possible central asian origin for seal-impressed jar from 'temple tower' at failaka (eric olijdam,...

8/3/2019 Possible Central Asian Origin for Seal-impressed Jar From 'Temple Tower' at Failaka (Eric Olijdam, 2008)

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Society for Arabian Studies Monographs No. 7

Series editors D. Kennet & St J. Simpson

Intercultural Relations between

South and Southwest Asia

Studies in commemoration of

E.C.L. During Caspers (1934-1996)

Edited by

Eric Olijdam

Richard H. Spoor

BAR International Series 18262008


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This title published by

ArchaeopressPublishers of British Archaeological ReportsGordon House276 Banbury RoadOxford OX2 7EDEngland

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BAR S1826Society for Arabian Studies Monographs No. 7

Intercultural Relations between South and Southwest Asia: Studies in commemoration of E.C.L.During Caspers (1934-1996)

the individual authors 2008

ISBN 978 1 4073 0312 3

Cover illustration by J.M. Kenoyer (Kenoyer and Meadow, Fig. 5.3)

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INTERCULTURAL RELATIONS BETWEEN SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST ASIA.STUDIES IN COMMEMORATION OF E.C.L.DURING CASPERS (1934-1996)E. Olijdam & R.H. Spoor (eds)BAR International Series 1826 (2008): 268-287

A Possible Central Asian Origin for the Seal-Impressed Jarfrom the Tem ple Tower at FailakaEric Olijdam

It is only in the last decade that Central Asian elements have been correctly identified in the archaeological record of the ArabianGulf. Up until her untimely death, E.C.L. During Caspers had been one of the leading experts in this field. I am therefore pleased todedicate my contribution to one of Inez last passions, viz. the intercultural/mercantile connections between the Arabian Gulf and theBactrian-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) or the Murghabo-Bactrian Archaeological Complex as she used to call it.

IntroductionBefore its work on Failaka was suspended in 1991, theFrench Archaeological Mission to Kuwait was engaged inthe excavation of a large square building, located ap-proximately 10 m east of the Danish and American exca-vations at tell F6 [Fig. 1]. Due to extensive stone-robbingactivities in antiquity only the massive stone-and-mortarfoundations have survived and very little of the buildingssuperstructure. This once monumental building with aground plan of approximately 20 x 20 m was erectedduring the City IIb period (ca. 1900 B.C.), underwent amajor refurbishment and remained in use until the mid-dle of the 2nd millennium B.C. Its layout, the thickness ofthe walls, and the massiveness of the foundations led theexcavators to believe that this had been a multi-tieredreligious building of great importance: the TempleTower (Calvet 1989; 1991; Calvet & Pic 1990). In all prob-ability, this edifice formed the heart of a complex, whichconsisted of at least four buildings. Because of its age anddimensions, identification with the .GAL.GU.LA of Inzakthe temple (complex) of the tutelary deity of Dilmunmentioned in cuneiform inscriptions on soft-stone vesselfragments from the contemporary settlement seemsextremely likely.

Given the poor state of preservation, it is not surprisingthat only a limited number of items have been recoveredfrom the Temple Tower. Among them were a number offragments of a seal-impressed jar. The sherds were scat-tered over quite some distance but proved to be matchingpieces of a large vessel [Fig. 2]. Unfortunately, the frag-ments have been found in disturbed contexts so their ageis to be deduced from the object itself.

Initially a mid 2nd millennium origin was proposedbased on a parallel with a late Mitannian seal from theGulbenkian Museum (Pic 1990: 138-139). However, dating

this unprovenanced cylinder seal is not as straight-forward as Pic leads us to believe: in fact, the originalreport on this cylinder seal considers a late 2nd or even1st millennium date more plausible (Lambert 1979: 20).

Detailed examination by Calvet (1996) of the style anddesign on the seal, of the sealing practice, and of theshape and ware of the vessel indeed revealed that a mid2nd millennium date for the Failaka vessel was solelybased on (rather general) iconographic analogues. Subse-quently, he considered the seal-impressed jar a uniqueobject, unparalleled in the Gulf as well as in 2nd millen-nium Mesopotamia and Elam. The present study is anextension of Calvets survey and will examine the possi-bility of a Central Asian origin for the seal-impressed jar.If accepted, it would join the already substantial corpus ofCentral Asian imports and imitations found throughoutthe northern part of the Arabian Gulf (During Caspers1992; 1994a; 1994b; 1994c; 1996; Olijdam 2001; in prep a).1

The phy sical propertiesReconstructing the shape of the Failaka vessel proved tobe impossible as the matching sherds only represent asmall portion of the container, while none of its diagnos-tic parts were recovered. Nevertheless, it was believed tohave been a large ovoid storage jar, made of a buff pastewith large mineral temper (Pic 1990: 138-139). Similarly,

the diameter of the vessel could not be determined, eventhough it is clear that it must have been large (pers.comm. Yves Calvet). The sherds have a thick profile,which matches the vessels overall dimensions. Becauseof these characteristics, Calvet (1989: 59) categoricallydismissed an Arabian Gulf or South Mesopotamian originfor this storage jar.

In his reconstruction of the vessel, the seal-impressedsection belongs to the upper part of the belly and is situ-ated just underneath the shoulder (Calvet 1989: 57, 58).The impression was produced by rolling a cylinder sealdirectly onto the vessels surface. This was done prior tofiring, when the clay was already beginning to harden. It

therefore seems probable that the sealing was related tothe production process possibly as some sort of con-trol rather than as a means of decoration, as a personalidentification marker of its prospect owner or as a quality


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Fig. 1: Map of South and Southwest Asia (inset: Bahrain).

label for future use/content.By joining the recovered sherds, it turned out that

the entire design of the seal as well as its overall di-mensions could be determined: the cylinder had aheight of 45 mm and a diameter of approximately 15mm. The pottery fragments show clean straight edgeson both upper and lower ends of the sealing indicatingthat the seal had not been mounted with a cap. Thedesign consists of two very similar scenes, set apart bythe use of different filling motifs. The principal com-positional element of both scenes consists of a bird ofprey devouring a slain bovine. The bird, which may beidentified as an eagle, is depicted with its talons clearlyshowing and with both wings in an extended position,indicating and emphasising its powerful and aggressivenature also evidenced by its large rapacious beak.Above these two scenes which vary only in minordetails different filling motifs occupy the space be-tween the unfolded wings of each eagle. Even thoughthese elements are referred to as filling motifs, theyare most probably carefully selected from a culturallydetermined set of symbols. As such, they are secondary,but nevertheless important, constituents of the overall

design. One is a coiled snake, the other a rosette next toa crescent moon. Finally, a simple line borders the topand bottom of the design.

The sealing practiceThe practice of impressing cylinder seals on potteryprior to firing is alien to the cultures in the Gulf. It isattested only once on a jar from the settlement at Umman-Nar, but this has been identified as an Early Dynasticimport from Syria (Amiet 1975). However, dismissingthis type of sealing as a foreign practice seems to be toosimplistic, as a few local sherds have been found bear-ing the imprint of Dilmun seals. The first comes fromthe Temple complex at Barbar and was found inside thewater-basin situated west of the main structure in aTemple IIb context, which corresponds to City IIb ofthe Qalat al-Bahrain sequence. On the jar, made of redBarbar ware, the impression of a stamp seal with aMaster of Animals motif was applied (Mortensen 1970:Fig. 1; Beyer 1989: no. 259). The design of the seal isexecuted in the mature Dilmun style IA, which origi-nated in the City IIb period (Kjrum 1994: 341-350). The

1: Failaka 9: Mari 17: Mundigak2: Qalat al-Bahrain 10: Tell Suliemeh 18: Khurab

3: Barbar 11: Susa 19: Sibri4: Shakhoura 12: Bandar Bushehr 20: Mehrgarh5: Saar 13: Umm an-Nar 21: Fullol

6: Hamad Town 14: Tell Abraq 22: Gonur 17: Ur 15: Shahdad 23: Taip 18: Babylon 16: Shahr-i Sokhta 24: Namazga

2

3 45

6

1

7

8

910

11

12

13

14

15

16

18

17

2019

21

24

22

23

Dilmun

Magan

Meluhha

Babylonia

Shubat-

Enlil

Elam


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Fig. 2: Cylinder seal-impressed jar from the Temple Tower, Failaka (F88.2270, Kuwait National Museum no. 5827) (Photograph bycourtesy of Mission Archologique Franaise au Koweit; drawing after Calvet 1996: Fig. 3).

second impression was found on a similar piece of pottery

in the northern part of Qalat al-Bahrain, also in City IIbcontext. Only the lower part of the sealing has been pre-served and shows two gazelles standing back-to-back andfacing outwards (Kjrum 1994: no. 22). Nevertheless,what remains is sufficient to confirm that the style of themotif is the same as the one from the Barbar Temple.Recently, a third specimen has been found in a pit-graveat Shakhoura, together with more traditional grave goodsof City IIb date [Fig. 3]. The seal design is said to consist ofa beer-drinking scene and is, interestingly, applied up-side down (Daems, Haerinck & Rutten 2001: 177-178). Thethree seal-impressed jars from Bahrain can thus securelybe placed within City IIb. On each example, the seal was

not applied directly onto the surface, but was impressedinto a lump of clay attached to the upper shoulder. Thevertical ridges on the upper shoulder of some neckedvessels must be interpreted as imitations in clay of the

entwined ends of such a string, and the knobs, sometimes

stamp-seal impressed, must be imitations of sealings(Hjlund 1994a: 177). This type of pottery (B75) has notbeen found on Failaka or in al-Hasa Province, whichseems to indicate that it was local to Bahrain. Intrigu-ingly, the discovery of a sherd of this type on the con-temporary site of Bandar Bushehr on the Iranian coasttogether with other Barbar sherds and a Late SorathHarappan sherd (Hjlund 1987: 38, 45; 1994a: 98-99) pro-vides a link between these pseudo-sealed jars and theextensive international trade network of the City IIbperiod (see n. 15).

