The Finds of Hasanlu - The Art of the Manneans(Part 2.)

The organization of the victory procession reflects the Assyrian style of rhythmically ordered strips illustrating battle scenes, especially as created by the artists of Ashurnasirpal II [883-859 B.C.]. [3] Several features of the chariot on the beaker can be paralleled in Ashurnasirpal�s reliefs: the heavy body of the chariot to which crossed quivers are attached on the side, the form and proportion of the wheel, even the bird's head in which the chariot pole ends. The fact that the body of the chariot here rests directly upon the axle, not in front of it, may be due of the artist's quest for symmetry.

In the hunting reliefs of Ashurnasirpal II, the king is occasionally shown shooting backwards with bow and arrow--a remarkable physical feat in a rapidly moving chariot without springs. In battle reliefs the Assyrian king is never shown in this position, probably because such a representation offended the Assyrian sense of realism. There can be found parallels in the Assyrian reliefs for the enemy who raises a hand in supplication and also for one hanging over the chariot wheel, [4] but not for the prisoner walking calmly behind the chariot and represented in a more dignified manner than are similar captives in Assyrian reliefs. Whether this representation on the silver beaker is purposeful or accidental cannot be decided here. The detail is one of many which differentiate the beaker of Hasanlu from Assyrian prototypes. The most characteristic features of the figures of the Hasanlu beaker are the straight hair tied with a band or diadem [except for the charioteer who wears a pointed helmet] and the straight beard, in contrast to the curly hair and beard of the Assyrians. Further characteristics of the figures of the Hasanlu beaker are the low receding forehead, strongly accentuated noses, large circular eyes and the rich decoration of the clothes. The outlines of the animals are marked on the inside with a series of concentric arches similar to those which indicate some of the joints of the figures on the gold bowl. The rest of the animal body is here indicated by hatching in irregular strips. Despite its crude exaggeration the decoration of the animal bodies is reminiscent of that on the gold bowl. Moreover, one can note in both bowl and beaker a related intensity of expression. Although the beaker belongs to a period which is two hundred years later, and has incorporated Assyrian [p. 114] influence in theme and composition, the liveliness of the representation, which is the most attractive trait of this metal art, has been retained.

It is not impossible that we may be able to associate with the style of the beaker a group of objects of a different nature also found at Hasanlu: large iron garment pins which end in bronze lions. Their use was determined only through their association in groups of one to three with individual bodies in the columned hall of Building II. The fragmentary lion reproduced below in our Plate 29 was purchased during the first season of the excavation, but had certainly been found at Hasanlu. It shows the thin ruff and tufts of hair on the mane also found on the lion represented on the silver beaker from Hasanlu. One might even point to the fact that the bronze lion's legs and body are marked by patterns of hatched lines also used on animals of the beaker, though none have the same regular herring-bone pattern. The tendency toward geometrization noticeable in Iranian art of the tenth to ninth centuries B.C., as seen for example in some of the Elamite tiles assigned to the same period, and also in seals and bronzes of Luristan, again manifests itself here but in a different, local conditioned manner.

Closer connection between objects made and used at Hasanlu and the style of Elam in south-western Iran may be manifested in a glazed square wall-tile which has the bearded head of a human-headed bull in place of a plain knob. Both parts of the tile were fashioned separately, and then joined together before glazing and firing. The head is separated from the tile by a ridge which forms a kind of collar. The head is hollow, allowing the piece to fit over a wooden peg driven into the wall. Once in this position, the tile was fastened by a much smaller peg driven through a hole in the side just below the ridge. The colours now visible in the head are red, blue-green and black, but of course they were modified by fire during the destruction of the town.

This wall-tile represents a combination of the glazed wall-tiles of Assyrian palaces and their protective human-headed bulls, which were placed at the main entrances. [5] In none of the Assyrian palaces, however, has a similar combination of tile and plastically sculptured human-headed bull been found. One can only refer to a comparable tile found in the Ishtar Temple at Ashur, which bears a sculptured calf's head. [6] On the other hand the shape of the horns, the thick nose, the beard which is not too long, all relate to a terracotta head from Susa. [7] Since the use of glazed wall-tiles probably came into fashion at Susa, the head from Hasanlu may be traceable to Elamite influence. Other tiles from Hasanlu, however, which show stylized lotus and palmette designs and other Assyrianizing patterns, are surely imitations of Assyrian prototypes.

