Figures
1.1 Map indicating the location of most monuments mentioned in this chapter (map by Daniel Plekhov) 4
1.2 Second millennium BCE rock-cut relief and inscription of Tarkasnawa, King of the land of Mira, said to be a relief of Sesostris by Herodotus; Karabel (Turkey) (Moritz Busch, L’Orient Pittoresque, Publication Artistique dessinée d’après nature par A. Löffler et accompagnée du texte descriptif du Dr. Maurice Busch, avec 32 gravures en acier [Trieste: Lloyd Autrichien, 1865]) 8
1.3 Cornell Expedition to Asia Minor and the Assyro-Babylonian Orient. Making of paper squeeze of Nişantaş inscription, 1908, Hattusa, Turkey (Photographs of Asia Minor, #4776. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library) 9
1.4 Course of Dibni Su (head of the Tigris) (photo courtesy of Ömür Harmanşah) 13
1.5 Relief of Tiglath-pileser I on the Lower Cave (photo courtesy of Ömür Harmanşah) 15
1.6 Ambarderesi stream with Neo-Hittite rock relief of İvriz in the background (photo courtesy of Tayfun Bilgin) 16
1.7 Neo-Hittite rock relief of İvriz showing Tarhunzas (l) and King Warpalawas (r) (photo by Felipe Rojas) 17
1.8 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters pose next to the Urartian-Assyrian stela of Urartian king Ishpuini (r. ca. 828–810 BCE) at Kelishin (Iraqi Kurdistan) (photographer unknown) 25
1.9 Kurdish flag spray painted in 2016 on a relief of Neo-Assyrian King Sennacherib (r. 704–681 BCE) in Malthai (Iraqi Kurdistan) (photographer unknown) 26
1.10 Cover of Mehrdad Izady’s The Kurds: A Handbook (Washington: Taylor & Francis, 1992) showing a pair of men inspecting the fourth century CE rock relief commemorating the coronation of the Sasanian king Ardashir II at Ṭāq-e Bostān 27
2.1 Map of the sites mentioned in this chapter (map by Daniel Plekhov) 40
2.2 Bronze Band I of Balawat Gate C (Theophilus G. Pinches and Walter de Gray Birch, The Bronze Ornaments of the Palace Gates of Balawat (Shalmaneser II, B.C. 859–825) [London: Society of Great Russell Street, 1902], pl. B1–2) 45
2.3 Bronze Band N of Balawat Gate C (Pinches and Birch, Bronze Ornaments, pl. N1–2) 52
2.4 Bronze Band X of Balawat Gate C (Pinches and Birch, Bronze Ornaments, pl. D7) 56
2.5 Cave with inscription and image of Tiglath-pileser I (left) and Shalmaneser III (right) (Andreas Schachner, Assyriens Könige an einer der Quellen des Tigris: Archäologische Forschungen im Höhlensystem von Birkleyn und am sogenannten Tigris-Tunnel [Tübingen: Ernst Wasmuth, 2009], Abb. 37) 58
2.6 The city of Tikrakka (Paul Émile Botta, Monument de Ninive I: Architecture et sculpture [Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1849], pl. 64) 62
3.1 Map of the sites mentioned in this chapter (map by Daniel Plekhov) 70
3.2 Aerial photograph of the steep promontories on either side of the Nahr el-Kalb (photo by A. Karakashian) 71
3.3 The west face of the Hagr el-Merwa (photo by J. Thum) 76
3.4 Post-pharaonic rock reliefs atop royal Egyptian material on the Hagr el-Merwa (W. Vivian Davies, “Nubia in the New Kingdom: The Egyptians at Kurgus,” in Nubia in the New Kingdom. Lived Experience, Pharaonic Control and Indigenous Traditions, ed. N. Spencer, A. Stevens, and M. Binder, BMPES 3 [Leuven: Peeters, 2017], fig. 9; courtesy W. Vivian Davies) 78
3.5 The royal tableaux on the Hagr el-Merwa (Davies, “Nubia in the New Kingdom,” fig. 5; courtesy W. Vivian Davies) 80
3.6 Rock drawings disrupted by the Egyptian material (Davies, “Nubia in the New Kingdom,” fig. 8; courtesy W. Vivian Davies) 84
3.7a–b The remnants of Stela R at Amarna (photos by J. Thum) 86
