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Late Assyrian Pottery from Fort Shalmaneser

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

Joan Oates
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Extract

The pottery from Fort Shalmaneser is a homogeneous collection that spans the period from the fall of Nimrud and the sack of the fortress in 612 B.C. to the last squatter occupation of the ruined building, perhaps some fifty years later. The time interval cannot have been long, as there is absolutely no difference between the pottery that was in use at the time of the sack and that of the latest squatter settlement. This pottery is, of course, identical with that from the citadel which we have come to associate with the 612 B.C. destruction, and it is hoped to publish soon a second article giving additional late seventh century types not as yet recovered from Fort Shalmaneser and thus not included here. The present account is restricted to the latter site, both because it is intended to supplement the preceding report on the excavations and because the Fort Shalmaneser material is a large and representative collection of well-dated Assyrian pottery from a single building.

It will be clear from the excavation report that work at Fort Shalmaneser is far from complete and that many questions will remain unanswered until the resumption of digging brings us fresh evidence. In a few cases, for instance, where pottery has been found on or just above the Assyrian floor level, it is impossible on the basis of our present knowledge of the building to determine whether it should be assigned to the period immediately before or immediately after the sack. But as pottery from such levels is identical both with groups from deposits that can confidently be dated to the 612 destruction, and with other groups found at a higher level that can equally confidently be attributed to reoccupation by squatters, any further stratigraphical evidence we may uncover will in no way affect the general dating of the pottery presented here.

Type
Research Article
Information
IRAQ , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , Autumn 1959 , pp. 130 - 146
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 1959

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References

1 A few well-dated types from the 1953 season were published in Iraq XVI, Pt. 2, pp. 164–67. This group is contemporary with the pottery from Fort Shalmaneser, as the room in which it was stored (TW 53 room 19) was burnt in 612, and the types, for the most part, are the same. It should be noted with reference to the previous article that the suggested date for the cache of tablets from room 19 should now be extended after 626, perhaps as late as 616 B.C.

2 This summary is intended merely as a guide to the find places enumerated in the pottery catalogue; the references to the preceding article will give a fuller discussion of the deposits and stratigraphy.

3 An almost identical bowl was found at Samaria, Samaria-Sebaste III, fig. 20:5. The rim of the Nimrud example is more like that of Nimrud type 25.

4 Layard, A. H., Nineveh and Babylon, 1853, p. 185Google Scholar, Monuments of Nineveh, second series, 1853, Pl. 57.

5 Samaria-Sebaste III 149–50Google Scholar.

6 Layard, , Nineveh and Babylon, 1853, p. 190Google Scholar; Monuments of Nineveh, second series, 1853, Pl. 62.

7 The silver beaker was decorated with two bands of gold foil overlay hammered on to it about the neck, the design having first been engraved on the silver, The pattern consists of groups of stylized plant-like designs with pairs of concentric circles, or part-circles, between them; in the upper band the ‘plants’ are pendent from the circles, in the lower one this arrangement is transposed. At the junction between neck and shoulders there is a gold band, obliquely fluted, The gold decoration at the base consists of a floral design identical with that on the upper bands; touching the button base there is a radially arranged petaliform design with triangular ends. Considering the excellence of the silversmith's work, the pattern, with the exception of the radiate design at the base, is very roughly executed. Professor Mallowan has suggested that this may have been the work of an Assyrian smith who was perhaps attempting to vie with the more decorative styles of North Syria or Urartu.

8 Andrae, W., Coloured Ceramics from Ashur, p. 48 and fig. 26Google Scholar.

9 A. Haller, Die Gräber und Grüfte von Assur, taf. 5d. An exact parallel to the Nimrud silver beaker is to be found in a Neo-Assyrian goblet from T. Fakhariyah, O.I.P. LXXIX, pl. 31, 53.

10 ND. 1320. Miniature vase, ht. 7·5 cm., North-West Palace room HH, under main floor with skeleton of gazelle (deposit I).

11 An Assyrian teapot from Nineveh is illustrated in AAA XX Pl. LXXIV, 8. A parallel is mentioned from Deve Hüyük, dated post 600 B.C. Ibid. p. 175.

12 The turban and wimple are still worn, in conjunction with pendant jewelry, by the women of certain communities in the Mosul liwa, notably in the Sinjar.

13 It is necessary to mention, however, that although Rawson has included a number of wares under his general term ‘Palace Wares,’ it seems preferable to follow the customary practice at Nimrud and reserve this term for the extraordinarily fine hard ware, generally grey or greenish-buff, which Rawson refers to as the commonest Palace Ware (p. 169). The coarser wares which he describes are thus not included under the term as used in the present article.

14 Samaria-Sebaste III 95Google Scholar.

15 Iraq XVI, Pt. 2, 169.

16 Ibid., pp. 171–2, Pl. XLI, 2.

17 Iraq XX, Pt. 2, p. 131Google Scholar, and Pl. XXV, 4, 10.

18 Ibid., pp. 128–9 and n. 1.

19 cf. Iraq XX, Pt. 2, Pl. XXVIII, 15.