DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61301#0076
STUDIES IN GREEK ART.
5θ
Assyria has left us we have chosen this piece of stony
vesture we shall see later; for the present we must con-
sider in detail the devices with which this robe is so
curiously decorated. If we succeed in grasping ade-
quately their meaning, and the principle of their grouping,
we shall have a firm hold on at least some of the leading
motives which prompt and govern Assyrio-Chaldaean
thought and art.
Let us look first at the medallion which forms a sort
of centre to the design. Within the circle are two male
figures standing on either side of a tree-like object.
Above it hovers a sort of disk with wings and feathered
tail. We stand at once in the presence of Assyria’s
greatest god, Assour : this winged disk is his constant
symbol. The full form of the symbol is a winged disk,
containing a small human figure with the tail of a bird
grasping in his hand a bow.
We have to notice about the gods of Chaldaeo-
Assyria, as in Egypt and in all early religions, that the
power of a particular god rises and falls with the
fluctuations of the special locality where he is worshipped.
As in Egypt, with Memphis, Ptah is supreme, with
Thebes Amun, so, in Chaldaeo-Assyria, Nebo and
Merodach for Babylon, Assour for Nineveh. The god
of course is the outcome of the national character. The
Assyrians were a fierce and warlike people ; Assour is
the lord of war; in his name the blood of conquered
5θ
Assyria has left us we have chosen this piece of stony
vesture we shall see later; for the present we must con-
sider in detail the devices with which this robe is so
curiously decorated. If we succeed in grasping ade-
quately their meaning, and the principle of their grouping,
we shall have a firm hold on at least some of the leading
motives which prompt and govern Assyrio-Chaldaean
thought and art.
Let us look first at the medallion which forms a sort
of centre to the design. Within the circle are two male
figures standing on either side of a tree-like object.
Above it hovers a sort of disk with wings and feathered
tail. We stand at once in the presence of Assyria’s
greatest god, Assour : this winged disk is his constant
symbol. The full form of the symbol is a winged disk,
containing a small human figure with the tail of a bird
grasping in his hand a bow.
We have to notice about the gods of Chaldaeo-
Assyria, as in Egypt and in all early religions, that the
power of a particular god rises and falls with the
fluctuations of the special locality where he is worshipped.
As in Egypt, with Memphis, Ptah is supreme, with
Thebes Amun, so, in Chaldaeo-Assyria, Nebo and
Merodach for Babylon, Assour for Nineveh. The god
of course is the outcome of the national character. The
Assyrians were a fierce and warlike people ; Assour is
the lord of war; in his name the blood of conquered