Ivories, Rock Reliefs and Merv: Studies on the Ancient Near East in Honour of Georgina Herrmann (Marru, 15)

This festschrift, celebrating Georgina Herrmann's 85th birthday, encompasses 28 contributions. In accordance with significant topics of Georgina Hermann's scholarly devotion they focus on Mesopotamian studies, Sasanian reliefs and Central Asian cultures. Studies examine ivories from Ugarit, Samaria, Hasanlu, Nimrud and other Levantine, Assyrian and Syrian sites. The history of documenting Sasanian rock reliefs by travellers and scholars using photographs and drawings is dealt with as well as the illustration of Aphrodite/Venus on Sasanian luxury vessels and the Parthian coins from Merv held in the collection of the Pushkin Museum. Content 9 Editors’ note 13 Georgina Herrmann 15 Georgina Herrmann: Bibliography 1967–2021 19 Caubet: From Arslan Tash to Ugarit: Remarks on ivory beds, suckling cows and grazing deer 25 Cecchini: The stele of Melqart: A reappraisal 43 Cifarelli: Another look at the Hasanlu ivories 61 Collins: Some thoughts on the Assyrian ivories from the Temple of Nabû at Nimrud 91 Crawford: An essay on time and distance 105 J. Curtis: A bronze lotus flower handle from Nimrud 111 Dalley: Narrative art and the Hasanlu beaker: Proposal for a coherent interpretation linked to Gilgamesh 129 Gubel: Phoenician lionesses devouring Nubians and the Egyptian myth of the Distant Goddess (Decoding Phoenician Art – IV) 149 Hussein: Methods of draining and directing water discovered in the palaces and temples of Nimrud 167 Mazzoni: Ivories in the debate on the Iron I–II archaeology of Syria 181 Millard: Fitters’ letters 199 Reade: Archaeological encounters in 1960s Iraq 209 Simpson: Carved ivory plaques from Megaron 3 at Gordion 233 Suter: An unusual ivory panel from Samaria and the composition and realia of banquet scenes in the Iron Age Levant 255 Wicke: Images across media: Comparative remarks on some Levantine ivories and metal bowls 273 V.S. Curtis: Further thoughts on Varegna, the royal falcon, and Verethragna, the victorious warrior god 307 Lerner: Some thoughts on the so-called ‘Gayomard seals’ 321 Harper: Sasanians reimagined: Four Qajar drawings 333 Hillenbrand: From rags to riches: The development of the zone of transition in pre-Mongol Iranian dome chambers 349 MacGinnis: A Parthian manor on the Lower Zab 369 Overlaet: Sasanian royalty at Naqsh-i Rustam: Documenting and interpreting rock reliefs 387 Seidl: Aphrodite mit Eros in der sasanidischen Kunst 409 Ball: ‘Little Merv’: Notes on Marv al-Rud, or ‘Merv of the River’ 423 Invernizzi: A throne for Mithridates in Nisa? Ivory furnishings in Central Asia 439 Judelson: Working alongside Georgina, 1992–2000 463 Puschnigg: Sasanian perspectives: From antiquity to the medieval period 467 Smirnova: Parthian coins from Merv held in the collection of the Pushkin Museum (Moscow) 485 Wang: Money on the Silk Road – twenty years on 521 Colour Plates 527 Leere Seite 2