An object for which no foreign parallels can be cited is a knife-handle with gold cloisonné found in the excavation of Building II. The gold outlines describe a [p. 116] bearded man with shoulder-length hair and short-fringed kilt. His right hand is raised in a gesture of greeting or worship. From the wrist of the left hand, which is brought around the body, hangs a scarf or cloth. As on the prehistoric knife-handle from Tepe Sialk, a human figure seems to be represented in a posture of reverence. In both instances one may guess at the ritual use of the knife without being able to give any proof. Earlier cloisonné works are unknown in Iran, although the small falcon from Susa was produced in a related technique. The execution of the knife-handle of Hasanlu, however, is not careful enough to indicate a beginning of cloisonné technique. Rather, one would think that an already established technique was here applied cursorily and somewhat awkwardly. The Hasanlu knife-handle and later cloisonné work from Ziwiye [8] indicate the path which this technique took from its point of departure somewhere in Iran toward the north. From there it may have spread to the northeast, to reappear a few centuries later in more elegant form in the magnificent armlets of the Oxus Treasure. The reason for the rarity of cloisonné objects is surely their precious material. Originally this colourful technique must have been widely distributed in Iran and the neighbouring countries.

Some of the finest metal-work discovered at Hasanlu is preserved in the form of rhyta. The Greek word rhyton is derived from the running of liquid; it actually refers only to a vessel from which a thin stream of liquid issues. Usually the word is used, however, for drinking-vessels the lower part of which is formed by an animal head that often, but not always, has an opening between the lips from which the liquid can flow. The bronze vessel from Hasanlu in the form of a ram�s head has no such opening and should therefore better be called a cup or situla in the form of a ram�s head, like the closely related situlae from Gordion. [9] All these situlae have a separate cup to hold the liquid placed within the animals head. In a second example, a bronze horse�s-head rhyton, no cup has been preserved, nor is there a spout between the lips. Both vessels, like the earlier drinking-horns from which they descend, would have had to be carried by cup-bearers, since they have no base on which to stand.

In the situla representing a ram the eyes are inlaid with an opaque blue substance, as were the eyebrows, and probably also the nostrils. [10] Below the rim there is a silver band with a pattern in repoussé of gazelles and rosettes. The horns were originally covered with silver, as is shown by tiny pieces still preserved. These different materials would have created a fairly colourful impression, as suggested in the reconstruction in our plate.

In the horse rhyton no traces of another material have been found. This object may have been meant to impress by it noble, naturalistic outline rather than by any effects of contrasting colours. The indication of the mane by undulating strands of hair reminds one in more naturalistic form of horses on Urartian bronze psalia found in a grave at Altin Tepe near Erzincan. [11] The mane, which is combed onto the neck, and which forms a semicircle on the forehead, seems to be characteristic of Urartian horses as well as of the horse rhyton from Hasanlu. It is also visible on a somewhat later horse from the Urartian fortress Taishebaini at Karmir Blur in Russian Armenia. [12] The Urartian horse is much more stylized than the softer naturalistic horse rhyton of Hasanlu.

A lively representation of animals in relief, more precisely of one preserved animal in relief, is found on the fragment of a vase made from a composite blue substance identical with or very similar to the inlays on the ram's-head rhyton already described. The rampant goat seen on the fragment is one of a pair [p. 118] flanking a central palmette-tree. The second goat is represented only by a fore and a hind leg. A winged figure may be indicated by the border of a wing on the upper left edge of the fragment.

Like all objects from Hasanlu, this one also has its own character, although connections with Assyrian representations are obvious. The closest similar motifs are found on the painted pottery from Ashur. In the Assyrian representations, however, natural trees which grow on mountains are clearly differentiated from palmette-trees, which seem to be artificial structures and do not issue from a mountain. Here, on the fragment from Hasanlu, the palmette-tree grows from a mountain which is indicated by the scale pattern below. Furthermore, the moufflons or ibexes of the Assyrian representations usually do not touch the tree; if they do so, they only place one leg on the tree. On the Hasanlu fragment, however, the animal places the three legs which are preserved upon the branches of the palmette-tree. In fact the branches almost seem to bend under the weight of the goat and remind one of goats eating the leaves of trees, as they may be observed doing today in Iran. It is instructive to compare the representation from Hasanlu with the repoussé gold plate from Ziwiye, where there is also an ibex next to a tree. The ibex from Ziwiye does not even touch the tree--indeed, does not seem connected with it--while this connection is made very clear on the Hasanlu fragment. Again one is struck by the liveliness of the expression in this and in the other works of Hasanlu discussed here. This liveliness seems to be a criterion of the style of this region during the end of the second and beginning of the first millennium B .C. Whether, as suggested by the find of a beaker from Marlik with similar lively, factual renderings of animals, the style extended considerably beyond Hasanlu, through northern Iran, is not yet certain.