Seal-impressed pottery is widely attested in the Near East

during the 3rd millennium especially Syria (Amiet1975: 425-426; Collon 1987: 113) and becomes consider-ably less so during the early 2nd millennium (Calvet 1996:63). Unmentioned in Calvets study is the fact that the

0 5 cm


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Fig. 3: Pseudo-sealed jar from Tomb 10 at Shakhoura, Bahrain (Daems,Haerinck & Rutten 2001: Fig. 5).

practice is particularly well established for the Kermanregion. Stamp seals were impressed on local pottery fromearly 3rd millennium Mundigak and Shahr-i Sohkta. Inaddition, at Shahdad, seal-impressed jars make up a con-siderable portion of the pottery from Cemetery A in-

triguingly, they appear only on the locally produced red-ware vessels. The stamp seals have been impressed di-rectly into the lower body of these vessels. It is significantthat both compartmented seals as well as Murghab styleamulets were used for this purpose (Hakemi & Sajjadi1989: 145; Baghestani 1997: 34-43): while compartmentedseals display a wide chronological and geographical dis-tribution, the use of Murghab style amulets unequivo-cally indicates a link with Central Asia during the early2nd millennium B.C. (cf. Salvatori 2000). Impressions ofstamp and cylinder seals have also been found on largevessels from the Bactrian-Margiana Archaeological Com-plex.2 In fact, this practice is considered a Period 2 fossil

for Margiana (Hiebert 1994a: 68). Period 2 is firmly datedby a set of calibrated radiocarbon dates to the first quar-ter of the 2nd millennium, i.e. 1900-1750 B.C., and is there-fore contemporary with City II in the northern part of theArabian Gulf. Given the extent and nature of the relationsbetween these two distant oasis cultures during the early2nd millennium B.C. (During Caspers 1992; 1994a; 1994b;1994c; 1996; Olijdam 2001; in prep a), the BMAC stands aserious candidate for the provenance for the Failakaspecimen.

In the BMAC, seal impressions occur exclusively onlarge storage jars, so-called khomi (Hiebert 1994a: type4B). These vessels with a mould-made base and a wheel-turned body and neck can be over 1 m in height andhave a maximum width of more than 70 cm at the shoul-der and its wall thickness exceeds 13 mm. Stamp sealimpressions can be located on the rim or on the upper

part of the vessel, while cylinders are confined exclu-sively to the shoulder of the jar (Hiebert 1994a: 59-61).Fragments of cylinder seal-impressed vessels have so faronly been found in Late Bronze Age Margiana, i.e. in thefortified settlements of Taip 1 and Gonur 1 South.

In controlled excavations at Gonur 1 South, a complete

vessel was unearthed [Fig. 4a]. This storage jar was foundin situ in the corner of a courtyard associated with do-mestic architecture (Hiebert 1994a: 119). Evidence linksthis residential area with the temple complex in thesouthwestern part of the fortified manor, the so-calledqala (Sarianidi 1993a: 29). The cylinder seals design cen-ters on a standing winged birdman holding a dead capridin each of its hands. In the field above the caprid, a heral-dic eagle is depicted, facing the same direction as thebirdman [Fig. 4b].A second specimen was found on the surface of Taip depeat the southeastern edge of the settlement, away fromthe cylinder seals which were excavated inside the forti-

fied manor, along its southern wall (Kohl 1984: 147). Thisvery large segment, consisting of two matching frag-ments, shows the imprint of two different cylinder sealsand possibly that of a stamp seal (Masimov 1981: Figs. 10-12) [Fig. 5a]. As well as a wide variety of stamp-seals (Sal-vatori 2000), the BMAC also displayed two types of cylin-der seals, viz. longitudinally perforated cylinders andthose with a loop boss on top. The latter nearly all havean additional depiction on their base, hence their namestamp-cylinder. The round impression on this vessel-fragment if identified correctly is probably producedby the base of such a stamp-cylinder. From what can bediscerned from the photographs, the decoration may

consist of a single coiled snake (cf. Maxwell-Hyslop 1994:Pl. I; Sarianidi 1998: nos. 1653, 1762.2, 1771). Whether ornot this stamp belonged to either of the cylinders is im-possible to establish, as no significant correlation can beobserved between designs or elements decorating thesurface of BMAC stamp-cylinders and those on theirbase.3 The fact that all cylinders found at Taip 1 arestamp-cylinders (Kohl 1984: 149) does, however, speaks infavour of this possibility. The design of the other cylinder,rolled out over a much larger section of the vessel, con-sists of two rows of animals separated by a guilloche [Fig.5b]. The top register shows a lion and zebu facing eachother separated by a stylised plant. At the other side of

the lion another animal with open beak a bird or adragon? is depicted attacking the humped bull frombehind. The individual animals that make up the lowerregister are impossible to identify, but all appear to befacing the same way except for the large bird, which, inthe proposed reading, is also depicted upside down. Al-though the other cylinder also depicts rows of animals, itsdesign follows a completely different arrangement [Fig.5c]. The base of the design is delineated by a series ofsmall triangles, probably indicating mountains. Abovethese, are a row of charging zebus with scores of birds indifferent poses in mid air. The humped bovines appear tobe attacked by the birds, some of which have their clawsunmistakably extended towards them. Although there aresignificant differences between the two, the feel andpurport of the design are very similar to that of the dupli-cated main scene of the Failaka impression.


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Fig. 4: Cylinder seal-impressed jar from Gonur 1 South, Turkmenistan. A) The storage jar with upside down impression in situ (by courtesyof Fred Hiebert); B) Design of the cylinder seal (after Sarianidi 1993a: Fig. 9).

Sarianidi (1986a: Fig. 128) has published another largevessel-fragment bearing the imprint of a cylinder seal.Even though the legenda is silent about this sherdsprovenance, it can reasonably be assumed that it was alsofound at Taip depe. Details about its exact provenance arenot available. It is apparent that the design of the seal[Fig. 6] is identical to one of the cylinders on the first seal-impressed vessel from Taip 1. Apart from the publishedphotograph, this fragment remains a mystery; it does nothave a separate entry in the extensive catalogue of Cen-tral Asian seals and amulets nor is it referred to in that ofthe corresponding design from the first vessel (Sarianidi1998: no. 1776).

Hiebert (1994b: Fig. 7) has published a third fragmentfrom Taip depe. It was collected from the surface by KateMoore during a visit to the site as part of a regional sur-vey in 1989. It comes from the northeast side of the site inthe general area of the test excavations (pers. comm.Fredrik T. Hiebert). The design of the cylinder impressedon this fragment is definitely the same as one of the im-pressions found on the first Taip depe fragment [Fig. 7].Again, this sherd is not mentioned in Sarianidis 1998catalogue (even though it features in Sarianidi 1994b: 30,Fig. 5).

As far as can be determined from the published infor-mation, three different sherds with cylinder seal impres-sions have been found at Taip 1, all of which seem to bearthe imprint of the same cylinder seal and appear to havebeen found in roughly the same area, i.e. in the south-

eastern part of the northern mound. It is therefore notimpossible that the three fragments belong to the samestorage jar, although it must be stressed that at least twolarge fragments have been recovered on separate occa-sions over a period of more than a decade.

Of two of the BMAC fragments (part of) the shoulderhas been preserved and from this it can be deduced thatthe cylinders were impressed while the vessels wereplaced upside down during the drying process in thepotters workshop. The astonishing and so far uniquefeature of multiple impressions on the first fragmentfrom Taip 1 demonstrates that two and possibly threeofficials visited the workshop in order to seal this vesselduring the drying stages before it was fired. It thus ap-pears that the jar was destined, already from early on inits production, to fulfil some important role in one of themajor institutions. Two different cylinders were rolledout over a considerable portion of this vessel. The per-sons who rolled out these cylinders made an effort tofollow the curvature of the jar. This was done by regularlyadjusting the direction of the seal, however, withoutremoving the seal from the vessels surface. This featureis also replicated though less clearly on the thirdfragment from the same site. If the sherds from Taip depe

belonged to the same vessel then it seems that one of thecylinders may have run over (nearly) the entire circum-ference of the jar. The jar from Gonur 1 South, on theother hand, shows no indication that the person whoapplied the seal had attempted to accommodate to the

A

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Fig. 5: First cylinder seal-impressed jar from Taip 1, Turkmenistan (Photograph: Kohl 1984: Pl. 15c; drawings after Collon 1987: nos. 600, 599).

vessels shape as the sealing was rolled out in a straightline. This impression appears to have been made in onefluent motion over a much more restricted part of the

jars circumference. The seal on the vessel from theTower Temple appears to have been applied in a similarfashion as the one from Gonur 1 South.

