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Hassuna level IV : Shallow bowl decorated with antelopes, fired clay, painted

Date

Authors

Strommenger, Eva
Photographer: Arthur Llewellyn Basham

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

Description

The inside is covered by four antelopes in swastika-like pattern, which together with a stepped linear decoration is characteristic of Samarra ware. The usual monochrome painting is here red-brown on a light buff ground. Similar to pottery from Eridu, level XI (Middle southern 'Ubaid period). In Samarra utility increasingly combined with elegance. First abstract, then geometrical designs, then turned to nature. Animals, particularly, are delineated with amazing sureness and simplicity. Racy schematism expressing only the essentials : Life and movement. Implicit in these decorative patterns is a whole Weltanschauung. All these symbols are meaningful, clearly intended to suggest the life-force immanent in all created beings, propelling men and animals alike in never-ending cycles. (See also : Andre Parrot, Sumer, translated by Stuart Gilbert and James Emmons, London, Thames & Hudson, 1960, p. 44) -- Samarra culture, c. 50000 BC (Eridu-'Ubaid period) -- , 8.7 x 24.8 cm (Iraq Museum, Baghdad).

Keywords

Mesopotamia : Eridu-'Ubaid period, Early Sumerian period, Fara-Ur I period, Imperial Akkadian period, ceramics, book scan

Citation

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/1885/201384

Collections

Basham Photographs

Source

Type

Image

Archives Series

Date created

1964

Access Statement

License Rights

This image is provided for research purposes only and must not be reproduced without the prior permission of the Archives Program, Australian National University.

DOI

Restricted until

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ANUA 682-4089.tif (15.98 MB)

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