Archaeology Magazine - June 1952 - 32

some indebtedness to the more lately favored repoussé
work. It is noteworthy thatthe considerably later painting in Persia (from about the thirteenth century A.D.
onward) progressed from open to closed picture areas
and likewise was a manifestation of miniature art.
of the devices on Luristan bronzes bear
affinities
to the motifs of the more mature civilMany
across
izations
the rivers to the west and north. Perhaps the Lurs borrowed from their neighbors, or perhaps each descended from similar circumstances. Since
the myths of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians are known to us whereas those of the Lurs are not,
there has developed a practice of reading into Luristan
forms the characters of foreign legends. For instance,
the Luristan figure who wears horns on his head and
strangles lions has been called a mergence of Gilgamesh, the hero-king of Uruk, and of the bull-man Endiku. Griffins or eagles are often substituted for lions;
and, minus the horns, the figure may grasp goats or
ibexes. To assign borrowed meaning freely without
good evidence seems undesirable and unnecessary. It
is sufficient that the repetition of motifs in a roughly
similar pattern from piece to piece indicates an established iconography among the Lurs; and the approximate meaning can be deduced from a fairly universal
acceptance of symbolism in which the animal kingdom
serves to reflect the conflicting forces of the universe,
the alternating hegemony of summer and winter, heat
and cold, drought and flpod, associated with the combat of lion and bull, eagle and deer, griffin and ibex,
or of humans acting on behalf of - often wearing the
symbols of- these beasts.
is proposed to discuss an early and a late cast talisIT man, and a repoussé plaque. The first item belongs
to the vertical-axis type, having an irregular outline
(Figure 2). It is 7 13/16 inches high, cast in two
parts, and is elevated art additional 6 7/16 inches upon
a long-necked hollow base (not illustrated, but similar
to that shown in Figure iP), believed to be the original counterpart inasmuch as both superstructure and
base are slightly larger than others that have been examined or published. The pin uniting the assembly is
missing, and two thin bars have been broken on one
side of the upper portion of the bronze.
In common with other talismans of this species,
there is an upright figure whose outstretched arms
grasp a pair of affronted beasts, the curved bodies of
which branch out and upward from the central stem.
There is a strict bilateral symmetry, left to right and
96

front to back, which makes the anthropomorphic characters bifacial. The differences between various examples are in the number of human heads on the axis,
in the quantity and variety of animal parts entering the
composition, and in the stiffness or fluidity of the forms
and the crudity or refinement of details. The simplest
examples seem to represent a hero, having the normal
human attributes and holding at bay quite acceptable
leonine shapes. Others, such as the bronze here illustrated, are polycephalic, and can only be interpreted as
deities, whose supernatural powers are further indicated in terms of composite anatomy and abstractions.
Six published examples share with this talisman multiple heads and a flattened lower portion resembling
somewhat a human torso and somewhat the rump of a
deer. Exaggerated shapes similar to this treatment are
to be seen on ancient Iranian mother-goddesses of clay.
In two of the half-dozen talismans, the tubes that rise
above the flattened shape maintain a fairly constant
diameter, whereas those of the others swell and diminish noticeably. All feature a head at the junction of the
arc projections which terminate in the gaping jaws of
felines, and near their point of contact, hanging downward gargoyle fashion, are pairs of cocks' (?) heads.
On one the heads of tiny goats, facing out, are attached
to the vertical shaft immediately below the birds'
heads; another has whole birds here, another quadrupeds. A single talisman in the Louvre presents the
axial figure with three heads. The bronze pictured in
Figure 2 is the only example I have seen that represents the Super Being with four heads or with two pairs
of arms.
circular
indicate by the open
projections
The jaws and manes of lions that they describe the
blazing sun, which, during the late Persian summer,
scorches the crops and dries up the grazing lands, thus
lion and sun being alike fiery tempered, powerful,
golden in color, and menacing to mankind and flocks.
The cocks' heads are in line with this idea; the crowing
of the rooster proclaims the coming of the sun. The
curve itself suggests a raging, dynamic force.
By contrast, the straight, vertical shaft can be only
a serene, cool, and constant power, the opponent of the
qualities just described. We look for the identification
of this symbol in some personification of the night.
From the multiplicity of choices, no object better fits
the conditions than Polaris, the North Star, the Stationary, around whom revolve all zodiacal creatures of the
firmament. How awe-inspiring this fixed phenomenon
must have appeared to the ancient Lur herdsmen, and
ARCHAEOLOGY

Archaeology Magazine - June 1952

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - June 1952