The vesselEven though the exact shape and dimensions of theFailaka vessel cannot be reconstructed, it is clear fromthe available evidence that it must have been a sizeable

jar. The sealing was applied to the upper part of the ves-sel, just underneath the shoulder. All this is consistentwith BMAC practice. Furthermore, Yves Calvet kindlyinformed me that the sherds were flat which may fit theshape of the upper part of the shoulder of a khom, thusclosely resembling the cylinder seal-impressed specimenfrom Gonur depe.

The BMAC is a cultural complex characterised by a spe-

cific set of artefacts found at Bactrian and Margiana sites(Hiebert 1994a: Table 9.1), which share an overall style.Nonetheless, differences can be observed between the

various regions. For the ceramic repertoire this distinc-tion is represented in the inclusions and colour of thepottery; the vessel shapes are generally very similar. Theclay is a useful criterion to discriminate ceramic produc-tion centres on a regional scale. In Margiana most of thepottery has a pale colour and a chaff temper, North Bac-trian ceramics are red to reddish-buff with a micaceousmineral temper, while South Bactria has buff red-warewith a sandy temper (Hiebert 1994a: 68-69). Ceramicsfrom the Kopet Dag have a mineral temper, with the ex-ception of Namazga where dung appears to have beenused producing a characteristic greenish ware (pers.comm. Fredrik T. Hiebert). Unfortunately, the southernand western frontiers of the BMAC have not yet beenestablished. Imported BMAC pottery from Khurab has atemper consisting of sand and mica, which seems to indi-cate a link with North Bactria (pers. comm. Fredrik T.

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Fig. 6: Second cylinder seal-impressed jar possibly from Taip 1 (Sarianidi 1986a: Fig. 128).

Fig. 7: Third cylinder seal-impressed jar from Taip 1 (by courtesy of Fred Hiebert).

Hiebert). Conversely, similar ceramics from MehrgarhVIII and Sibri show vegetal matter (sometimes combinedwith crushed sherds) suggesting a connection with Mar-

giana (Santoni 1984: 58). So, while interaction betweenBactria and Margiana appears to have been limited, itlooks as if the dissemination of a limited set of BMAC


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artefacts beyond the Bactrian and Margiana oases (e.g.Hiebert & Lamberg-Karlovsky 1992; Hiebert 1994a: 177-178) was not a centralised movement but was conductedfrom multiple centres, again hinting at political fragmen-tation of the BMAC.

The description of the fabric of the Failaka sherds is not

very precise, but allows the possibility that this vesselwas a BMAC import, possibly from Bactria. The fact that(cylinder) seal-impressed vessels have so far only beenreported from Margiana and not from Bactria is almostcertainly simply due to the state of archaeological re-search in Bactria as well as the heavy preponderance of illegally and scientifically excavated burial inventoriesin our understanding of the Late Bronze Age in this partof the world.

In the context of the present topic, I would like to drawattention to an enigmatic potsherd from the Bronze Agesettlement on Failaka excavated by the Danes [Fig. 8a].Regretfully, not much is known about this sherd except

that it is categorised as a miscellaneous piece, indicatingthat it does not fit into any of the 132 pottery types andsubtypes encountered in these excavations. However, allbasic information is missing, and, apart from the inciseddecoration, the only useful piece of information concernsthe thickness of the sherd, i.e. 22 mm (Hjlund 1987: 101).In the overall context of the Danish excavations, thesherd must be dated somewhere between ca. 1900 and1200 B.C. The thickness of the sherd indicates that it musthave belonged to a very large vessel. Maybe this incisedanimal possibly a feline (Hjlund 1987: 101) or a boarcan be tentatively linked with a hunting scene, engravedin a similar fashion, on a large open storage jar from

Gonur 1 South [Fig. 8b]? The incised animal on the sherdmost certainly does not recall any of the felines depictedon Early Dilmun seals (e.g. Kjrum 1983: nos. 87, 214, 220-221, 223), while boars are unattested altogether.4 Eventhough the execution of the animal itself is very inept,the indication of hair and musculature recalls a similarcharacteristic attested on many of the BMAC metal ves-sels (e.g. Sarianidi 1986a: Figs. 57-63; Francfort 1994: Figs.1.9-11, 9.2, 10.1a-d, 10.2), seals (Sarianidi 1998: infra) andelaborate ceremonial axes (e.g. Pittman 1984: Fig. 36;Maxwell-Hyslop 1987).

In sum, the sealing practice, the location of the sealingon the vessel, the vessels shape, as well as its ware, and

the absolute chronology do not contradict or exclude thepossibility that the Failaka vessel was a BMAC import.However, due to the absence of more detailed informa-tion on the Failaka specimen these variables are merelycircumstantial and have little merit of their own eventhough the accumulation of this type of evidence doeslend support to a possible Central Asian origin. It is there-fore worth reiterating that dating and identifying theoriginal provenance of the cylinder seal-impressed jarfrom the Temple Tower is a package-deal: each indi-vidual variable can be linked to its production processand all variables are thus interconnected. Subsequently,no parallels discussed prior to this study withstand closescrutiny as in each case one or more of these parametersare not met. The best indicator for its original prove-nance (place and time) is therefore the cylinder seal usedto create the impression on the vessels shoulder while it

Fig. 8: Large jars with incised animal decoration. A) Failaka (Hjlund1987: Fig. 436); B) Gonur 1 South (Sarianidi 1993a: Fig. 8).

was still within the confinement of the potters work-shop.

The sealIn his study, Calvet (1996: 63) states that the closest paral-lels for the scene a bird of prey devouring an herbi-vore can be found in the Kassite glyptic tradition. It istrue that this design exists on a limited number of Kassiteseals (e.g. Matthews 1990: nos. 24, 27, 128, 152, 241, 275)but none of these depictions correspond in detail to theone on the storage jar from Failaka [Fig. 9]. Perhaps the

most important difference is the absence of cuneiformwriting, while inscriptions form an essential element ofall the relevant Kassite seals. Other important discrepan-cies concern the victim who, in Kassite iconography, isalways a gazelle, and the fact that Kassite specimens showa pair of birds devouring a dead animal. Furthermore, thisscene is always set in a separate, but secondary, frieze.Thus, close inspection reveals that the suggested similari-ties between the scene from Failaka and Kassite speci-mens are rather cursory. A Kassite link is also tenuousbecause neither the ceramic data nor the sealing practicecorrespond with the extensive Kassite material fromBabylonia or the Arabian Gulf.

Predatory birds with unfolded wings attacking an ani-mal are very rare in late 3rd and 2nd millennium iconog-raphy of the Near East. I am aware of only two relevantcylinder seals. Regretfully, both have been acquired on

B

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Fig. 9: Kassite cylinder seal designs with predatory birds devouringherbivores (after Matthews 1990: Ill. 24, 27).

Fig. 10: BMAC-Indus hybrid cylinder seal with predatory bird attackinga rhinoceros (Collon 1987: no. 614).

the antique market a long time ago and therefore lackany reliable information regarding their original prove-nances.

The first is the example from the Gulbenkian Museum

which shows a predatory bird in a stance highly compa-rable to the eagle from Failaka, even though the wings aredepicted in a different configuration. Another potentiallink with the Failaka design is the star and (winged) solardisc occupying the space directly above the extendedwings of the bird. Uncertainty pertains with regard to thedate and origin of this cylinder. A late Mitannian/MiddleAssyrian date (ca. 13th-12th century B.C.) seems the mostlikely, though it may also be a Late Babylonian seal copy-ing Mitannian/Middle Assyrian motifs (Lambert 1979: 20).Both possibilities place this seal squarely beyond theupper chronological limit of the Temple Tower, while italso makes the seal inconsequential for this discussion asit post-dates similar designs on BMAC sphragistics.

The second cylinder is part of the De Clerq collectionand has been attributed to the Indus Civilisation (Corbiau1936: 101; Collon 1987: 144; Parpola 1994: no. 38) [Fig. 10].

It is true that the overall style and most of the elementsare unmistakably Harappan, thus indicating that the cyl-inder was produced in the Indus Valley. There are, how-ever, strong indications that this is a hybrid piece as thedesign, which is divided into two registers (N.B.: disre-gard the line running laterally through the engraving),

also displays elements that can be contributed to theBMAC. The most obvious are the snakes held in the handsof the schematically depicted human figure in the lowerregister. These animals clearly recall BMAC depictions ofhorned snake-dragons (especially Sarianidi 1998: no.1648.2; cf. also Collon 1987: no. 607). The predatory birdwith extended claws and unfolded wings attacking arhinoceros! is unique for the Indus Civilisation. Subse-quently, it may be considered a BMAC element as it ismore popular in the Central Asian corpus.5 Interestingly,other scholars have already linked designs on other Induscylinders to the BMAC (e.g. During Caspers 1997: 258-259,262; Winkelmann 1997: 276; Parpola 2002: 259, 284).

The Oxus Civilisation (ca. 2300-1750 B.C.) is the onlyBronze Age culture in the region that depicts predatorybirds in significant numbers.6 In fact, the abundance ofthese birds has no equivalence elsewhere (Francfort1994: 408). The eagle is the most important animal repre-sented on artefacts from Bactria and Margiana. This is initself rather remarkable as the regional differentiation ofthe BMAC is also reflected in the iconography: sphra-gistics from Margiana tend to emphasise oasis flora andfauna, while Bactrian ones favour species more native tothe foothills and mountains of Afghanistan (Hiebert1994a: 151, 161; 1994b: 378-379).

