Tales of Royalty: Notions of Kingship in Visual and Textual Narration in the Ancient Near East

Book

Tales of Royalty

Notions of Kingship in Visual and Textual Narration in the Ancient Near East

Edited by: Elisabeth Wagner-Durand and Julia Linke

Languages: English, German

Published/Copyright: 2020

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About this book

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.

Author / Editor information

Elisabeth Wagner-Durand, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg, Germany and Julia Linke, Historisches Museum der Pfalz, Speyer, Germany.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Part I: Introduction
Bound by Stories?! Narration as a Strategy of Royal Legitimation: An Introduction Elisabeth Wagner-Durand and Julia Linke Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	1
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 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	19
The Literate King Reconsidered: Self-representation, Wisdom, and Learnedness Nicole Brisch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	49
Response: Das Narrativ vom guten König Frauke Weiershäuser Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	65
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 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	77
Narratives of Building Activities as an Element of Royal Legitimation Claus Ambos Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	91
Response Marlies Heinz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	101
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 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	109
Der Feldzugsbericht in Šū-Sîns Königsinschriften im Vergleich zu Verwaltungsurkunden: Die Grenze zwischen Erzählung und Geschichte im Rahmen der Königsdarstellung Carlos Langa-Morales Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	139
Response: Two Tales of Royalty, Or the Intermediality of Image and Text in the Third millennium BCE Dominik Bonatz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	155
Part V: Case Studies
Strategies of Legitimation of the Aramaean Kings in Ancient Syria: Three Case Studies on Damascus, Hamath and Yādiya/Samʾal Herbert Niehr Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	165
“The True Image of the God…:” Adoration of the King’s Image, Assyrian Imperial Cult and Territorial Control Natalie N. May Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	185
Part VI: Categories and Concepts: Legitimacy and Narration Put to Test
Down with “Legitimacy”: On “Validity” and Narrative in Royal Tales Seth Richardson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	243
Narratology: Selected Terms and Concepts with a Focus on the Ancient Near East Elisabeth Wagner-Durand Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	261
Part VII: Conclusion
Why Study “Narration” in Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology and Assyriology? – Potentials and Limitations Elisabeth Wagner-Durand and Julia Linke Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	289
List of Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	315
Indices Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	319

Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

July 20, 2020

eBook ISBN:

9781501506895

Hardcover published on:

July 20, 2020

Hardcover ISBN:

9781501515552

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Front matter:

9

Main content:

325

Illustrations:

31

Coloured Illustrations:

19

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501506895

eBook ISBN: 9781501506895

Hardcover ISBN: 9781501515552

Keywords for this book

royal legitimation; Mesopotamian kingship; story-telling; Ancient Near East

Audience(s) for this book

Scholars and students of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Assyriology, Archaeology, Material Culture Studies

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Manufacturer information:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Genthiner Straße 13
10785 Berlin
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com

Tales of Royalty

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Topics

Table of contents

Bibliographic data