The Materiality of Divine Agency by Beate Pongratz-Leisten & Karen Sonik

Author:Beate Pongratz-Leisten & Karen Sonik
Language: deu
Format: epub
Publisher: de Gruyter
Published: 2015-05-25T16:00:00+00:00

Karen Sonik

Divine (Re-)Presentation: Authoritative Images and a Pictorial Stream of Tradition in Mesopotamia

Karen Sonik, Department of Art & Art History, Auburn University, 108 Biggin Hall, Auburn, AL 36849, e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: Focusing on the divine image in Mesopotamia, this contribution explores the construction and implications of the anthropomorphized divine body; the nature of the relationship between the image (specifically the salmu) and its divine referent; and the means by which the authoritative and authorized status of a divine image might be established, in order that the image might successfully presence the deity.

Taking the ninth century BCE Sun God Tablet (SGT) from Sippar as case study, Sonik specifically examines the embedding of images within the pictorial stream of tradition as a means of establishing their authoritative status. Such an embedding might be accomplished through both pictorial and written strategies: pictorial compositions may be deliberately designed to incorporate archaizing motifs or elements, visually announcing their ties to the (or even a specific period of the) ancient and esteemed past; written accounts, for their part, might trace or deliberately construct an object's relationship to a more ancient model or even authoritative prototype with origins in the divine sphere.

Keywords: anthropomorphism, cult statue, (divine) image, materiality, mimesis, pictorial stream of tradition, salmu

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