In two fascinating exposs (Francfort 1993; 1994), the

iconography of the Oxus Civilisation is characterised as asystematic set of hierarchical relations in which preda-tory birds appear in three manifestations, each corre-sponding with a different ideological level: the eagle deity(a first order deity), the bird-man (a second order de-ity), and the eagle in simple bird form. Its most popularposture is the so-called heraldic pose and in this manifes-tation it clearly represents one of the principal deities inthe pantheon of the Oxus Civilisation (Sarianidi 1986b). Inthe BMAC, eagles are much less fashionable on cylindersthan they are on stamp seals. On cylinders, eagles aredepicted in a wide variety of poses primarily in morenaturalistic settings.7 However, they do constitute a major

element in all the designs of the cylinders impressed onlarge storage jars. The predominance for predatory birdsmay be a coincidence, but given the relative scarcity ofeagles on BMAC cylinders, this seems highly unlikely.Since the eagle is a majestic and powerful avian predatorthat occurs in large numbers in both Bactria and Margi-ana (Francfort 1993: 201), it is the perfect icon for theruling elite. Large storage jars with impressions of cylin-der seals prominently displaying eagles in their designthus may allude to the involvement of major institutionsor, more likely, of high-ranking officials associated withsuch institutions in the production of these vesselsand/or the products stored inside them.

The snake is the other prominent animal in Oxus ideol-ogy; in fact, it has been maintained that nowhere in theNear East did snakes play such an important role as theydid in the Oxus Civilisation (Francfort 1993: 203; Sarianidi


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Fig. 11: BMAC designs with eagles attacking and devouring various prey. A) Snake (Sarianidi 1998: no. 1762.1); B) Tortoise (?) (Sarianidi 1998: no.1779.2; Fig. 3); C) Human (Sarianidi 1998: no. 1234; Fig. 3); D) Human (Sarianidi 1998: no. 914.2; Fig. 3).

1998: 34). Like the eagle, it features in different manifes-tations: the man-serpent (a first order deity), the snakedragon (a second order deity) and the snake.

The Failaka design is thus adorned with third ordermanifestations of the two most important animals inBMAC ideology.

A number of other features also allude to a link be-tween the seal-impressed jar and the Bactrian-MargianaArchaeological Complex.8

Many of the visual characteristics of the Failaka designare created by the application of different lapidary tech-niques: the bodies of the animals are completely solid,devoid of any detail, while the wings and tails of the ea-gles are executed in a deep linear engraving revealing theuse of a cutting-wheel and the eyes of all animals appearto have been made with a compass drill. The large circu-lar compass-drilled heads most prominently displayedin the eagles is one of the characteristic features of the

mature Dilmun style IA, which originated during the CityIIb period, but it also features in countless designs onBMAC stamp and cylinder seals. The detailed execution ofthe layered structure of the wings is also widespreadamong BMAC predatory birds on seals (e.g. Sarianidi 1998:nos. 942.1, 982.1, 984.1, 985.1, 985.2, 991.1, 1240, 1512), onsmall figures decorating the rim of metal vessels (e.g.Pittman 1984: Fig. 31; Hiebert 1994a: Fig. 7.27) and onpendants (e.g. Pottier 1984: no. 321?; Amiet 1989: 173 withreferences to BMAC pendants in Susa and Ebla, Fig. 19c).Even though the duplicated main scene from Failaka atfirst sight appears to be a realistic representation, theraptor does display several artificial peculiarities: while

its body is portrayed in profile, the tail and wings aredepicted en face and the legs are clearly placed in front ofone another. Interestingly, these are the parts of the bodythat generate the dynamics of the scene. Together with

the large beak and massive talons, they also emphasisethe majestic and ferocious nature of the eagles. The de-tailed execution of these characteristic features particu-larly the anatomy of the unfolded wings undeniablyindicates first-hand knowledge of the animals. A similarconvention to emphasise characteristic features of ani-mals is attested on a wide variety of items from the BMAC(e.g. Sarianidi 1981: Figs. 2-6, 9, 17-18; Amiet 1986: Figs.122, 171, 181-182, 184-186, 189, 194-196). The awkward-ness in the representation of the eagles in the Failakadesign is therefore due to convention rather than unfa-miliarity with the topic.

Another aspect that seems to tie the Failaka seal to Cen-tral Asian glyptics is the compositional relation betweenindividual elements. The bulk of BMAC designs follow anantagonistic setting, reflecting the hierarchical orderthrough binary oppositions (Francfort 1993; 1994). Theprincipal scene of the Failaka seal repeated twicedepicts the most direct of antagonistic relationships: a

large eagle is ferociously attacking and devouring afallen, yet still alive, bovine. Even though there is nodirect parallel for this particular scene, one of the im-pressed cylinders on the first vessel from Taip depecomes very close in that it has the same topic: wingedbirds of prey attacking zebus. Eagles have been depictedon BMAC amulets, three-sided prisms and cylinder sealsin identical or comparable poses to the one from Failakabut with other victims: primarily with snakes (Lambert1986: Tf. 12.1, 12.3a-b; Sarianidi 1998: nos. 296?, 892.1?,1010.2 with the snake above the eagle, 1036.2?, 1099.2,1714.2?, 1762.1), though also with human figures (Sari-anidi 1998: nos. 914, 1234), quadrupeds (Sarianidi 1998:

nos. 947.2, 1456, 1547?), as well as a tortoise (?) (Sarianidi1998: no. 1779.2) [Fig. 11].9 Probably related to these are anumber of seals in which an eagle is engaged in a muchmore dramatic struggle with a large snake: the eagle is

B

DC

A


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Table 1: BMAC seal designs with birds of prey in an attacking posture provenance reference

number ofwings

number oftalons

beak to-wards prey

victim type of seal

1 2 1 2

Tell F6 Pic 1990: no. 26 X X X bovine impression cylinder

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 229 X X X snake copper stamp

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 230 X X X snake copper stamp

Gonur 1 South Sarianidi 1998: no. 1762.1 X X X snake impression cylinder

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 296 X X X snake ? copper stamp

Gonur 1 South Sarianidi 1998: no. 1568 X X X snake copper stamp

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 892.1 X ? ? X ? amulet

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 1099.2 X X ? snake amulet

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 1234 X X X human figure stone stamp

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 1475 X X snake cylinder

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 1547 ? ? X ? ungulate three-sided prism

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 947.2 X X X predator ? amuletTaip 1 Sarianidi 1998: no. 1774 X X X zebu impression cylinder

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 914 X X X human figure amulet

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 931.2 X X X snake amulet

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 1010.2 X X X snake amulet

Togolok 1 Sarianidi 1998: no. 1629.1 X X X snake amulet

Margiana Sarianidi 1998: no. 1714.2 X X X snake ? amulet

Akra Lambert 1986: Tf. 12.1 X X X snake cylinder

Akra Lambert 1986: Tf. 12.3a X X X snake amulet

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 1036.2 X X X snake ? amulet

Gonur 1 South Sarianidi 1998: no. 1779.2 X X X tortoise ? three-sided stamp

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 1456 X ungulate cylinder

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 969.1 X X X none amulet

Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 1002.1 X X none amulet




Gonur 1 South Sarianidi 1998: no. 1626.1 X X none amulet


Margiana Sarianidi 1998: no. 1655.1 X X none amulet


Bactria Sarianidi 1998: no. 1512 X X none three-sided prism

picking the tail-end of the snake, while the snakes headis turned with open jaws towards the bird (Sarianidi 1998:nos. 229, 230, 931.2, 1568; 1629.1). In at least 20 of the 21designs the eagle is depicted with unfolded wings (sixdisplay two separate wings, 14 show only one wing), 19clearly show extended claws, and its rapacious beak isdirected to-wards the victim in a similar amount of de-signs [Table 1].

One of the characteristic features of the Failaka cylin-der is the duplication of its main scene. This feature isshared with at least two other BMAC cylinders; interest-ingly, and perhaps not insignificantly, both designs areconcerned with a predatory bird attacking a snake (Saria-nidi 1998: no. 1475 repeating the scene twice; Lambert

1986: Pl. 12.1 = Collon 1987: no. 598 repeating the scenethree times, pers. comm. Dominique Collon). Since one ofthe effects of cylinders was to produce a continuous,repetitious pattern over a large area, the same effectcould also be achieved by impressing cylinders with sin-gle oppositional pairs (horizontal orientation: Sarianidi1998: no. 1354; vertical orientation: Sarianidi 1998: nos.1428, 1438-1447, 1456, 1471). Identical figurative decora-tions also appear on three of the three-sided prisms (Sari-anidi 1998: nos. 1504, 1520-1521).

