2019Dietz, Deity or Cult Statue? The Storm-God of Aleppo in the Visual Record of the Second Millenium BCE
- ️https://lmu-munich.academia.edu/AlbertHJDietz
2020Dietz, The Multiplicity of Ancient Near Eastern Storm Gods in the Visual Record, ICAANE 11
Proceedings of the 11th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 2020
Depictions of Storm-Gods can be observed on glyptics, terracotta plaques, vessels, stelae, reliefs, rock-reliefs or, more rarely, in the form of statues and figurines. Although present on kudurru, where representations of deities are ubiquitous, there are rarely anthropomorphic depictions of a Storm-God. Especially in times of intense cultural contact and exchange as well as in multicultural societies, situations arose in which several Storm-Gods and their pictures, as well as their names, were confronted. In these cases, the concepts of multiplici- ty, fluidity and translatability come into play. There is a multitude of different Storm-Gods textually attested: the major Storm-Gods of the great empires leading a pantheon or being one of the great gods; the Storm-Gods representing certain meteorological, agricultural, military or social aspects; and many local Storm-Gods. It seems almost impossible to link the textually attested Storm-Gods with the pictorial representations at hand. This does not entail that there must be an inconsistency, which shall be shown in this article.
ICAANE 12, 2023
During the Neo-Assyrian period, the Storm God Adad was one of the main deities in the pantheon and was depicted in an anthropomorphic form accompanied by other great gods. This article offers a thorough review of the Storm God’s pictorial representations on Neo-Assyrian sculptures demonstrate the diversity of his depiction as he has non-permanent attributes, neither an animal nor an object. The paper proceeds to examine the anthropomorphic depiction of the Storm God on several archaeological materials from the Neo-Assyrian period. A comparison of objects and animal/creature attributes of the deity during earlier and later periods is presented in this study as well. Finally, it attempted to clarify the reasons behind the diversification of different objects and animal/creature attributes of the Storm God on Neo-Assyrian finds.
Revival or Reinvention? Local Cults and their Iconographies in Roman Syria
Religion in the Roman Empire, 2017
In many places of the Near East, images of local deities re-emerged in the Late Hellenistic and Roman Period. In most instances, however, the divine iconography was not rooted in ancient local traditions, but mainly based on Greek models. It appears that the agents responsible for their creation had a Hellenic or Hellenised audience in mind. Emphasis was put on the assurance of local identity, but at the same time a very much standardised expression of locality evolved. The focus was on comprehensibility and competitiveness, but not necessarily on distinctiveness. The persistence of ancient Near Eastern iconography was very much the exception and requires special explanation. At Doliche, for example, a low degree of integration in regional and trans-regional contexts during the Hellenistic period fostered the survival of Iron Age imagery.
Parole de l’Orient 49 (2023), 2023
An unpublished icon by Girgis Al-Musawwir is presented, in its proper context, and described. The authorship and date indications are found on the cartouche in the lower band of the frame. Due to the precise indications, the work becomes a reference icon. The landscape is rocky and desert. The wavy brushstrokes (as on the surface of a stream) are typical and characteristic of this painter. Paying due attention, both to the rocky landscape and to the animal itself, a unique structural solution is recognized with an amazing result. The fact that the crack in the rock through which Saint Thecla has to disappear (salvation-transition-death of the saint) is shown so emphatically, gives the icon an exceptional character. The saint walks, or perhaps runs, in a hurry towards her refuge. She moves in elegant movement, ethereally supported by the landscape, oscillating between martyrdom by wild beasts and seeking refuge in the cleft of the rock, while her gaze searches for the figure of Christ. The work is signed and dated on the cartouche in the lower margin of the frame. That provides an extraordinary reference (along the lines of being not only a dated Girgis icon, but also the oldest dated Girgis icon) to the vast universe of Eastern Orthodox icons. Specifically, those of the Aleppo School, in Syria.