Ornamental Wall Painting In The Art Of The Assyrian Empire (CUNEIFORM MONOGRAPHS, 28)

Annotation This study brings together the archaeological record and the pictorial documentation of ornamental wall painting produced in Assyria, from the thirteenth to the seventh centuries B.C. Nimrud, Khorsabad, Til Barsip, and Tell Sheikh Hamad, are among the ancient sites where impressive wall paintings were discovered; unfortunately most of these discoveries now exist in drawings and photographs only. Ornamental wall painting created a colorful and meaningful visual impact to the rooms of residences belonging to the Assyrian kings. The assembled material demonstrates that the polychrome and black-and-white decorated bands of geometric, floral, figural, and animal motifs were arranged into a variety of formulaic designs. Particular attention is given to the changing trends in the selection and combination of motifs, some of which had symbolic meaning. The chronology of the wall paintings at Til Barsip and the accompanying discussion of textile patterns are of special interest to the art historian. This book illustrates the ornamental wall paintings as recorded in the excavation reports ORNAMENTAL WALL PAINTING IN THE ART OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE 3 Table of Contents 7 List of Illustrations 9 Acknowledgements 13 Chapter I. Introduction 15 Chapter II. Discoveries of theWall Paintings 23 Ninth Century B.C 24 Nimrud 24 Fort Shalmaneser 28 Ninth to Eighth Centuries B.C 28 Nimrud, upper chambers 28 Nimrud, outer town 34 Al Rimah 35 Late Eighth Century B.C 35 Khorsabad 35 Late Eighth and Seventh Centuries B.C 39 Arslan Tash 39 Til Barsip, building E 41 Tell Sheikh Hamad 41 Fort Shalmaneser 43 Overview of the Discoveries 44 Chapter III. Til Barsip 47 Room 26 50 Rooms 25 and 27 52 Room 46 54 Room 1 57 Room 21 58 Room 24 61 Room 47 64 Room 22 65 Discussion 66 Til Barsip Textile Patterns 69 Discussion of Textile Designs 80 Dating the Til BarsipWall Paintings 83 Chapter IV. The Ornamental Painted Designs 89 The Ornamental Compositions 90 Symmetries of the Ornaments 96 The Ornamental Motifs 98 SingleMotif 98 Guilloche 115 Arcaded Garlands 120 Symmetrical Grouping 132 Animal Group 132 Figural Group 141 Chapter V. Concluding Commentary 143 Bibliography 151 Indices 159 Index of Akkadian words 159 Index of Proper names 159 Subject Index 162 Back Matter 163 In this short text, Albenda (no affiliation is noted) surveys the ornamental wall painting of various Assyrian buildings, describing the use of color, placement, and decorative motifs. The paintings discussed are known from drawings of them made by early excavators, whose research is described briefly. In addition to painstaking descriptions of the decorative motifs found in the paintings, Albenda provides a summarizing analysis of decorative traditions in these courtly and occasionally, religious buildings. Annotation : 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) By Pauline Albenda. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 137-144) And Indexes.