Iconography Of The Gods Of The Gudea Period

Abstract

Gudea, as a member of the Second Dynasty of Ur, ruled the Lagaš city-state in southern Mesopotamia between the end of the Akkadian Empire and the rise of the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2144–2124 BC). The rich material, both written and archaeological, belonging to his period consists of various inscriptions and various carved artifacts, which were gifts dedicated by Gudea to celebrate the (re)construction of a god's temple or to declare his devotion to a particular god. Rather than their depictions in the written corpus, which typically have a cultic character, this study focuses on the iconography of the gods in the art of Gudea's period, which is not very apparent in the first appearance represented on various archaeological artifacts such as stelae, door plaques, basic building forms, lion gates, stone vessels, column bases and seals. Since the role of iconography is very important in expressing cultural values and religious concepts and since not much of the research on this subject is done in Turkish, this study will guide those who will do research on iconography, stele, sealing art and history of religion.

Keywords

• Gudea
• God
• Iconography
• Depiction.

Gudea Dönemi Tanrılarının İkonografisi

Öz

Gudea, İkinci Ur Hanedanı'nın bir üyesi olarak, güney Mezopotamya’da bulunan Lagaš şehir devletini, Akad İmparatorluğu’nun çöküşü ile Üçüncü Ur Hanedanlığı'nın yükselişi arasındaki dönemde (yaklaşık MÖ. 2144–2124) yönetti. Onun dönemine ait hem yazılı hem arkeolojik zengin materyaller, çeşitli yazıtlar ve bir tanrının tapınağının (yeniden) inşasını kutlamak ya da belirli bir tanrıya bağlılığını bildirmek amacıyla Gudea tarafından ithaf edilen hediyeler olan çeşitli yontulmuş eserlerden oluşmaktadır. Çoğunlukla kültsel bir karaktere sahip olan yazılı korpustaki tasvirlerinden ziyade, bu çalışma steller, kapı levhaları, temel yapısı figürinleri, aslanlı kapılar, taş kaplar, sütun tabanları ve mühürler gibi çeşitli arkeolojik eserler üzerinde temsil edilen ilk bakışta pek belirgin olmadığından, Gudea dönemi sanatındaki tanrıların ikonografilerini incelemektir. İkonografi rolü kültürel değerleri ve dini kavramları ifade etmede oldukça önemli olduğundan ve bu konuda kaleme alınmış pek fazla Türkçe çalışmanın bulunmadığından bu çalışmanın ikonografi, stel, mühür sanatı ve dinler tarihi konularında araştırma yapacaklara yol gösterici olacağı düşünülmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Gudea
• Tanrı
• İkonografi
• Tasvir

Kaynakça

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