May 2024 | BIPS Student Travel Grant
Displaying Empire: Imperial Approaches to Power and Identity in Persia and the Near East
Summary of topic
The thesis aims to answer the question ‘how and in what way did Near Eastern dynasties display imperial authority and power.’ Through the analysis and interpretation of the iconographic material, common themes can be drawn out, thus suggesting there is a ‘DNA’ to dynasty and its display. In this way, the thesis will create a blueprint for the display of authority and power in the ancient Near Eastern world through the comparison three main civilisations, namely 19th Dynasty Egypt, Neo-Assyria and Achaemenid Persia. Furthermore, this thesis will discuss how display informs us about norms of power and dynasty, the societal understanding of these concepts and how they are reflected in displays. Each chapter will involve an analysis of ancient displays in each society discussed, drawing upon supporting textual evidence in the interpretation. The chapters focus on ‘family’, ‘display (tributes and banqueting)’ and ‘martial prowess’.
Report:
The travel grant offered by the British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS) was used to enable me to conduct research at the British Library over the course of 3 days. Due to the recent cyber-attack on the library, the trip required a trip of this length to acquire a reader’s card and access the materials as they cannot currently be pre-ordered. My research during this stay focused on the use of materials otherwise unavailable at my institution and exploring the browsing shelves within the reading rooms, specifically Humanities 1 and 2. During the visit, I was able to access several resources from the collection including: Smith, C.H. 1904. A Catalogue of Casts of Sculptures from Persepolis and the Neighbourhood, Culican, W. 1965. The Medes and Persians, Myers. P.V.N. 1875. Remains of Lost Empires: Sketches of The Ruins of Palmyra, Nineveh, Babylon and Persepolis, with some notes on India and the Cashmerian Himalays and Briant. P. translated by Kuhrt. A. 2017. Kings, Countries, Peoples: Selected Studies on the Achaemenid Empire. I found these using the searchable online catalogue prior to my visit, in order to speed up the process when on site. This range of sources allowed for an investigation into iconographic representations of ‘dynasty’ from around the Achaemenid Persian Empire.
A plate from Smith, C.H. 1904. A Catalogue of Casts of Sculptures from Persepolis and the Neighbourhood
The research completed at the library supplemented my iconographic database with examples from Achaemenid Persia. One example discussed in Briant’s chapter on Achaemenid Egypt was the Chalouf Stela which demonstrates a level of acculturation between Achaemenid and Egyptian cultures through the hieroglyphic and trilingual cuneiform inscriptions. This offers direct comparisons between the two art styles as the stela articulates the same motif in both iconographic languages through the depiction of royal figures with a winged disk. This is one example of how this research trip has contributed to my thesis by supplying further examples of iconography in the official display of dynastic power and authority. Furthermore, the catalogue of the British Museum’s casts of sculptures from Persepolis provided photographs and information regarding the collection in 1904, including an example of a depiction of a winged figure that I have otherwise been unable to access. Previously, this figure has been identified with Cyrus, however as this breaks away from the traditional displays of a king through the addition of wings to suggest an affinity with a divine figure, this interpretation requires further investigation. Beyond this, accessing Culican’s volume provided examples of detailed line drawings and their use in iconographic analysis. This has aided in my confidence with my approach to line drawings as a tool of analysis, as well as the format in which I am presenting the evidence alongside the text. Whilst it was beneficial to access Myers’ volume, published in the late 19th century, it is important to note that this was primarily to access the sketches of Persepolis, Nineveh and Babylon. These focused on the landscapes of these sites as opposed to the iconographic material and thus proved to be of less use than the other books accessed over the course of this trip.
The research conducted on this trip has provided valuable material for my PhD thesis and enabled further lines of research. Furthermore, the trip has enabled me to find further materials outside of the British Library through references and discussion with members of staff. Whilst this was a successful trip, some materials were inaccessible during my visit due to being held off site or the time required for their acquisition from storage. Therefore, on a future research trip to London that will primarily focus on the British Museum libraries, time will be set aside to access manuscripts including site plans and sketches from excavations at Persepolis and Nineveh from the British Library in the Manuscripts study room. I look forward to applying the information acquired on this trip in my future research.
I would once again like to thank BIPS for their support and generosity in this research trip.
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Clare Parry is a PhD student at Cardiff University.