2021/08/13 by Bonatz, Dominik
paper · doi:10.17171/4-9-2
This paper focusses on concepts of space and ritual in Ancient Near Eastern visual art. Two very different types of visual media are confronted: representations on cylinder seals from the third and second millennium BC and reliefs from the palace of the Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal, from the 7th century BC. Both media are a rewarding source for reconstructing ancient Mesopotamian spatial cognition and its realistic practice which goes beyond the efficacy of textual records. Within the imagery of ritual scenes on cylinder seals, strategies of self-assertion by members of society who are not royals can be observed. Contrary, within the visual narrative of the royal lion hunt on Assyrian palace reliefs, the mythological perception of space is effortfully blended with geopolitical and economic interests.