Cheryl Hart PhD Candidate

Rosette Types

Photos: Cheryl Hart

Iconography: Meaning of works of art Non-verbal communication Visual Images: Cognitive influence Memorialise remembrance Semiotic Theory: Emphasis on form of image Meaning based on image as visual

symbol

Theoretical Perspective

Case Study: The Rosette

Motif & Solar Symbolism

Hittite Seal Impression depicting Solar Motif

(Image: Macqueen 1996: Fig. 85b)

Solar Mythology:

Generally relates to an association between the

daily transit of sun through the heavens and a

cycle of birth, death & rebirth

Supremacy of Sun: ‘The emblem of the creative spirit that

permeates the whole world’

(Naydler 1996:2)

‘Solar symbolism carried a significant

meaning…indicated by the contexts &

associations of its appearances’ (Goodison 1989:1)

Iconographic Representations of the Sun in the Ancient World:

‘It needs to be ascertained…what can

reasonably be taken as an intentional representation of the sun’ (Goodison 1989: 1)

Image: Adapted from Goodison 1989: Fig. 14

The Rosette Motif as a Symbolic Representation of the Sun in the Ancient

World: ‘It needs to be ascertained whether it is

reasonable to accept the rosette motif, in some contexts, as intentionally being used to represent the sun’ (Hart 2014)

Image: Adapted from Goodison 1989: Fig. 14

Rameses II - ‘Son of Re’ – standing before the god.

Karnak Temple (Photo: Cheryl Hart)

Image of Louis XIV as Sun-King. Palace of Versailles

(Image: http://www.louis-xiv.de)

Kings & Solar Associations

Diadem belonging to one of wives of Tuthmose IV

MMA Inv. 26.8.99

Diadem of Queen Puabi. Found in Royal Grave at Ur. (Photo: Cheryl Hart)

Royal Regalia & Solar Symbolism

Diadem on statue of Princess Nofret Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Inv. CG4

Crown worn by Ashurbanipal on relief from Palace at Nineveh.

British Museum Inv. WA124867-8 (Photo: Cheryl Hart)

Royal Regalia & Solar Symbolism

Attendant carrying royal sceptre NW Palace of Assurnasirpal II at Nimrud

British Museum WA118928 (Photo: Cheryl Hart)

Rosette Wristbands Detail of relief from NW Palace of

Assurnasirpal II at Nimrud British Museum WA124567-8

(Photo: Cheryl Hart)

Royal Regalia & Solar Symbolism

Detail of relief from Palace of Sargon II, Khorsabad

British Museum Inv. 118822 (Photo: C. Hart)

Royal Regalia & Solar Symbolism

Sandal from Tomb of Tutankhamun Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Solar beliefs rested predominantly on: Justice Cosmic harmony Duality between day &

night / light & dark Supremacy of Order

versus Chaos

Solar Beliefs: Mesopotamia

Symbolic regeneration of time

Dramatic ritual in which king ‘re-actualised’ great cosmogenic moment

Ensured order of both cosmos and human society

New Year Festivals

New Year Festival: Babylon

New Year Festival: Persepolis

Cosmic Mountains: Gateways of the Gods

Rise of cosmic mountains from the primordial waters

(Image: http://abyss.uoregon.edu)

Cylinder seal impression depicting Sun-god Shamash rising up from the cosmic

mountain and through the gates of heaven.

British Museum Inv. 89110

Temple of Ashur (Assur)

Site plan of Ashur

Modern view of remains of ancient city of Ashur

Gate Guardians of the Sun-God

Cylinder seal impression of Guardians at gateway of Sun-God as he passed from

‘interior of heaven’ to living world

The Rosette ,Winged Sun-disc & Bison-Men as Aspects of Solar Symbolism

Orthostat from Palace at Tell Halaf (Image: Frankfort 1963: Plate 147)

In Near Eastern solar beliefs, Bison-Men, were regarded as guardians of gate used by sun-god passing from ‘interior of heaven’ to world each morning (Huxley 2000: 120)

The Rosette as a Solar Symbol in Egyptian Ceiling Frescoes: Tombs

19th Dynasty tomb recently discovered at Luxor.

Fresco in situ

Facsimile painting of Ceiling Fresco from tomb at Qurna, Thebes

MMA, New York Inv. 30.4.113

Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam Inv. 8103

(Photo: Cheryl Hart)

The Rosette as a Solar Symbol in Egyptian Ceiling Frescoes: Tombs

Tomb Reconstruction TT338 From Deir el-Medina.

Late 18th Dynasty Museo Egizio, Turin Inv. S.7919

(Photo: Cheryl Hart)

Facsimile of Ceiling Fresco from Tomb of Neferhotep at Thebes.

Liverpool World Museum Inv. 51.65.2

(Image: Bienkowski & Tooley 1995: Fig. 31)

The Rosette as a Solar Symbol in Egyptian Ceiling Frescoes: Palaces

Ceiling Fresco from Palace of Amenhotep III,

Malqata - ‘Palace of the Dazzling Sun-

Disc’. MMA, New York Inv. 11.215.451

Ceiling Fresco: ?Cosmic Symbolism

Ceiling in Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahari

(Photo: Cheryl Hart)

The Rosette as a Solar Symbol in Aegean Reliefs & Frescoes

Decorative Ceiling Relief c1600-1400 BC

Herakleion Archaeology Museum (Image: Sakellarakis 1985)

Wall Fresco from Palace at Tiryns Thirteenth Century BC

Archaeological Museum of Nauplion (Photo: Cheryl Hart)

The Rosette as a possible Solar Symbol in Aegean Material Culture?

Pithos (& detail) from Pseira, Crete

Herakleion Archaeology Museum (Image: Alexiou 1968)

The Rosette as a Solar Symbol in Minoan Material Culture

Rock-crystal rosette from Palace of

Knossos c1600 BC Herakleion

Archaeology Museum

(Photo: Cheryl Hart)

The Rosette as a Solar Symbol at Palace of Knossos

‘Throne Room’ at Palace of Knossos

The Rosette as a Representation of the Sun within the Near Eastern Winged Sun-Disc:

Architectural Elements

Hittite Funerary Stele (Photo: Cheryl Hart)

Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin Inv. 2708

(Photo: Cheryl Hart)

Orthostats at entrance to Syro-Hittite Palace at Sakjegözü, Northern Syria.

800-700 BC (Amiet et al 1981; Frankfort 1963)

The Rosette as a Representation of the Sun within the Near Eastern Winged Sun-Disc:

Architectural Elements

The Rosette as a Representation of the Sun within the Near Eastern Winged Sun-Disc:

Architectural Elements

Detail from ‘Black Obelisk’ of Shalmaneser III.

c827 BC British Museum Inv. ME118885

The Rosette as a Representation of the Sun in Association with Lunar Symbolism

Old Babylonian Terracotta Plaque California Museum of Ancient Art

Modern Impression from Syrian Cylinder Seal (Image: Frankfort 1939: Plate XLVf)

Gold Ring from the Palace of Tiryns. NAM, Athens Inv. 6208

(Image: Aruz et al 2008: Fig. 45)

Cosmology of myth = portrayal of ‘inner psychic world’

Renewal rituals = reconstitutive process in psyche

Through myth, people attempted to make sense of the world

Cosmological Mythology & Cognitive Thought:

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Photo: Cheryl Hart

Perception of light and darkness

Relationship between sun & moon

Sacred marriage = union of eternity & time

Cosmological Mythology & Cognitive Thought:

Image: http://faniatiffani.tumblr.com/

Thank you for your attention