It has so far been maintained that the rosette, crescentmoon and snake on the Failaka seal are mere filling mo-tifs. A literal reading of the design as a naturalisticscene probably prompted this attitude. Since these ele-


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ments do not seem to relate to this scene, they are inter-preted as filling symbols linked to some form of horrorvacuii attested in the Oxus iconography (Sarianidi 1998:24). The problem with this attitude is that it does not takeinto account the iconographical tradition and the beliefsystem that underlies the decoration. It should be said

that this attitude is logical since prior to this study it didnot prove possible to assign the item to a specific culture.In light of the previous observations, it is worth examin-ing the entire design against, and dissecting it accordingto, the BMAC belief system. The result of such an exerciseis that the Failaka sealing displays two (and perhaps eventhree) additional antagonistic relationships. The first setis dictated by the layout of the design and consists of thecrescent moon and the rosette. The abstract rosetteseems to be somewhat out of place amongst the other,realistically executed, elements of the design. Given itscompositional proximity to the crescent moon, it istempting to see the rosette as a stylised representation of

another important celestial body, viz. the sun. This inter-pretation is supported by other sphragistics of the OxusCivilisation. The most convincing piece of evidence is abifacial lapis lazuli amulet where the two are depictedon both faces next to one another (Amiet 1974: Fig. 6). Co-occurrences of sun and crescent moon probably alsofeature on two copper stamp seals displaying humanswith drinking vessels (Sarianidi 1998: nos. 47, 49.2) and ona conical prism (Sarianidi 1998: no. 1401). Curiously, ce-lestial elements have so far not been included in any ofthe discussions on Oxus ideology,10 which is somewhatsurprising given the underlying interpretation of theiconography as presented by Francfort (1993; 1994). Con-

comitantly, many compartmented and figurative seals instone and metal are shaped as rosettes, flowers, starsand crescents or have these as a principal element intheir design. Similar elements are also found on amuletsand cylinder seals of the BMAC as part of compositescenes, although it is often unclear with what they can beassociated, if at all.

On the Failaka design, a coiled snake occupies the spaceabove the other eagles wings. Snakes and eagles are notonly the principal animals in BMAC iconography, they arealso the archetypical adversaries (e.g. Francfort 1994: 408,411, 417; Sarianidi 1998: 43; 1998: 20). The orientation ofthe animals head suggests, however, that the Failaka

snake probably does not form a compositional unit withthe eagle, but rather with the crescent moon. In the OxusCivilisation, snakes are conventionally depicted with anundulating body, so the one in the Failaka design is anatypical representation. Its posture is more reminiscentof snakes decorating the base of BMAC stamp-cylinders,while a number of figurative copper/bronze stamp sealsactually emulate its pose (e.g. Amiet 1989: Fig. 16b; Saria-nidi 1998: nos. 232-236, 238, 240, 241). Similar snakes alsodecorate a metal dish and a chlorite box from Shahdad(Hakemi & Sajjadi 1989: Fig. 3 and 6 respectively). A figu-rative bronze/copper seal has a winged bird-man sittingon a partly coiled snake (Sarianidi 1998: no. 13). Thecoiled body does not necessarily have to indicate offen-sive aggression on the part of the animal; it may equallybe interpreted as a defensive posture. Either way, it doesreflect the antagonistic relation between the moon and

the snake. This is also amply illustrated by a copper/bronze compartmented seal consisting of a mirror imageof a coiled snake with a crescent moon (Baghestani 1997:no. 456). The heads of both animals are orientated to-wards a crescent moon and their body posture indicatethat they are either attacking the crescent moon or are

threatened by it [Fig. 12]. The duplicated scene of this sealtherefore strongly resembles one of the secondary sceneson the Failaka impression. While the relation betweencrescent moon and snake appears to have been antago-nistic, there are indications that the relation between sunand snake appears to have been much more benign. Thefirst piece of supportive evidence is formed by the deco-rated exterior of an illegally excavated small chloritebowl from north Afghanistan [Fig. 13]. The incised deco-ration prominently displays an undulating snake-dragonwith numerous suns adorning its body, thus indicating apossible ideological link between the snake-dragon andthe sun in the Oxus Civilisation. The second consists of a

figurative copper/bronze seal (Sarianidi 1998: no. 263)showing a rosette/sun surrounded by four snakes. Thesesnakes have their head turned backwards while their tailsare turned up away from the sun. Ergo, the snakes in thiscomposition seem to be protecting the sun.

The design impressed on the large storage jar from theTemple Tower thus can be seen as a composition con-sisting of three (and possibly four) binary oppositionsexpressed in the iconographic vocabulary of the Bactrian-Margiana Archaeological Complex. Analysis on a moreabstract level makes the close relation with BMAC ideol-ogy even more apparent. According to Francfort (1993:202), most of the iconography displays a wide range of ex-

pressions that refer to the vernal equinox, which signalsthe end of the dry season and inaugurates the return ofseasonal rains and inundations. This focus is hardly sur-prising given the economic dependence of the sedentarypopulation of both regions on technologically simpleirrigation methods (cf. Gentelle 1989 for Bactria and Cre-maschi 1998 for Margiana). Like many agricultural socie-ties, the BMAC probably closely monitored celestialmovements and events in order to predict the pivotalseasonal changes. The co-occurrence of the crescentmoon and the sun on the Failaka design may very wellallude to this specific point in the annual natural cyclewhen night and day have regained a balance; the March

equinox also inaugurates the predominance of day overnight as days become longer. Besides its importance forthe agricultural cycle, March-April is also the season ofbirth of animals, of sudden growth of the natural steppevegetation, and of a return to the environs of the BMAC ofhibernating animals as well as migratory birds, amongthem the short-toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) (Francfort1993: 201-202; 1994: 411-414). This period is thus linkedwith economic and ideological fertility and fecundity aswell as with renewal of life. In all discussions, the princi-pal creature associated ideologically with the return ofrains and inundations is the dragon, more specifically theserpent-dragon whose third order manifestations arethe snake and the lion (Francfort 1993: 199). The snake isa chthonic creature linked with the conceptions of transi-tion and transformation as well as with rejuvenation. Inthe BMAC, the snake is clearly associated with fertility as


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Fig. 12: Compartmented seal with two coiled snakes attacking crescentmoons (Baghestani 1997: no. 456).

Fig. 13: Chlorite bowl with incised decoration of a celestial snake (Pot-tier 1984: Pl. XXVIII no. 225).

it is (in its second and third order manifestations) de-picted ubiquitously underneath other real or fabulouscreatures moving either towards or away from the genitalarea of other animals, including birds (e.g. Pottier 1984:85-86; Francfort 1993: 202; Sarianidi 1998: 35-36).11 Closelyrelated is its connection with the mastery of water; a linkmost clearly expressed in the statuettes of serpent-menwho clasp a vessel under one of their arms (Francfort1994: 409-410, Figs. 3-5). The annual surge of water is due

to the spring thaw in the Pamir Mountains and the HinduKush; it is the mountains that provides the Bactrian-Margiana oases cultures with the inundations on whichthey relied for their subsistence. This pivotal event maybe expressed on numerous sphragistics by the combina-tion of snakes with mountains (Pottier 1984: 80-81;Francfort 1994: 202). Concomitantly, figurative ceremo-nial axes demonstrate that in the BMAC the snake manifested as a dragon is also associated with leader-ship and political authority (Francfort 1994: 412; Mooreyreferred to by Lamberg-Karlovsky 1994: 401). A detailedstudy of the different manifestations and the variousnarrative contexts of the snake may prove to be veryinteresting and would probably reveal a clearer pictureinto the nature of this animal. The ambivalent attitude isalmost certainly a reflection of the cyclical nature of theseasonal changes: the fluctuations of precipitation and

water regimes dictate not only a period of prosperity butalso one of hardships. Ergo, the snake not only unleashesthe water, it is also capable of withholding it (cf. Francfort1993: 202).

The three filling motifs of the Failaka design thus ap-pear to be associated with the key spring transformation

moment that links the physical world with the spiritualone of the BMAC. As it turns out, its principal scene canalso be linked to the equinox. The preying of the eagle onthe bovine should not only be seen as a naturalistic scene;it is also laden with ideological meaning and significance.More precisely, it is a third order representation of theinevitable preponderance of the wet season over the dryseason. This ideological dimension may explain the pecu-liarities of the principal scene already observed by Calvet(1996: 58-59), who was unable to provide satisfactoryanswers. These are the large size of the eagle when com-pared to that of the bovine and the absence of horns onthe bovine even though it is lacking female attributes.

Calvet (1996: 59, 62) explains the lack of horns by consid-ering the bovine to have been a juvenile specimen. How-ever, BMAC sphragistics normally depict mature cattlewith sizeable horns and a prominent hump. Calvet pro-vides no answer as to the disproportionately large dimen-sions of the eagle. I believe that the scene can be under-stood as an antagonistic design whose impact is enhancedby emphasising the powerful, virile characteristic fea-tures of the eagle, while at the same time stripping thebovine of similar characteristics which are normallyexpressed by means of large horns and prominent muscu-lature. The absence of horns may also be linked to thefact that they are divine attributes (Francfort 1993: 192)

and as such are expressions of power and strength. Thehorns may have been deliberately omitted since the solepurpose of the bovine in the Failaka design was to act asthe docile, emasculated victim of the virile aggressiveeagle. The physical prowess and superiority of the eagle isemphasised even more by a significant reduction of thebody-size of the bovine. Interestingly, one of the cylin-ders with a vertical design (Sarianidi 1998: no. 1456) aswell as a three-sided prism (Sarianidi 1998: no. 1547)show a crudely executed bird and an ungulate in a com-parable stance, with the two protagonists rendered inequal size as on the Failaka design. Displaying the victimof the struggle in a diminutive fashion is wide-spread

amongst BMAC sphragistics: amulets show a lion-likemonster devouring a disproportionately small bull (Saria-nidi 1989: nos. 929.2, 965.2), a winged monster attacking alying human figure (Sarianidi 1998: no. 1621.2), an enor-mous snake with a struggling/resisting human figure inits mouth (Sarianidi 1998: no. 1010.1), and a large snakeattacking a goat (Sarianidi 1998: no. 990.2), two stamp-cylinders have a large snake attacking a human figure on one cylinder dressed up as a monkey (Sarianidi 1998:nos. 1427; 1429?), and finally, a large snake devouring ahare is depicted on the lower half of a biconical cop-per/bronze cosmetic vial (Sarianidi 1994b: Fig. 6). At thesame time, the bovines thin body and relatively largeeyes also appear to indicate that this was a feeble animal,weakened by the (long) dry period characterised by allsorts of hardships, food shortages and possibly even dep-rivation. The realistic scene of an eagle preying on a bo-