3.8 The former location of Stela S at Amarna (photo by J. Thum) 87
3.9 Claude Sicard’s drawing of Stela A from Amarna (Claude Sicard, Œuvres II. Relations et mémoires imprimés, ed. Maurice Martin, BdE 84 [Cairo: IFAO, 1982], 107) 89
3.10 Stela A as it appeared in January 2016 (photo by J. Thum) 90
3.11 Map of Amarna with the locations of the boundary stelae (ArcGIS/J. Thum; stela locations based on Kemp, The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti [London: Thames & Hudson, 2012], Fig. 1.6) 92
3.12 Map of the First Cataract area (Google Earth/J. Thum) 95
3.13 Konosso, or Sawaba, as seen from the north (photo by J. Thum) 96
3.14 Konosso Island as seen in February 2018 with the high-water line and some living-rock monuments visible (photo by J. Thum) 97
3.15 Lepsius’ plan of Konosso as it appears in the Denkmaeler (LD Text IV, 129; public domain, Google-digitized) 98
3.16 View of Konosso Island from the south (LD I, 103; from The New York Public Library,
3.17 Denon’s drawing of Konosso (Dominique-Vivant Denon, Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte, pendant les Campagnes du Général Bonaparte [Cairo: IFAO, 1989, rev. ed.], 2: 72.3; gallica.bnf.fr/BNF) 101
3.18a–b Denon’s drawing of a figural scene and cartouches of Apries on Konosso alongside a photograph of these reliefs from January 2017 (Denon, Voyage, 2:118.6, gallica.bnf.fr/BNF; photo by J. Thum) 102–103
3.19 Cartouches of Psammetik II, as seen in February 2018 (photo by J. Thum) 104
3.20 Late-nineteenth-century photograph of Konosso Island showing much of the pharaonic material on the “front” of the island, by Sir W.M.F. Petrie (reproduced with permission of The Griffith Institute, University of Oxford) 105
4.1 Map of sites and location of landscape monuments discussed in this paper (map by Dan Plekhov) 116
4.2 Simplified images of gods and elites on the landscape monuments of the Hittite Empire (drawings from Glatz and Plourde, “Landscape Monuments,” Fig. 4.11) 118
4.3 Rock reliefs of the Great King Kurunt(iy)a and of Great King Muwatalli adopting similar space organization of text and image, as well as identical titles (drawings from Ehringhaus, Götter, Herrscher, Abb. 176 and 186) 124
4.4 The western side of the Kızıldağ. At the center-left the volcanic rock outcrop named the “Throne” (photo courtesy of the archive of the Kınık Höyük Archaeological Project, 2021) 129
4.5 The “Throne” of Kızıldağ with M. Pedrinazzi examining most recent fractures of the rocky outcrop (photo courtesy of the archive of the Kınık Höyük Archaeological Project, 2012) 130
4.6 The relief of Hartapus on the “Throne” of the Kızıldağ (1965 picture by Sedet Alp, published in Sedat Alp, “Eine neue hieroglyphenhethitische Inschrift der Gruppe Kizildağ-Karadağ aus der Nähe von Aksaray und die früher publizierten Inschriften derselben Gruppe,” in Anatolian Studies Presented to Hans Gustav Güterbock on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday, ed. K. Bittel et al., Istanbul 1974, 17–27, Pl. V, Abb. 7) (public domain) 132
4.7 The relief of Hartapus on the “Throne” of the Kızıldağ (photo courtesy of the archive of the Kınık Höyük Archaeological Project, 2012) 133
4.8 Sketch of the Hartapus relief (by Lorenzo d’Alfonso based on 1965 S. Alp picture [Figure 4.6], collated with the 2012 pictures of the photo archive of the Kınık Höyük archaeological project, and the pictures published by Tayfun Bilgin on the website Hittitemonuments:
4.9 Funerary stela from Zincirli Höyük, late eighth century BCE (image from Maden, Assyrische Königsdarstellungen, Taf. 25.1) 140
