Phenomenology of Garden in Assyrian Documents and Reliefs; Concepts and Types

Document Type : Research Article

Author

Ph.D. in Architecture, Assistant professor, Shiraz University of Arts, Fars, Iran.

Abstract

Problem: The Assyrian reliefs, especially the Neo-Assyrian, in addition to "historical narratives," have a long tradition in "representing the natural environment." On the other hand, Assyrian dipole ontology based on the "center/periphery" and "order/chaos" dichotomy has been influential in their naturalistic way of life and has shaped their aesthetic understanding. However, the role of these in shaping the garden as a third nature is a major issue in the Assyrian documents and reliefs, which has been considered less as an independent research, and no model has been presented.Goals: The purpose of this paper is to identify the key factors affecting the formation of gardens in the Neo-Assyrians and their typology and modeling their view of the garden and its various functions based on the analysis of research texts and surviving reliefs.
Research method: This research based on a qualitative method in a critical and inferential approach and with an explicit reading of the phenomenology of the garden in the lands of Neo-Assyrians. The "triangulation of data" has been used to achieve theoretical saturation.
Conclusion: The results show that gardens with the Assyrians are manifestations of the "microcosm" and include a spectrum of recreational-dramatic functions, including occasional, even ecological and economic ones. The typology proposed in this paper based on the location-operation of (a) gardens and parks in the urban landscape, and (b) gardens and parks of the urban fringe. The conceptual model, show that by moving away from downtown and decreasing gardens ritual and religious values, geometric and regular design changes to a free (natural) approaches landscape planningThe change in the paradigm of garden design based on the change of the garden from "Kirū" to "Kirimāhu" means the succession of dramatic gardens (fun and pleasure) instead of functional gardens (botanical) at the time of Sargon II (late 8th century BC), and this is The golden age in the Assyrian gardens, the elements of the dramatic art such as artificial lakes, Bitānu, and Aqueducts were added to the gardens and hanging and stepped gardens were flourishing.

Keywords

References

Albenda, P. (1974). Grapevines in Ashurbanipal’s Garden. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, (215): 5-17.
Albenda, P. (1976). Landscape Bas-Reliefs in the Bīt-Ḫilāni of Ashurbanipal. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, (224): 49-72.
Albenda, P. (2008). Assyrian Royal Hunts: Antlered and Horned Animals from Distant Lands. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, (349): 61-78.
Amrhein, A. (2015). Neo-Assyrian gardens: a spectrum of artificiality, sacrality and accessibility. Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes, (35): 91-114.
Carolyn, N. (2004). Dedicating Magic: Neo-Assyrian Apotropaic Figurines and the Protection of Assur. World Archaeology, 36, 11-25.
Collins, P. (2004). The Symbolic Landscape Of Ashurbanipal. Notes in the History of Art, (23): 1-6.
Collins, P. (2006). Trees and Gender in Assyrian Art. Iraq, (68): 99-107.
Collins, P. (2009). An Ivory Fan Handle from Nimrud. Metropolitan Museum Journal, 44, 9-20.
Dalley, S. (1991). Ancient Assyrian Textiles and the Origins of Carpet Design. Iran, (29): 117-135.
Dalley, S. (1993). Ancient Mesopotamian Gardens and the Identification of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon Resolved. Garden History, (21): 1-13.
Dalley, S. (1994).Nineveh, Babylon and the Hanging Gardens: Cuneiform and Classical Sources Reconciled. Iraq, (56): 45-58.
Dick, M. B. (2006). The Neo-Assyrian Royal Lion Hunt and Yahweh’s Answer to Job. Journal of Biblical Literature, (125): 243-270.
Foster, K. P. (2004). The Hanging Gardens of Nineveh. Iraq, (66): 207-220.
Gerardi, P. (1988). Epigraphs and Assyrian Palace Reliefs: The Development of the Epigraphic Text. Journal of Cuneiform Studies, (40): 1-35.
Hunt, A. M. W. (2015). Power and Prestige: The Neo-Assyrian Imperial Landscape. Palace Ware Across the Neo-Assyrian Imperial Landscape; Social Value and Semiotic Meaning. Leiden: Brill.
Jacoby, R. (1991). The Representation and Identification of Cities on Assyrian Reliefs. Israel Exploration Journal, (41): 112-131.
Luckenbill, D. D. (1927). Ancient records of assyria and babylonia, The University of Chicago Press.
Melville, S. C. (2016). The Role of Rituals in Warfare during the Neo-Assyrian Period. Religion Compass, (10): 219-229.
Oppenheim, A. L. (1965). On Royal Gardens in Mesopotamia. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, (24): 328-333.
Reade, J. (1978a). Studies in assyrian geography (suite). Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale, (72): 157-180.
Reade, J. (1978b). Studies In Assyrian Geography: Part I : Sennacherib And The Waters Of Nineveh. Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale, (72): 47-72.
Russell, J. M. (1998). The Program of the Palace of Assurnasirpal II at Nimrud: Issues in the Research and Presentation of Assyrian Art. American Journal of Archaeology, (102): 655-715.
Stevenson, D. W. W. (1992). A Proposal for the Irrigation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Iraq, (54): 35-55.
Thomason, A. K. (2001). Representations of the North Syrian Landscape in Neo-Assyrian Art. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, (323): 63-96.
Thomason, A. K. (2016). The Sense-scapes of Neo-Assyrian Capital Cities: Royal Authority and Bodily Experience. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, (26): 243-264.
Turner, T. (2017a). The design of Assyrian parks and gardens [Online]. Available: http://www.gardenvisit.com/history_theory/library_online_ebooks/ml_gothein_history_garden_art_design/hunting_assyrian_parks_gardens [Accessed 2/25/2017].
Turner, T. (2017b). Flowers in Assyrian gardens. Available from: http://www.gardenvisit.com/history_theory/library_online_ebooks/ml_gothein_history_garden_art_design/flowers_assyrian_gardens Accessed 2/25/2017].
Walker, D. A. (1888). The Assyrian King, Ašurbanipal. II. The Old Testament Student, (8): 96-101.
Wilkinson, C. K. (1955). Assyrian and Persian Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, (13): 213-224.
Wiseman, D. J. (1983). Mesopotamian Gardens. Anatolian Studies, (33): 137-144
The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar
Volume 15, Issue 60
June 2018
Pages 51-62

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics