The statuettes commonly referred to as “Ram Caught in a Thicket” (2500 BC) may well be associated... more The statuettes commonly referred to as “Ram Caught in a Thicket” (2500 BC) may well be associated with what is known from later texts (2nd millennium BC) as the (daily) determining-of-the-fates ritual that occurred at sunrise. Symbolic elements (tree, rosette, leaf, possible mountain), and motifs (quadruped facing a tree) occur in other media—glyptic, musical instruments—and their meaning informs the unique com-bination of elements found in these two statuettes. It is proposed that the statuettes are offering stands. The composition as a whole represents a sacred landscape rather than a charming genre scene. It is likely that the statuettes were associated with the daily ritual of the determining of the fates, which would push the later attestations of that ritual and the cosmological view behind it back to the mid-third millennium BC.
The statuettes commonly referred to as “Ram Caught in a Thicket” (2500 BC) may well be associated... more The statuettes commonly referred to as “Ram Caught in a Thicket” (2500 BC) may well be associated with what is known from later texts (2nd millennium BC) as the (daily) determining-of-the-fates ritual that occurred at sunrise. Symbolic elements (tree, rosette, leaf, possible mountain), and motifs (quadruped facing a tree) occur in other media—glyptic, musical instruments—and their meaning informs the unique com-bination of elements found in these two statuettes. It is proposed that the statuettes are offering stands. The composition as a whole represents a sacred landscape rather than a charming genre scene. It is likely that the statuettes were associated with the daily ritual of the determining of the fates, which would push the later attestations of that ritual and the cosmological view behind it back to the mid-third millennium BC.
SARG direct and intentional attacks on heritage places in Syria using airstrikes and artillery co... more SARG direct and intentional attacks on heritage places in Syria using airstrikes and artillery continued with the targeting of a museum (Ma’arat al‐Nu’man) and allegedly areas within Palmyra and Aleppo.
ISIL deliberate destruction at Assur was confirmed using high‐resolution satellite imagery.
YPG advances on Tell Abyad in northern Syria could result in the severing of important ISIL overland routes to Turkey in the Raqqa strategic theater with broad implications for ISIL logistics, command, and criminal revenue streams.
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ISIL deliberate destruction at Assur was confirmed using high‐resolution satellite imagery.
YPG advances on Tell Abyad in northern Syria could result in the severing of important ISIL overland routes to Turkey in the Raqqa strategic theater with broad implications for ISIL logistics, command, and criminal revenue streams.