4.10 Stone orthostat of Assurnasirpal II seated on a backless throne celebrating rituals: Nimrud, north-western Palace, early ninth century BCE (image from John Curtis, “Assyrian Furnitures: The Archaeological Evidence,” in The Furnitures Of Western Asia Ancient And Traditional, ed. G. Herrmann (Mainz 1996), 167–180, Pl. 47a) 141
4.11 Stone relief of Sennacherib receiving the booty of Lachish. Nineve, southwest Palace, early seventh century BCE (image from Zainab Bahrani, Mesopotamia. Ancient Art and Architecture, London 2017, fig. 10.15a, p. 242) 143
4.12 Shalmaneser III celebrating his victory abroad. Balawat gate, mid-ninth century BCE (image from Schachner, Bilder Eines Weltreiches, Abb. 77 and 129) 144
4.13 The production of the image of the Assyrian king at the sources of the Tigris from the Balawat Gate (image from Schachner, Bilder eines Weltreiches, Taf. 50b) 145
4.14 Orthostat relief of Kilamuwa, king of Sam’al, imitating Assyrian portraits of kingship, mid-to-end of ninth century BCE (Pergamon Museum, http:// commons.wikimedia.org/wiki; free use) 147
4.15 Rock relief of İvriz: king Warpalawa worshipping the Storm-god Tarhunza (photo of Matthieu Demanuelli, photo archive of the Kınık Höyük Archaeological Project) 149
5.1 Map of eastern Mediterranean showing places mentioned in this chapter (map by Daniel Plekhov) 162
5.2 The “Charonion” in Antioch (photo courtesy of
5.3 Schematic map of Antioch showing location of Charonion and other landmarks mentioned in this chapter (map by Daniel Plekhov) 169
5.4 Great Sphinx, Gizeh. Brooklyn Museum Archives (S10|08 Gizeh, image 9627) 177
5.5 The “Charonion” during Elderkin’s excavation with rock-cut features and carved marble block (photo courtesy of Princeton University Libraries) 179
6.1 Map of Aegean sites mentioned in this chapter (map by Daniel Plekhov) 187
6.2 Map of Near Eastern sites mentioned in this chapter (map by Daniel Plekhov) 188
7.1 Map of the sites mentioned in this chapter (map by Daniel Plekhov) 222
7.2 Relief of Šābuhr I triumphing over the Roman emperors Valerian and Philip the Arab with bust portrait and inscription of the archmagus (mowbedān mowbed) Kartīr (right), added decades after the death of the king. Naqš-e Rostam, Iran (photo by Matthew P. Canepa) 228
7.3 View of Bīsotūn, Iran. The Sasanian Tarāš-e Farhād is visible on the cliff over the central ayvān of the Safavid caravanserai in the foreground (courtesy Ludovic Fuchs) 232
7.4 The relief and inscriptions of Darius I, Bīsotūn, Iran (photo by Matthew P. Canepa) 232
7.5–7.6 View of Naqš-e Rostam, Iran with the Achaemenid tombs (above), Sasanian rock reliefs (below), Achaemenid tower, the Kaʿba-ye Zardošt (to left) (photo courtesy Georgios Giannopoulos via Wikimedia). Detail of the Tomb of Darius I with the Sasanian rock relief attributed to Wahrām II below (photo by Matthew P. Canepa) 233
7.7 View of Citadel of Van (ancient Tušpa, present-day Turkey) with Urartian tombs (above) and Achaemenid inscription (to left) (courtesy Athini Kourmalakis) 235
7.8 Detail of Achaemenid Inscription, Van (courtesy Athini Kourmalakis) 235
7.9 The Seleucid Herakles, Bīsotūn, Iran (photo by Matthew P. Canepa) 238
7.10 Arsacid reliefs of officials and equestrian combats, Bīsotūn, Iran (courtesy Koorosh Nozad Tehrani) 241
7.11 View of Sar-e Pol-e Zahāb with the Lullubi relief above and Arsacid relief below (courtesy Koorosh Nozad Tehrani) 244
7.12 Detail of the relief of Gotarzes, Sar-e Pol-e Zahāb (courtesy Koorosh Nozad Tehrani) 245
7.13 Detail of the relief of Anubanini, Sar-e Pol-e Zahāb (courtesy Koorosh Nozad Tehrani) 245
