Persian Sphinxes
by Weston Westmoreland
Title
Persian Sphinxes
Artist
Weston Westmoreland
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Persian Sphinxes. Palace of Darius, Susa, Persian Empire. C. 500 BC.
Detail of the glazed brick sphinxes in one of the friezes of the palace of Darius I in Susa. The relief of enameled, polychrome bricks shows a pair of winged lions with bearded human heads sit facing each other, their heads turned backward, on a blue-green ground. The winged disc of Ahura-Mazda hovers above them. This complex traditional iconography is rendered in a pure Persian style.
Discovered in the north-east corner of the central court of Darius's palace in Susa, unlike friezes of archers or lions, this scene represented a single element in a series of individual panels. It was not set into the wall itself, but rather was applied to some projecting feature (perhaps a pilaster of the same width), and placed in a prominent position, such as in a niche or above a door.
The arrangement of the two scenes facing each other and their regular edge indicate that these were free-standing panels. The eyes of the sphinxes are shown frontally. Both show bull's ears wearing an ear-ring identical to those worn by archers. The cylindrical ceremonial headdress is endowed with three tiers of horns intended to demonstrate the divine nature of the sphinx.
The winged disk was the symbol of Ahura-Mazda, "greatest of the gods," a divine emblem ensuring royal and dynastic authority. This motif was borrowed from Egypt, from where it spread to the Levant and Assyria. It is often found in Syrian reliefs of the second millennium BC, where it is the symbol of the god Assur.
The theme of paired animals, either facing each other or back to back, is three thousand years old. Human-headed animals made their appearance in Early Dynastic reliefs in the form of human-headed bulls, which appear again in the Neo-Sumerian period.
Much later, the imposing guardians of the doors of Assyrian palaces probably served as a model for those of the Gate of All Nations which marks the principal entrance into Persepolis. All wear the divine headdress, and their benevolent expressions confirm their role as beneficent spirits. The serene expressions of the sphinxes here seem to have been inspired by the royal model, conforming to the stereotype established in all the brick reliefs at Susa, and in the later stone reliefs at Persepolis. This face recalls the regular features of Darius as depicted on other monuments, which in turn are indistinguishable from those of his son Xerxes and their successors. The same royal canon, more idealized than realist, was applied to them all as evidence of the greatness of the empire. These sphinxes are thus both guardian deities and an embodiment of the royal person.
The Susa to which this bull belongs was one of the capitals of the Achaemenid Empire. It was constructed at the same time as Persepolis and the favorite capital of king Darius I. The palace was captured and plundered by Alexander the Great in December 330 BC.
Susa, however, had belonged to other empires before and after and has been uninterruptedly inhabited since before 4000 BC. One of the oldest cities in Mesopotamia.
The Achaemenid or First Persian Empire was founded by Cyrus the Great. At the apex of its power it reached from the Balkans to the Indus Valley, and was larger than any previous empire in history.
The Achaemenid Empire incorporated peoples of different origins and faiths. They centralized administration, established an official language, developed civil services and a large professional army and created an imperial road and postal system. The empire's successes inspired similar structures in later empires.
By the 7th century BC, the Persians had settled in Persis, which came to be their heartland. From this region, Cyrus the Great defeated and annexed the Medes, Lydia, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire, establishing the Achaemenid Empire.
Alexander the Great, admirer of Cyrus, conquered most of the empire by 330 BC. Upon Alexander's death, most of the empire's former territory fell under the rule of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Seleucid Empire, in addition to other minor territories which gained independence at that time. The Iranian elites of the central plateau reclaimed power by the second century BC under the Parthian Empire.
The Achaemenid Empire is known in Western history as the arch-enemy of the Greek city-states during the Greco-Persian Wars, and for the emancipation of the Jewish exiles in Babylon. The historical mark of the empire, however, went far beyond its territorial and military influences and included cultural, social, technological and religious influences as well. Despite the lasting conflict between the two states, many Athenians adopted Achaemenid customs in their daily lives, which were later incorporated by the Romans ant the rest of Europe.
More amazing images from Ancient Civilizations at https://weston-westmoreland.pixels.com/collections/ancient+civilizations
More amazing statues, sculptures and carvings at https://weston-westmoreland.pixels.com/collections/statues+sculptures+carvings
Weston Westmoreland
Uploaded
November 14th, 2020
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