Who Is The Queen of the Night?

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Now, that's what I call an artefact! A mysterious goddess depicted in high relief on a clay plaque, her taloned feet resting on the backs of two lions and flanked by two owls. With long wings falling from her shoulders, she wears a horned headdress and carries a rod and ring in each hand. She looks either imperious or amused, but either way, it's pretty safe to say you shouldn't mess with her. That's how I like my goddesses to look.

The Queen of the Night hails from ancient Mesopotamia, and has been dated to the reign of Hammurabi, ruler of Babylon from 1792 to 1750 BC. Such unusually precise dating was aided by the similarity between the depiction of the Queen and that of the sun god Shamash on the famous Code of Hammurabi stele, now in the Louvre. The stele shows Hammurabi standing before Shamash, whose headdress is the same as that worn by the mysterious Queen.

Who is the Queen of the Night?

The Queen of the Night used to be known as the 'Burney Relief'. Art dealer Sydney Burney bought the relief in 1936 from dealer Selim Homsey, who probably acquired the plaque in Iraq sometime during the 1920s. The British Museum acquired the relief in 2003, for the princely sum of £1,500,000.

As to who she is, that is still a matter of some speculation. She is a goddess, of that we can be sure. Her horned headdress and the rod and ring symbols that she carries in both hands are symbols of divinity. In the absence of an inscription, however, we can't be totally sure of the identification, but two possibilities stand out - Ishtar or Ereshkigal.

In ancient Mesopotamian mythology, Ishtar and Ereshkigal were sisters, although there was little love lost between them. The plaque has elements that would fit with one or the other. 

Ishtar

Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, was usually depicted with a rod and ring in one hand and a scimitar in the other, and was associated with lions. So far, so similar. She was often depicted with wings, although they rarely hung down as in the Queen of the Night relief.

Ereshkigal

Ereshkigal was the goddess of the underworld, the 'Queen of the Great Below'. The lowered wings, the owls, the dark background - they are all features associated with the Underworld. Unfortunately, as Ereshkigal has no known iconography, as her association with death meant artists avoided depicting her, there is no way to be definitive. 

So the mystery remains, which I have to admit, I rather like. 

Fishbourne, a surprising Roman palace on the Sussex coast

There was an element of nostalgia about my trip to Fishbourne Roman palace. The last time I visited I was on a school trip (and no, I'm not saying how long ago that was). My timing was good - the weather was wonderful, and as it was a Bank Holiday the Roman re-enactment society the Ermine Street Guard were putting on a display. They pride themselves about getting the details of the Roman Army as correct as possible, and they certainly put on an impressive show.

Fishbourne Roman palace was discovered in the 1960s, and it came as quite a surprise. It was thought at the time that lavish villas on this scale were a product of later periods, but as archeologists started to study the site, it became clear that the complex at Fishbourne dated to very soon after the invasion. While no inscriptions stating it outright have yet been found, the general thinking now is that the palace belonged to King Cogidubnus, a client king who knew which side his bread was buttered.

The palace was huge, with about 100 rooms, and it came with all the Roman mod cons, from the largest collection of mosaics in situ in the UK to hypocaust systems to extensive gardens, replanted using the original first century bedding trenches. Only around half the site has been excavated, as the rest lies beneath a road and houses, but what is on display is fascinating.

If you'd like to visit, Fishbourne is easy to get to from London. You can take the train from London Victoria towards Portsmouth, and change at Barnham for the Fishbourne train. From there it's roughly a ten-minute walk to the site.

For more information on events and what to see, check out Fishbourne Roman Palace.

Spain's Altamira Caves to Reopen

The Associated Press reports that the cave complex at Altamira in Spain – known as the Sistine Chapel of Paleolithic Art – will re-open after eight years of closure, despite scientists' warnings that heat and moisture from human visitors will damage the site.

The Culture Ministry and the site's board of directors said Tuesday that visits to the Caves of Altamira in the northern Cantabria region will resume next year, although on a still-unspecified, restricted basis.

The main chamber at Altamira features 21 bison painted in red and black, which appear to be to charging against a low, limestone ceiling. The site was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1985. The paintings are estimated to be 14,000 to 20,000 years old.

Discovered in 1868, the cave complex became a tourist magnet and by the 1970s received 3,000 visitors a day. Body heat and moisture from people's breath were blamed for a gradual deterioration of the images, and from 1982-2002 only a handful of visits were allowed each day.

The cave was completely shut off to most visitors after scientists detected green mould stains on the paintings in the main chamber.

A replica of the caves was built in a museum in 2001.

In April of this year, the government's main scientific research body, called the CSIC, recommended that the caves remain closed. "The people who go in the cave have the bad habit of moving, breathing and perspiring," CSIC researcher Mariona Hernandez-Marine wrote then.

The site's board vhas oted to reopen, however, calling the caves too valuable to keep closed.

Archaeology News: Archaeologists Fight With Roman Farmer to Save Roman Aqueduct

Edward and Michael O'Neill, father and son archaeological team, discovered the headwaters of the aqueduct in January. A sophisticated example of Roman hydraulic engineering, the aqueduct known as the Aqua Traiana, was inaugurated in 109 AD and carried fresh water to Rome, some 35 miles away.

So far, so good. But the Daily Telegraph reports that the farmer on whose land the discovery stands has begun a crude excavation of the site in the hope of find Roman treasure. The O'Neills claim to have photographic evidence that the owner has burned vegetation around the entrance to the underground grotto, cut down mature fig trees which are holding the fragile structure together with their thick roots and started to dismantle sections of masonry.

Read the full story at the Daily Telegraph.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog about the world of archaeology and related topics – everything from the preservation of heritage around the world to the story of looted artefacts to interesting new museum exhibitions (and anything else that takes my fancy).

My studies focused on the worlds of Classical Greece and Rome, and fascinating it was too, but my travels have also shown there are a lot of equally fascinating, non-Western artistic traditions out there. Looking at one tradition through the lens of another can be distorting; being aware of this can make it easier to study a particular tradition on its own merits. It isn't always possible to do this, of course, or at least not completely. Shrugging off the preconceptions of one's own culture is no easy task.

I am currently studying World Arts and Artefacts, a course run jointly by Birkbeck College, (University of London) and the British Museum. It looks like it's going to be an interesting experience, and I will endeavour to keep this blog updated with the themes and ideas of the course.