7.14 Old Elamite Relief (ca. 2000–1800 BCE), Ḵong-e Āždar, Izeh, Iran (courtesy Koorosh Nozad Tehrani) 248
7.15 Parthian-period reliefs of the Elymaean kings (ca. early first century BCE–early second century BCE), Ḵong-e Āždar, Izeh, Iran (courtesy Koorosh Nozad Tehrani) 248
7.16 Relief of the Sasanian king Wahrām II portraying the king of kings with the royal family and courtiers integrating a Middle Elamite relief (right), Naqš-e Rostam, Iran (photo by Matthew P. Canepa) 255
7.17 Relief of the Sasanian king of kings Narseh re-carved from the relief of Wahrām I, Bishapur, Iran (photo by Matthew P. Canepa) 257
7.18 Reliefs of Šābuhr III and Husraw II, Ṭāq-e Bostān, Iran (photo by Matthew P. Canepa) 258
7.19 View of the relief and artificial terrace of the Tarāš-e Farhād, Bīsotūn, Iran (photo by Matthew P. Canepa) 259
7.20 Column capital portraying the goddess Anāhīd from the Tarāš-e Farhād, Bīsotūn (now held at Ṭāq-e Bostān) (photo by Matthew P. Canepa) 260
7.21 Safavid manuscript illustration portraying Farhād carving Šīrīn’s image into Bīsotūn before beginning work (Walters Art Museum, manuscript 607, folio 78B) 262
8.1 Map of sites mentioned in this chapter (map by Daniel Plekhov) 273
8.2 “Planographia sedis Regiae.” Engelbert Kaempfer, 1712, p. 179 (London, Wellcome Library. Licensed under CC-BY-4.0) 276
8.3 “Khusrau approaches Shirin’s castle,” signed Reza ʿAbbasi (d. 1635). Nizami, Khusrau va Shirin, Isfahan, ca. 1632, 1680 (London, V&A National Art Library MSL/1885/364 fol. 166r; © Victoria and Albert Museum, London) 277
8.4 “Anushirvan and the Owls.” Nizami, Khamsa, Tabriz, ca. 1525 (Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.: Purchase—Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, S1986.214) 278
8.5 “Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel,” Daniel Mytens, 1618 (London, National Portrait Gallery, NPG5292; © National Portrait Gallery, London) 281
8.6 Taq-e Bustan, arch of Khusrau II (r. 590 to 628). Wittwer, photograph, n.d. (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, TEH1972-0381) 286
8.7 Taq-e Bustan, free-standing royal statue (now located in site museum). Ernst Herzfeld, photograph, 1913–1923 (Washington, D.C., Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Ernst Herzfeld Papers, Smithsonian Institution, FSA A.6 04.GN.1852) 287
8.8 “Jabal Bisutun.” Zakariya Qazvini, ʿAjaʾib al-Makhluqat wa Gharaʾib al-Mawjudat, possibly Mosul, Iraq, ca. 1300 (London, British Library, MS Or.14140 fol. 56r detail) 290
8.9 “Shirin visits Farhad at the rockface.” Nizami, Khusrau va Shirin, Tabriz, ca. 1410 (Washington, D.C., Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, F1931.35) 291
8.10 “Jabal Bisutun.” Zakariya Qazvini, ʿAjaʾib al-Makhluqat wa Gharaʾib al-Mawjudat, Shiraz, 1545 (Dublin, Chester Beatty, Per 212 fol. 158v; © The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin) 294
8.11 Guards on the façade of Palace H, showing the former ground level (at shoulder height), Persepolis. Ernst Herzfeld, photograph, 1923–1928 (Washington, D.C., Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Ernst Herzfeld Papers, Smithsonian Institution, FSA A.6 04.GN.1002) 297
8.12 “Afrasiyab’s wife pleads with Kay Khusrau.” Firdausi, Shahnama, Isfahan, 1605 (Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Or.Fol.4251 fol. 425v; Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin—Preußischer Kulturbesitz) 311
