22.4. Modern impression ofan Adon cy 2000, 20 Sele appro 3:2), 2 nder sea (After Suter 1 ower) akg rongy discard my sees ‘Sy npn he le ot sorte be depen (in thar place) That ngs de ‘whats lense to gods and ngs Conclesio: cosmoyony, temples, en the perception af scred power have delayed until now discussion of well-known cylinder stl othe Akkadian period, which oman | epiton of uiling activity and fighting insehich the protagonists areal gods (Fig 224). This abject Iighty unumaal in too senses, Fly it cares tale age building activity in which the ply ‘al actions ofeach paripant can be dearly dle ‘cemed. Secondly, fs content can be related to “Mesopotamian creation myths acongunction Between Image an text that i nasal forthe region 982 vthole (se Suter 200, 3-12). There ib fact dimpreement concerning the tear sory to which thi sene might correspond {She view rlates it the opening lines of Atria, ‘hetlood-myth ought to preigure thetic story ‘of Noh, sauces fr ihich date back to the esey ‘xcond millennium ac. The myth beping “when the {od ike men bore the work and earned the basket, [id goeson tonarrate low the gods aly on of thet ‘wn and, by mixing his lsh and blood with clay ‘rented humans fo labour in their place (see Wiggerman 1995, 9). Ateatively the scene may relate f0 the fra pat of Enum Ets, the Epic of Creation, which isnot attested in wert sources tnt the Bt millennium but as strata ad themate afitios with earlier myths (pita 1990- 31, 6-2; Frankfort 158, 131), There the hero-god Marduk having quelled anupisingagsinethe gods, bulls lariows house to establish his kingship. He then uses the blond of his shin foe, ing #2 ‘make humans 0 that asin Arahat they may Inbour instead ofthe gods and give them leisure. ftiude the gods se to work for a year, forming brick to build Marduk’ cy of Babylon a shrine In which they may dwell Heve the ac of bulling provides vehicle for expressing the attainment of Fightnss and order inthe realms of gods and ie ‘mans. In both myths the cestion of aman leis ‘made posible by an ato lene, ats commnon Purpose to relieve the gods of mental labour, ‘With thisin mind I waat to eanelade by econ sidering a notion basi to anclent Mesopotamian e- gion the notion tha temple vere ‘nowseof Se sods, and that by building such dovelings thei ourable presence in a ity could be arsed. I the Judeo-Christian adiion, houses have connotations ‘ofthe secure and the domes rooted in the es of the Howse of God ass haven fom perscation. These ‘connotations have sometimes been uinguesSoningsy ‘atended to preistorie and ancent siete 3 the sugestion that Mesopotamian temples allowed human agen to “domenteat’ the gods (Van de ‘Mleroop 1997, 216). This seems to miss the poltial significance ofthe king's claim to have proved the ipodhwithhabtation Nowhere perhaps x thismore parent than in that pare ofthe temple hyran of ‘Gade in hich the god Ning offers the raler 2 sion ofthe emple he to bl ‘heer ao ofthe House) acho upto heaven feat eno House hovers overscan and ihe) lander gier on teal. ‘com sa thre hens ens (oven) Magan ed Maa wl ced sor tie monte LENiygi he hs tumed tke er ers et "enor fl in ad whoa oe ‘ny Hse Elna own stg Da mount. My weapon MowrSown-tmpeet ue all the Tandon cour (eve) sre ome fore oks nbd esnped my ested a. (Aer Eden 1987, 76 Cinder A Colum 9, ines ie28). ‘The god's houses bull's a Berce snake bull ts rest (Colum 1, Line 20). Other compositions elogize the aggressive v- tay that emanates from builngs where ee gods ell in trms of sepa upon the senses of se ‘man spectators. As Winter (199,257) observe, the Special free invested in gods particulary assoc ‘ted with visual qualities, which were enhanced by 28 ‘covering the sanctuary wall with precious metals, ‘white alabaster, and glazed brick. These expansive {qualities of light and brilliance were conceived as rtening tarde from the temple beyond the physical bound of the ty, imbulng the human ‘ewer with sensations ranging fom appreciation 1 {weand, at thelr most intense dread. “The sensuous qualities of temples may be re. Inte to a more basic paradox atthe heat of the notion that kings should offer habitation to gods ‘The source of ths paradox ie that go are ako To- ‘ated in force and proceates ~stme productive, ‘others destructive that cannot be conned fo any articular place, such asthe cylieal movement of Stal bois the growth and decay ofenimals and ‘cops the movement ofthe stormy and the Now of rater (neabsen 1976. As related in the group of Sumerian compositions known ayy lament the tell ofthe gods might be a forcefully exprencd in the destruction of @ cy and its temples by outside forces (human or non-human) a in any subsequent tof doling or restitution (se eg Michalowski 1969). In the at of bringing secu and prosperity toa city by localizing 3 god within ie temple the ing algo indirectly aserted is oem ight to dom rat, by Wansfering to that ety the potential for olent expansion that was immanent i eneepts of Sacred over. Acknowledgements am patel to Roger Moorey for comments om an eer {eaten to Paul Trcheme forencouagig met athe Woman Pocock Note 1. A smal group of Haly Dyna aly, dione iy othe Daa elon ete by Feat (8s 3:40) as showing ecorstrstonelguras. snd would therefore form an exception oper (Ge Ara 11-2 pe 908-10) The a. ‘ions high schematic however an ae Feat Utowledged coewhes it may dpa communal ‘Snape rather than balding (199,912 ane com- Eyceteeten ama p- References ‘Ait 5 LCi eon Arc Bloc, My 1987 The sit of he royal uth in Madags- cat he dselton of death eh a erty Sharyn dnl of Rapliy: ond Cron “Violen ‘Bloch My 990 Prey ino Mune fe at of Religions oe 197 Alcatel ine cage at St Pia ir of Poona Mure et “enh td ei! ire, Pac Cy con i Pain New CD Coop 198 spain hol oss (ht. UnveniyatWcsinPee Coane 118 Did Gh Cam

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