Tales of royalty : notions of kingship in visual and textual narration in the ancient Near East / edited by Elisabeth Wagner-Durand and Julia Linke.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Wagner-Durand, Elisabeth, 1980- editor.

Linke, Julia, editor.

George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Middle East--History.

Middle East.

Legitimacy of governments--Middle East.

Legitimacy of governments.

Middle East--Kings and rulers.

Kings and rulers.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

ix, 325 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Boston : Walter de Gruyter Inc., [2020]

Summary:

The volume sheds light on Ancient Near Eastern kingship by focusing on its constant urge for legitimation. Thus, it highlights specific aspects like royal building activities, warfare and wisdom and frames these into material and textual expressions that take the powerful form of narratives. The contributions made in this volume look for specific topoi of kingship and examine which shapes they took and why. The publication determines which narrative topoi have once been selected to legitimize kingship, which media have been chosen to transmit these narratives, and what kind of narrative strategies have been applied. To consider both, texts and images, in the same margin, the book is based on a dual approach: referring to certain narrative themes both philological and archaeological material will be presented. By joining diverse perspectives of scholars of material culture and texts and their various approaches the publication promises new and special insight into the connection of narration and legitimation in Mesopotamia. It reflects Ancient Near Eastern kingship and its narrative strategies from a interdisciplinary and transmedial point of view and gives new insights into the matter of royal legitimation.

Contents:

PART I: INTRODUCTION Bound by Stories?! Narration as a Strategy of Royal Legitimation: An Introduction / Elisabeth Wagner-Durand, Julia Linke

PART II: THE RIGHTEOUS GUIDED KING: TALES OF THE WISE, THE PIOUS, AND THE LAWFUL ONE "Pious Shepherd" and "Guardian of Truth": In Search of the Narrative Visualization of the Kings' Piety and Righteousness / Elisabeth Wagner-Durand

The Literate King Reconsidered: Self-representation, Wisdom, and Learnedness / Nicole Brisch

Response: Das Narrativ vom guten König / Frauke Weiershäuser

PART III: TELL ME HOW TO LIVE

NARRATING ROYAL BUILDING ACTIVITIES IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST Building, Arts, and Politics: Narrative Elements in the Depiction of "Building Kings" / Julia Linke

Narratives of Building Activities as an Element of Royal Legitimation / Claus Ambos

Response / Marlies Heinz

PART IV: WARRIOR TALES: THE ROYAL HERO IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST Kings or Soldiers? Representations of Fighting Heroes at the End of the Early Bronze Age / Barbara Couturaud

Der Feldzugsbericht in Šū-Sîns Königsinschriften im Vergleich zu Verwaltungsurkunden: Die Grenze zwischen Erzählung und Geschichte im Rahmen der Königsdarstellung / Carlos Langa-Morales

Response: Two Tales of Royalty, Or the Intermediality of Image and Text in the Third millennium BCE / Dominik Bonatz

PART V: CASE STUDIES Strategies of Legitimation of the Aramaean Kings in Ancient Syria: Three Case Studies on Damascus, Hamath and Yādiya/Sam'al / Herbert Niehr

"The True Image of the God...:" Adoration of the King's Image, Assyrian Imperial Cult and Territorial Control / Natalie N. May

PART VI: CATEGORIES AND CONCEPTS: LEGITIMACY AND NARRATION PUT TO TEST Down with "Legitimacy": On "Validity" and Narrative in Royal Tales / Seth Richardson

Narratology: Selected Terms and Concepts with a Focus on the Ancient Near East / Elisabeth Wagner-Durand

PART VII: CONCLUSION Why Study "Narration" in Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology and Assyriology?

Potentials and Limitations / Elisabeth Wagner-Durand, Julia Linke.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

ISBN:

9781501515552

1501515551

OCLC:

1028908363