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vine can thus be taken as a third order representation ofthe concept of the inevitability of the natural cycle: thedry season is terminated by the advent of the spring. Thisexplanation of the Failaka design is completely in tunewith the observation that the iconography and ideologyof the Oxus Civilisation is an original system of images

that represent cycles of nature and life (Francfort 1993:181).It thus appears that the ideological shift that can be

discerned in the sphragistics at the beginning of the 2ndmillennium, with the advent of the Bactrian-MargianaArchaeological Complex (Hiebert 1994a: 175-176; Salva-tori 2000: 138), does notrepresent a radical change in thereligious belief system. Most likely this change is inducedby an organisational shift of Oxus society, whereby BMACiconography reflects a militaristic/hunting ideology, em-phasising power, physical force and domination. This newemphasis is exemplified in the Failaka design by the fero-cious nature of the majestic eagle, which is not only a

powerful, virile emblem for the local elite, but also epito-mises the hunter as it patrols the sky and kills its prey ina dramatic act of precision and accuracy.

From the impression on the storage jar the height anddiameter of the Failaka seal has been reconstructed. It isclear that this seal was significantly larger than any of thepublished BMAC specimens. Interestingly, Indus-BMAChybrid pieces are larger than those of the BMAC, rangingfrom 20, 25, 26, 34 to 36 mm in height (respectively Collon1987: nos. 605, 607, 609, 610, 614). If the volume of the cyl-inder is taken into account, the Failaka seal is still biggerthan any of the other BMAC cylinders and stamp-cylin-

ders, but it is no longer exceptional (Sarianidi 1998: infra).However, size and volume are only two aspects that mayhave determined the value of the seal. Another aspectthat needs to be taken into account is the desirability andconnotations attributed to the raw materials from whichthey were made an important field of which we knownvirtually nothing. Its large size and high quality executionseem to suggest that the owner of the Failaka seal had animportant socio-political and/or religious status. And thisis completely compatible with the hypothesis that cylin-der seals used to impress storage jars prior to firing be-longed to high-ranking officials associated with majorinstitutions.

The seal-impressed jar from Failaka: BMAC or not?It is clear that the seal-impressed jar from Failaka cannotbe linked to any of the indigenous iconographic traditionsin Dilmun. Equally, none of the proposed parallels fromthe Near East surpasses an examination against the com-plete set of variables. However, the available evidencedoes support a Central Asian origin for the Failaka vessel:the iconographical elements concur (much better) withthat of the BMAC, while their overall setting indicates anintricate familiarity with BMAC ideology. In the northernpart of the Arabian Gulf stamp seals have been foundwhich are linked to the BMAC, either morphologically oriconographically (During Caspers 1994c; 1996; Olijdam inprep a). However, in virtually all cases the local elementunequivocally predominates.12 Given the production of

pseudo-sealed jars on Bahrain during the City IIb periodi.e. type B75 pottery and the widespread occurrence oflocal imitations of BMAC artefacts in the northern part ofthe Gulf during the City IIb-c period, the possibility of aDilmunite copy of a Central Asian prototype cannot bedismissed. However, since it had already been determined

that the Failaka jar cannot be attributed to any of thelocal ceramic traditions it seems highly improbable that itwas manufactured in the Gulf. Even though the Failakadesign is not an archetypical representative of BMACsphragistics, I feel confident that the cylinder seal-impressed storage jar from the Temple Tower is indeedan imported item from the Bactrian-Margiana Archaeo-logical Complex.

The BM AC jar in an Early Dilmun religious contextFinally, one more question needs to be addressed: whatwas a large storage jar from Central Asia doing in a reli-

gious building in Dilmun?The scale of its foundations and the applied construc-tion techniques unequivocally indicate that this was noordinary temple; textual information indicates that thisbuilding may well have been the principal place of wor-ship for Dilmuns patron deity. If this is indeed the case, itis hardly inappropriate to find exotica within the templeprecinct. It is striking and also significant that eventhough Babylonia and Elam were geographically close,these exotica appear to have come from the remote re-gions of Central Asia, while other locally produced itemsfrom the temple precinct have been inspired by BMACprototypes. I have already argued elsewhere about the

existence of a distinctly Central Asian element in EarlyDilmuns religious life and practices (Olijdam 2001; inprep a). Given the quantity of BMAC items and the extentof Central Asian influences during the City II period, thereare ample grounds to conclude that regular contact be-tween the two areas was maintained. Direct commercialrelations between Dilmun and a number of polities situ-ated along the coast most of them active partners inthe Gulf trade-network have been widely discussed, notleast by E.C.L. During Caspers (see her extensive bibliog-raphy elsewhere in this volume). Similar contacts withinland areas are much more elusive as the nature and theamount of material seem at best to indicate casual con-

tacts, which in general allude to an indirect distributionpattern. Discussing regular long-distance relations inpurely mercantile terms, however, is a heavily biased andincomplete exercise as such relations could only be main-tained if alliances between local elites was sustained.Textual evidence for this is preserved in the archives ofthe palace at Mari (Groneberg 1992).13 In the correspon-dence between Yasmah-Addu, the ruler of Mari, and hisfather Sams-Addu, king of ubat-Enlil, a group of textshas been found that deal with a visit by a diplomaticparty from Dilmun. This group of important dignitariesare said to have brought with them presents for Sams-Addu (Eidem & Hjlund 1997: 26). In the correspondencedealing with the final phase of their visit, Sams-Adduordered his son to make arrangements for the groups

journey from Mari back to Babylon. Furthermore, Yas-mah-Addu was instructed to give the envoys a kisikkm-


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Fig. 14: Dilmun seal from Afghanistan (Sarianidi 1986a: drawing on p.231).

vessel containing three litres of cypress oil a resinousaromatic used primarily for anointing statues of gods aswell as wealthy people as a present for the king of Dil-mun. An administrative document from the same siteconfirms that (only) 2 litres of cypress oil were takenfrom the palaces storage room for this purpose. Thesetexts are directly relevant for our understanding of therelations between Dilmun and Central Asia for a numberof reasons. First, because this documented visit took placeat the end of Sams-Addus reign, ca. 1775 B.C., corre-sponding to late City II of the Qalat al-Bahrain sequenceand to the latter part of Period 2 in Margiana. Secondly,

because it exemplifies the involvement of the Dilmunking in maintaining long-distance relations with foreignpolities.14 And finally, because the only present for theking of Dilmun explicitly mentioned in this correspon-dence is a ceramic jar containing a substance used pri-marily in cultic ceremonies.

While a wealth of BMAC material has been found inmany of the neighbouring areas, including the inhospita-ble region of eastern Sinkiang, imported finished itemsfrom outside Central Asia are virtually non-existent inthe oases of Margiana and Bactria. At the same time, ex-ternal influence on the development of the small-findsassemblage of the BMAC is negligible (Hiebert 1994a: 148,

161; 1994b). This is taken by some as evidence for unidi-rectional, extractive and expansionist contacts, where-by Bactrian and Margiana people were sent to resourceareas in order to obtain the much needed raw materialseither through trade or by force (Hiebert & Lamberg-Karlovsky 1992; Hiebert 1994a: 141, 164, 178). Two sealsfound in Afghanistan may prove to be important to bal-ance this view as they are clear imports and may be in-dicative of direct contact with Babylonia and Dilmunduring the latter stages of the BMAC. The first is a cylin-der seal found in the hills near Herat (Collon 1987: 138,no. 580). This cylinder bears a presentation scene withtwo standing figures, including a correct cuneiform in-scription an Old Babylonian design that became verypopular during the 18th century B.C. Even more spectacu-lar is the Dilmun stamp seal published in drawing bySarianidi (1986a: 231, right margin) [Fig. 14]. Regretfully,

the text does not refer to this find and so its provenanceremains unknown. The design seems to consist of tworampant bulls with merging bodies, rendered back-to-back. In the field between the bulls a stylised plant (?) canbe discerned, the bottom right appears to have a crescentmoon or are these the horns of a third bovine? The design

is very similar to that of a Dilmun seal found at theHarappan port site of Dwarka (Crawford 1998: Fig. 5.7).Double animals, while rare, have been found in Dilmun(Failaka: Kjrum 1983: nos. 255, 260; Bahrain: Kjrum1994: no. 17; Crawford 2001: nos. 1870:18, 5099:32, 5510:02,6583: 01). Pending detailed publication of Saar settlement,the seal from Qalat al-Bahrain is the only specimen thatcan be securely dated according to its stratigraphicalcontext: City IIc. The overall dating of Saar settlementstrongly suggests a dating somewhere within the City IIb-c period. The morphology of the seal found in Afghani-stan, the ornamentation on its reverse, as well as the styleof the engraving all unequivocally point to the City IIb-c

period. Both seals are thus roughly contemporary withthe diplomatic exchanges from the Mari correspondence.Regretfully neither can be placed in a proper archaeo-logical context, which makes it impossible to ascertainhow and, more importantly, when these items came toBactria, but it at least allows a tantalising glimpse of bi-lateral contacts between these remote areas during theearly 2nd millennium B.C. The fact that very few parallelscan be found amongst the extensive glyptic collectionfrom Failaka seems to suggest that the Afghan seal wasproduced in a workshop somewhere in the northern partof Bahrain.

