RITUAL-WORSHIPPING SCENES AND ARCHITECTURAL IMAGES IN THE ICONOGRAPHY OF URARTIAN BELTS

Year 2018, Volume: 3 Issue: 5, 408 - 454, 28.12.2018

Saak Tarontsı

Abstract

The following article titled “Ritual-Worshipping Scenes and
Architectural Images in the Iconography of Urartian Belts” is a continuation of
articles in series of monographic writings wholesomely devoted to detailed
research of iconographical content of Urartian bronze belts, including the
fundamental creative-constructive components and indispensable composite parts,
thematical content, narrative scenes, realistic traditional reflections and
mythological symbolism of iconographical images. The main thematic focus of
this article is the detailed research of Urartian Ritual-Worshipping Belts, especially in the context of determining their
content according to the imagery of ritual-worshipping and ceremonial-religious
scenes, and architectural landscapes. The task of research included the finding
of main bibliographical sources containing relevant images, data and
explanatory statements about Urartian ritual-worshipping belts; creating a
database of this particular belt types according to sources of publications and
places of safekeeping, whether big or small museums or private collections;
identification of main themes, narratives and scenery contents; assessment of
the overall design and ways of fastening of those belt types; assessing the
overall geometrical proportions of those belt types and the implications of the
“narrowness” that resulted in their conditional definition as of Narrow Belts;
classification and typological assessment of their main and secondary
iconographic elements, including various human characters, different sacral
objects of individual or collective use; special sacral objects of worship such
as single or multiple layered Moon-Crescents and Sun-Disks; diverse human
activities and occupations; various scenes of architectural landscapes, castles,
fortifications and their details; images of common animals found only in this
belt type; images of only imaginary animal type (fish) of Urartian belts;
images of mythological (composite) winged beasts made of animal and abstract
parts;  images of mythological
(composite) creatures made of animal, abstract and human parts, as well as
attributes of religious-mythological fashion; images of some other elements,
not typical, but sometimes found in the iconography of ritual-worshipping
belts, such as symbols of Sacred Tree and Winged Sun-Disk; images of musicians
and dancers; images of various musical instruments; images of religious acts
such as performing rituals ceremonies, libation, praying, worshipping and
making wishes to souls of the deceased, spirits of real animal, mythological
beasts and creatures, souls of divinities and gods. The key formula of the transfer of the urartian material culture into
urartian spiritual culture is contended, affirmed on a base of the
iconographical contexts and thematic narrative contents of the
ritual-worshipped belts; as well as validated through law-governed principles
of urartian traditional-religious approaches and major
mythological-philosophical concepts that was a base of urartian mindset of
symbolical meaningfulness. At the end of the article some hints about the
possible nature of urartian artistic conceptuality is given in the context of
the crucial role that the urartian culture played in the overall process of
urartian nation’s formation. Finally, the overall significance of
ritual-worshipping belts is assessed in the fundamental framework of Urartian
bronze belts studies, and also the possible effects are predicted on how these
newer, informatively significant implications of those scientific
archeologic-historic inquiries could progressively and positively contribute to
Urartological Studies or Urartology.   

Keywords

Urartian, belts, ritual, worshipping, scene, architectural, image, iconography, tradition, culture

References

• Batmaz, A., Uhri, A. 2008 Urartu Kültüründe Balık Betimlemesi ve Ayanis Kalesi’nden Tunç Bir Balık Figürini Üzerine Düşünceler, Arkeoloji Dergisi, 1:65.
• Collon, D. 1993 Review of Gürtelbleche aus Urartu by by Hans-Jörg Kellner, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 56/1:125-127.