Rising Moon at Tell eŝ-Ŝerīʿa/Tel Seraʿ: A Neo-Assyrian Bronze Crescent Standard and the Iconography of the Moon God Sîn of Ḫarrān in Southern Levant. Ritual Paraphernalia and Military Insignia?
- Autores: Alessandro Moriconi
- Localización: Ägypten und Levante: Internationale Zeitschrift für ägyptische archäologie und deren nachbargebeite, ISSN 1015-5104, Nº. 28, 2018, págs. 409-418
- Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
Neo-Assyrian influences over southern Levant had been long debated and criticised. During the 8th and 7th centuries BC the veneration of the moon god Sîn of ±arrǎn experienced a remarkable international reputation, possibly linked to the deity’s peculiar status as a protective and legitimating authority for the Neo-Assyrian westward imperialism under the Sargonid kings. As Stratum V at Tel Sera shows a meaningful Neo-Assyrian milieu pertaining architectural and material records, this paper dedicates a closer focus to a very rare bronze crescent standard, one of the three only records thus far known for this special item, which can be considered the threedimensional counterpart to both tasseled and pen- dants-equipped lunar crescent standards portrayed on western royal stelae as well as on glyptic records.
Since the crescent represents a meaningful religious emblem into the Levantine cultural framework during the Iron Age, the aim of this paper is to investigate a specific dimension of the Neo-Assyrian cultural impact over southern Levant, focusing on the symbolism and meaning conveyed by the bronze lunar crescent standard unearthed at Tel Sera, and on its possible use as a ritual paraphernalia and/or military emblem.