Given the size, shape and weight of the seal-impressedstorage jar excavated at Failaka, transporting it fromCentral Asia in all likelihood via the territory of theHarappan Civilisation15 to the Arabian Gulf across de-serts, mountains, rivers and open waters represents amajor achievement. It is therefore fair to assume that the

jar and its content must have been considered an exclu-sive and highly valued commodity. Unfortunately, no in-formation is available about the content of the large stor-age jar from the Temple Tower as the sherds have notbeen chemically analysed. In Margiana, khomi have beenfound in a wide range of contexts. Chemical analysis ofsuch vessels from Togolok 21 and Gonur 1 South has re-

vealed traces of ephedra, cannabis, hemp and poppy, thussuggesting that at least some of them were used to storeand possibly ferment hallucinogenic substances (Sarianidi1993a: 26-27; 1993b: 252; 1993c: 8; 1994c: 388). These sub-stances are believed to have been used for ritual libations,possibly of the soma/haoma type. Even though the exactidentification of the content of these vessels is not yetsettled satisfactorily (pers. comm. Asko Parpola), it hasbeen noted that narcotic beverages were probably widelyused in shamanistic practices in Eurasia from very earlytimes (Francfort 1994: 415). For the BMAC, Sarianidi(1998: 14) even speaks of a cult of hallucinogenic drinks.The archaeological evidence does not support such aclaim, but there is clear evidence that indicates the im-portance of narcotic plants in the BMAC: not only frombotanical remains (Sarianidi 1998: 45; Parpola 1995: 371),but also from seals and amulets (for a positive identifica-


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Fig. 15: High-relief decoration on the body of a BMAC copper/bronzecosmetic vial (after Sarianidi 1994b: Fig. 7).

tion cf. Sarianidi 1998: 23, 45). At the same time, viticul-ture was practiced in the BMAC, as demonstrated by therecovery of grape pips and stems (Hiebert 1994a: 132;Miller 1999: 18) and representations of bunches of grapes

(Sarianidi 1998: nos. 492?, 756). Grapes/raisins may verywell have been used to produce alcoholic drinks. In fact,its inclusion in North Bactrian graves (Askarov men-tioned in Parpola 2001: 86) together with animalbones seems to indicate its use in funerary rituals. It hasbeen suggested that (at least some of) the white roomsencountered in BMAC religious centres were productionareas analogous to the madbasas in the Gulf (Hiebert1994a: 124-126). It is therefore not unlikely that in thecase of the BMAC these rooms may well have been used tomanufacture intoxicating and possibly hallucinogenicsubstances (Sarianidi 1994c: 390; 1998: 14). The architec-tural setting of these rooms implies that these substances

were closely linked with official religious practices. In theabsence of written sources, iconography is very impor-tant in providing clues as to the nature of BMAC rituals.For the present discussion, the decoration on a copper/bronze cosmetic vial is particularly interesting [Fig. 15].Its design shows several animals engaged in human ac-tivities. The central scene consists of a monkey, standingbefore a seated ibex, holding in its hand a vessel com-monly found in BMAC ceramic assemblages. A low table issituated between the two animals and on it lays a flatobject. It seems likely that the design depicts a ritual inwhich the monkey is offering food and drink to the ibex.The seated ibex recalls animals depicted in similar pos-tures on numerous figurative stamp seals and it probablyrepresents a deity in the Oxus pantheon (Sarianidi 1998:nos. 54-56). Animals engaged in human activities are alsodepicted on a BMAC cylinder from a grave at Togolok 1(Sarianidi 1998: no. 1765). It has been persuasively arguedthat these are not animals but are in fact humans moreprecisely religious experts dressed up as monkeys andwearing masks. The design is considered to representactual BMAC ritual activities (cf. Francfort 1993: 203),leaving the distinct possibility that this vial depictspriests involved in an official BMAC ritual. Behind thepriest doing the actual offering a large storage jar andanother priest holding a small cup are depicted. The topregister consists of an armed priest chasing an animal anda plant that may be identified as a poppy. These may beinterpreted as the preparatory stages of the ritual. Simi-lar or related offering scenes, in the literature also

dubbed banquet scene or conversation scene, appear on amyriad of Central Asian items and not infrequently sym-bols of the spring equinox are part of the overall scene the most elaborate can be found on the famous standardof Shadhad.

We know surprisingly little about religious practices inDilmun, but iconographic data strongly suggest that con-sumption of intoxicating drinks was an important part ofofficial religious ceremonies. This is confirmed by micro-morphological analysis of deposits inside the Early Dil-mun temple at Saar, which shows that food offerings,burning of aromatics, and libations probably formed thefocal point of City IIb-c temple rituals (Matthews et al.1997: 35-40). Several Dilmun seals depict food stuffs onoffering tables and in most cases these are accompaniedby jars or people drinking from cups (Kjrum 1983: nos.163-165, 167).16 Interestingly, Hjlund has linked a seriesof indigenous beakers and goblets (types B26-B28)

which have been found primarily in the Barbar Templeto a specific cultic use: it appears that they had a sacralfunction, which might be the sharing of a drink with thegod, i.e., one part consumed by man, the other part sacri-ficed to the god (libation) (1994b: 473). The importanceof libations and food offerings is also reflected in thedrain dug underneath the stone floor of the temple plat-form, next to the altars of Temple II at Barbar, whichwere created just for these purposes (pers. comm. Flem-ming Hjlund). Even though the interior of the TempleTower at Failaka is heavily destroyed, the remainingstructural elements from its interior have all been linkedwith the cleansing properties of water (Calvet & Pic 1990:

115-116). In the context of the importance of libations intemple rituals and the architectural accommodations atthe Barbar temple, it is not improbable that the drainfound in the middle of the temple floor transcends from amere utilitarian maintenance drain to a libation drain which, in analogy with the Barbar temple, probably alsoserved to dispose of animal blood from ritual sacrifices.Contrary to the temples at Saar and Barbar, no fixed altarhas been identified at the Temple Tower at F6. This maybe due to the deplorable state of the remains, but anothersolution seems more feasible: stamp seals from the tem-ple precinct and the associated settlement show free-standing, portable offering tables. In fact, several intri-

cately carved stone feet that parallel those of the altarsdepicted on the Failaka seals have been found in the tem-ple area (Calvet & Pic 1986: nos. 152, 160-162).

Interestingly, the kisikkm vessel mentioned in the Maricorrespondence used to transport the cypress oil to Dil-mun, has itself connotations with funerary rituals (Grone-berg 1992: 77). In Mesopotamia, funerary rituals werecentred on food offerings and libations. It has been sug-gested by Glassner that such rituals were popular in boththe Mari and Dilmun courts (referred to in Mry, Phillips& Calvet 1998: 178).17 During the early 2nd millenniumnot only the major courts in the Near East may haveshared many basic ideological values because of wide-spread Amorite infiltration in the power systems, butalso courts outside the Mesopotamian realm such as theBMAC may have had (more or less) compatible ideologi-cal systems. This would have helped to accommodate and


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consolidate regular contacts between the polities of a vastand intricate commercial network of which Dilmun wasone of the pivotal players during the early 2nd millen-nium B.C.

Concluding remarksDuring the last decade, a large variety of objects found inthe northern part of the Arabian Gulf has been linkedwith Central Asia. Elsewhere I have argued that severalitems found in key Early Dilmun religious contexts camefrom this region or were inspired by BMAC prototypes(Olijdam 2001). By analogy with the diplomatic relationsdocumented in the Mari archives it is possible that thecylinder seal-impressed jar travelled to the Gulf as part ofa gift exchange between the king of Dilmun and one ofthe rulers of the Bactrian-Margiana Archaeological Com-plex. The king of Dilmun could have donated the jar tothe priests of the .GAL.GU.LA in order to be used in the

cult of Inzak because it contained a substance that wasalso used in its homeland for ritual practices, particularlylibations.

Although no solid piece of evidence can be presented tosupport this hypothesis, I am sure that Inez would haveloved to contemplate and discuss the various far-reachingpossibilities.

AcknowledgementsMany thanks are due for Fredrik T. Hiebert for sharing hisfirst hand knowledge of Central Asian materials and forproviding photographs of two BMAC cylinder seal-

impressed vessels, i.e. Fig. 4a and 6. Yves Calvet answeredmy questions on the Failaka jar to the best of his abilityand thereby provided some additional information. Thephotograph reproduced here by courtesy of the MissionArchologique Franaise Koweitas Fig. 2a was kindly madeavailable by Jacqueline Gachet. Jack Frazier, Henri-PaulFrancfort, Fredrik T. Hiebert, Asko Parpola, Sandro Salva-tori and Pieter van de Velde all provided valuable sugges-tions and comments on earlier drafts.

Notes1. Late 3rd and early 2nd millennium Central Asian

imports are also attested in the southern part of theArabian Gulf referred to in cuneiform sources asMagan (for a review of this material see During Cas-pers 1992; 1994b; 1994c; 1996). The extremely richcollection of obvious imports from the late Umm an-Nar tomb at Tell Abraq (Potts 1993; 1994; 2000) repre-sents a unique case for the Arabian Gulf (Olijdam inprep b).

