produced a new style, one that we might define as Graeco-Babylonian. One such
example is the statue of a woman in the British Museum (Figure 10. 7 ).
The alabaster statue was excavated at Borsippa, near Babylon, by the Iraqi
archaeologist, Hormuz Rassam. It is a figure of a woman, dressed in a pleated garment
and a shawl. She holds her right hand at her breast and with her left hand, she pulls
at the shawl that is placed diagonally across her body. The sculpture is made out of
alabaster, but the eyes are hollowed to receive an inlay and dark pigment gives
emphasis to the rims of the eyes. This use of pigment and inlay is an ancient local
tradition, as is the preference for a female ideal with full cheeks, large eyes, and a
small mouth. There are traces of pigment elsewhere on the statue, and the rim of
the cloak and the crescent shaped ornament she wears around her neck are added in
plaster. The sculpture of a woman is very much in the tradition of Hellenistic portrait
sculpture of the third–second centuries BC. The garments she wears are identifiable
as the Greek chiton and himation. The manner in which she wears the garments and
holds the cloak out to the side is also known from Greek sculpture of the west. How-
ever, the nipples and navel are perforated into the dress, an aspect that would have
been unacceptable in a Greek counterpart in the west. The crescent-shaped ornament
around her neck is an emblem of the moon god, Sin, and may indicate that this was
a priestess; however, at this time the crescent ornament is also the emblem of the
Greek goddess, Artemis. These details, as well as the treatment of the eyes, the use
of pigment and plaster, are all local translations of a portrait type that is typically
Hellenistic, indicating that Greek styles and techniques were readily mixed with the
local traditions. The Graeco-Babylonian image continued to be produced under the
Parthian rulers of Mesopotamia in the following centuries, but was gradually trans-
formed in both its distinctive forms and functions after that time.
REFERENCESBahrani, Z. ( 1995 ) ‘Assault and Abduction: the Fate of the Royal Image in the Ancient Near East’
Art History 18 ( 3 ), 363 – 382.
–––– ( 2001 )Women of Babylon: Gender and Representation in Mesopotamia, London: Routledge.
–––– ( 2002 ) ‘Performativity and the Image: Narrative, Representation and the Uruk vase’ in
Leaving No Stone Unturned: Studies in Honor of Donald P. Hansen, E. Ehrenberg ed. Winona lake:
Eisenbrauns, 15 – 22.
–––– ( 2003 ) The Graven Image: Representation in Babylonia and Assyria, Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press.
–––– ( 2008 ) Rituals of War: The Body and Violence in Mesopotamia, New York: Zone Books.
Bottéro, Jean ( 1992 ) Mesopotamia, Writing, Reasoning and the Gods, trans. Z. Bahrani and M. Van
De Mieroop, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Brinkman, J.A. ( 1980 – 1983 ) ‘Kudurru: philologisch’ Reallexikon der Assyriologie 6 Band, Berlin
Walter de Gruyter, 268 – 274.
CAD:The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, vol. 8 , M.Civil, I.J. Gelb, A.L. Oppenheim and E. Reiner
eds. Oriental Institute, The University of Chicago, 1971.
Ellis, Richard ( 1968 ) Foundation Deposits in Ancient Mesopotamia, Yale Near Eastern Researches 2 ,
New Haven, CT.
Foster, B. ( 1993 ) Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature, Bethesda, MD: CDL Press.
Frame, Grant ( 1995 ) The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia Babylonian Periods, vol. 2 : Rulers of Babylonia
from the Second Dynasty of Isin to the End of Assyrian Domination ( 1157 – 612 BC), Toronto: University
of Toronto Press.
— The Babylonian visual image —