8.13a–c A: Enthroned king supported by rows of subjects, south jamb of east door, Central Building, Persepolis (Chicago, Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Persepolis Expedition photographs, P-497). B: Throne-bearer, on west jamb (detail of lowest register) of southeast doorway, Hundred Columned Hall, Persepolis (photo by Lindsay Allen, 2002). C: Detail of Figure 8.11 313–315
8.14 “Khusrau fights the lion,” signed Reza ʿAbbasi. Nizami, Khusrau va Shirin, Isfahan, ca. 1632, 1680 (folio detached from V&A codex MSL/1885/364) (London, V&A L.1613-1964; © Victoria and Albert Museum, London) 319
8.15 “Khusrau’s murder by Shiruya,” signed Reza ʿAbbasi (d. 1635). Nizami, Khusrau va Shirin, Isfahan, ca. 1632, 1680 (London, V&A National Art Library MSL/1885/364 fol. 225r; © Victoria and Albert Museum, London) 321
8.16 Sar Mashhad relief: Bahram II slays a lion while protecting his Queen. Ernst Herzfeld, photograph, 1913–1923 (Washington, D.C., Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Ernst Herzfeld Papers, Smithsonian Institution, FSA A.6 04.GN.2487) 322
8.17 “Iskandar marries Dara’s daughter Roshanak,” signed Muʾin Musavvir. Firdausi, Shahnama, Isfahan, dated 1655 (Dublin, Chester Beatty Per 270.66; © The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin) 324
8.18 “The dishonest dealer cheats the woman,” attributed Reza ʿAbbasi. Haydar Khwarazmi, Makhzan al-Asrar, Isfahan, ca. 1618 (Istanbul, Topkapi Palace Library E.R.1641, fol. 18v; reproduced here with author’s permission from Sheila Canby, The Rebellious Reformer: The Drawings and Paintings of Riza-yi Abbasi of Isfahan [London: Azimuth, 1996], no. 70) 327
8.19 View of Persepolis, by William Marshall, Thomas Herbert, Some Yeares Travel Into Divers Parts of Asia and Afrique (London: Iacob Blome and Richard Bishop, 1638), 145 (Dublin, Chester Beatty Library; © The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin) 330
8.20 Portrait of a standing youth, Isfahan, ca. 1650 (Tehran, Saʿdabad Palace; reproduced here with author’s permission from Eleanor Sims, “Five Seventeenth-Century Persian Oil Paintings,” in Persian and Mughal Art [London: P.&D. Colnaghi, 1976], 235) 332
9.1 Nabunaid Sela‘ inscription (photo by Boaz Langford) 352
9.2 Nebuchadnezzar relief sites in Lebanon (map by Daniel Plekhov) 355
9.3 Louis François Cassas, Nahr el-Kalb inscriptions, from Voyage pittoresque de la Syrie, de la Phoenicie, de la Palaestine et de la Basse Aegypte: ouvrage divisé en trois volumes contenant environ trois cent trente planches, 1799 (Wikimedia Commons) 356
9.4 Wadi es-Saba. Relief WS1 (following the drawing by B. Seiß, from U. Börker-Klähn, Altvorderasiatische Bildstelen und vergleichbare Felsreliefs [Mainz: Verlag Philip von Zabern, 1982], I: Taf. 268; enhanced by Einat Tamir) 357
9.5 Wadi es-Saba. Relief WS2 (following U. Börker-Klähn, Altvorderasiatische Bildstelen und vergleichbare Felsreliefs [Mainz: Verlag Philip von Zabern, 1982], I: Taf. 269; enhanced by Einat Tamir) 358
9.6 Brisa Eastern relief and inscription (WBA): the king and a cedar tree (drawing by B. Seiß, from U. Börker-Klähn, Altvorderasiatische Bildstelen und vergleichbare Felsreliefs [Mainz: Verlag Philip von Zabern, 1982], I: Taf. 260; enhanced by Einat Tamir) 359
9.7 Brisa Western relief and inscription (WBC): the king fighting a lion (drawing by B. Seiß, from U. Börker-Klähn, Altvorderasiatische Bildstelen und vergleichbare Felsreliefs [Mainz: Verlag Philip von Zabern, 1982], I: Taf. 259; enhanced by Einat Tamir) 360
9.8 Transport of trees from the Amanus region (Balawat, Gate C, register Na) (drawing by Cornelie Wolff, in Schachner, Bilder eines Weltreichs, 182, Abb. 131) 362
Tables
4.1 Monuments of the Hittite empire 119
6.1 Mentions of
6.2 Mentions of