2. The Bronze Age chronology of Central Asia is compli-cated by a myriad of regional, and even site-specific,terminology. Its internal chronology is still ratherloosely defined not in the very least because of dif-ferent attitudes towards radiocarbon calibration be-tween Western and Soviet scholars as well as thearchaised nature of the styles in which many smallitems have been executed and the strong continuityof ceramics. In this paper Hieberts (1994a) chronol-

ogy and terminology will be used: the term Bactrian-Margiana Archaeological Complex is used to refer to acultural assemblage limited to period 2 in Margianaand its chronological equivalent in Bactria (ca. 1900-1750 B.C.). It refers to one specific phase of the OxusCivilisation, which in turn roughly coincides with the

Namazga V-VI assemblage (ca. 2300-1500 B.C.). An-other aspect that hampers assigning individual, aswell as all decontextualised, finds from the Oxus Civi-lisation to a particular timeframe is the ap-parentsys-tematic and large-scale looting and re-using of old gavegoods during the BMAC (Salvatori 1995: 50).

3. It does seem logical to assume an ideological distinc-tion between the designs on the cylinders and thedepictions that decorate the base. The former are al-ways unique (which seems to indicate that they referto individuals), the latter consist of a much more lim-ited number of symbols (which seems to indicate alink with larger units such as institutional, regional

and/or social groups). Little is known about thesocio-political structure of the Bactrian-Margiana Ar-chaeological Complex. It has been suggested that itwas organised into khanates, which may well havebeen structured along tribal divisions, characterisedby active competition between elite fractions andshifting power bases (Hiebert 1994a: 176-177; Lam-berg-Karlovsky 1994). Supportive evidence can befound in the Margiana settlement pattern that, be-cause of its lack of a predominant centre, may reflectterritorial fragmentation (Salvatori 1998: 58). Theoccurrence of a limited but significant group of in-digenous cylinders during Period 2 in Margiana

should be seen in light of a distinction strategy be-tween elite alliances competing for dominance. An-other important observation is the fact that, eventhough the socio-political structure and the materialculture and particularly the ideology is shared bythe various oases that make up the BMAC, indicatinga common origin, direct contact between them ap-pears to have been remarkably limited and may verywell have been maintained primarily via (transhu-mant) nomadic intermediaries (cf. Hiebert 1994a: 68-70, 135; 1994b: 386). The inception of sealing bullaeand jar stoppers during Period 2 may very well belinked to this type of exchange.

4. Felines and boars are completely absent in the MiddleDilmun iconography of the mid-2nd millennium B.C.

5. Several Indus-BMAC hybrids also feature birds stand-ing on the back of other animals (Collon 1987: nos.607, 609). The bird on the cylinder from Tell Suleimehin Iraq is clearly a predatory bird, as indicated by itsrapacious beak and large talons. Its depiction recallsone of the gold vessel fragments from the Fullolhoard in Afghanistan (Sarianidi 1986a: Fig. 57 right,60).

6. A shift from mid-2nd millennium parallels fromMesopotamia to early 2nd millennium analoguesfrom Central Asia is less dramatic than it appears atfirst sight as specific elements of BMAC iconographyshow close affinities with that of the Late Bronze AgeNear East. In particular, similarities have been high-lighted with the Mitannian Empire (Sarianidi 1993b;


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1993c; 1994a; 1994b; 1998: 14-18). It is highly plausiblethat several elements of Mitannian iconography de-rived from the BMAC and passed down from Mi-tanni as well as to the Kassite and Middle Assyrianstyles of the mid-2nd millennium B.C. Given the factthat the BMAC predates the emergence of Mitanni (cf.

Wilhelm 1994: 292), the aplomb of a simple west-eastorientation needs to be seriously questioned (see alsoSalvatori 1995: 51). It has been suggested that the ini-tial dispersal of certain iconographic themes betweenthe two is closely linked with commercial activities(Collon 1987: 142; Parpola 2002: 244). However, thereare intriguing indications of a relation between theMitannian ruling elite, Central Asia and the Indo-Aryans that clearly exceeded commercial contact(e.g. Wilhelm 1990; 1994: 292-293; Parpola 1995; 2001;2002, especially pp. 245-246; Stein 2001). Physicalmovement of significant amounts of peoples from theeast towards the Mesopotamian plains is attested for

Babylonia, where Kassites first appear in texts fromthe 18th century B.C. Little is known about theirhomeland, but it is believed to be located somewherein the mountainous areas of Iran, possibly the Iranianplateau. The Kassite elite that seized power in south-ern Mesopotamia at the start of the 16th century isrenowned for its involvement in horse breeding, pre-sumably for chariot warfare. When the Kassite kingsbecame involved in the royal exchange system of theAmarna period (during the 14th century B.C.), horsesand chariots were amongst the few commodities theysent to the Egyptian pharaohs.

7. The eagle deity and bird-man do occur on BMAC

cylinders, albeit on the same seal enrolled on thekhom from Gonur 1 South [Fig. 3b]. Heraldic eaglesalso decorate the base of at least two stamp-cylinders(Sarianidi 1989: nos. 1437, 1761.2).

8. Even though amulets, stamp and cylinder seals ofthe BMAC display a large formal, stylistic and techni-cal diversity, the features discussed here are sharedby a considerable portion of the BMAC corpus.

9. Predatory birds in similar or comparable stances butwithout prey appear on nine amulets (Sarianidi1998: nos. 969.1, 998.1, 999.1, 1001.1, 1002.1, 1626.1,1654.1, 1655.1, 1656.1) and on a three-sided prism(Sarianidi 1998: no. 1512).

10. Not in the least because the stylised sun has beenmisinterpreted in several occasions, for instance as aflower-like star (Amiet 1986: 165), a cluster of grapesor as a bundle of flowers (Sarianidi 1998: 58). A celes-tial element has been recognised in the Shahdad ma-terial (Hakemi & Sajjadi 1989: 146).

11. Snakes also adorn the interior and outer surface ofcultic ceramic vessels from the BMAC (Hiebert1994a: type 3.A.1.4) and some of them are clearly di-rected towards the genital area of ungulates thatdecorate the rim of these vessels (Sarianidi 1981: 248;1986a: 138).

12. The bifacial rhomboid stamp seal from an unspecifiedEarly Dilmun burial in the Hamad Town tumuli field(Sarianidi 1998: no. 941) is the only obvious genuineBMAC import unfortunately, no information on therest of the grave inventory is published. This dearth

is in stark contrast to the almost exclusive assem-blage of imports encountered in the southern part ofthe Gulf.

13. This in no way implies that in Dilmun (long-distance)trade was a royal monopoly or that the Palace was atall involved in actual trading. From the alik Tilmun

texts from Ur and the widespread distribution ofseals, sealings and weights within Early Dilmun set-tlements, it is highly plausible that during the early2nd millennium these merchantswere private entre-preneurs. Whether or not the government regulatedlong-distance trade is unknown, but there is someevidence to suggest that the hub of the official Gulftrade was concentrated in Dilmuns capital at Qalatal-Bahrain. Its unique feature, i.e. being a walled city,may have an economic origin rather than a defensiveone as it facilitates taxation of goods and people com-ing in and/or getting out.

14. Iconographic parallels between Dilmun and Syria as

well as textual information from the Mari area (Ei-dem & Hjlund 1997: 27) imply that this may not havebeen a unique event as has been contended up untilnow (Olijdam 2001).

15. Lamberg-Karlovskys suggestion (1994: 403; cf. Salva-tori 1995: 49-50) that the main dissemination ofBMAC artefacts beyond Bactrian and Margiana oasesprobably occurred towards the end of Period 2 inMargiana and its chronological counterpart in Bactriaseems particularly pertinent in light of the chrono-logical distribution of BMAC and Harappan materialin Dilmun. During the City IIb-c period, economic re-lations with the Indus Civilisation appear to have

been the most important for Dilmun as foreign ce-ramics from contemporary settlements consist pri-marily of large Late Sorath Harappan storage jars(Carter 2001). Their chronological coincidence can beseen as additional support for During Caspers hypo-thesis that contact between Dilmun and the BMACwas maintained primarily via the Indus Civilisationrather than through Iran (1994a; 1994b; 1994c; Olij-dam 2001). The impact of the relation between Dil-mun and the Bactrian-Margiana Archaeological Com-plex appears to have been much more profoundgiven the role of BMAC material in Dilmuns religiouslife and the local imitations of BMAC artefacts (Olij-

dam 2001; in prep).16.Jars are also associated with a wide range of religious

structures, emblems and activities: offering table (e.g.Kjrum 1983: no. 169), standard (e.g. Kjrum 1983:nos. 42, 107, 131, 147), podium (e.g. Kjrum 1983: nos.56, 74, 80, 88, 147), animal protomes (e.g. Kjrum1983: nos. 74, 174), gate symbol (e.g. Kjrum 1983:no. 269), erotic scene (e.g. Kjrum 1983: nos. 169,269), humans wearing animal costumes (e.g. Kjrum1983: nos. 107?, 272?, 274), and acrobats (e.g. Kjrum1983: no. 107).

17. In a significant portion of Early Dilmun graves per-taining to many, if not all, strata of Dilmun societyample evidence has been found to infer the existenceof communal funerary eating as part of the rites ofpassage before the burial chamber was sealed (Olij-dam 2000: 161, n. 5).


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