The Staging of Power in the IIIrd Millennium Ancient Near East: Iconographical Study of the Shell Inlays of Mari
type: Distribution
access URL: https://theses.hal.science/tel-00844093
format: HTML
issued: 2026-05-10T09:05:11.015779
modified: 2026-05-10T09:05:10.973406

test_moissonnage_selune
type: Agent

The Staging of Power in the IIIrd Millennium Ancient Near East: Iconographical Study of the Shell Inlays of Mari
type: Dataset
contact point: Organization
  fn: CCSD
keyword: artisanat
keyword: iconographie
keyword: dynastique-archaique
keyword: infoeu-reposemanticsdoctoralthesis
keyword: ur
keyword: material-culture
keyword: war
keyword: mari
keyword: mesopotamie
keyword: kish
keyword: culte
keyword: iconographic-analysis
keyword: cult-practices
keyword: guerre
keyword: culture-materielle
keyword: early-bronze-age
keyword: ebla
keyword: shshisthumanities-and-social-scienceshistory
keyword: ancient-near-east
keyword: incrustation
keyword: shsarcheohumanities-and-social-sciencesarchaeology-and-prehistory
keyword: shell
keyword: bronze-ancien
keyword: shsarthumanities-and-social-sciencesart-and-art-history
keyword: religion
keyword: proche-orient-ancien
keyword: coquille
keyword: mesopotamia
keyword: theses
keyword: image
keyword: inlays
landing page: https://theses.hal.science/tel-00844093
description: The IIIrd millennium B.C. in the ancient Near East saw the rise of a rich production of objects decorated with images. This material production is specific to a period during which society changes and creates objects and images in order to suggest and transmit the principles which define it. They depict individuals through the representation of repeated themes mainly focused on military victories and social and religious ceremonies. One of the many forms of this visual production is represented by figurative panels made of wood, inlaid with marine shell pieces, and organized in registers. These panels were not preserved and only the inlays remain. The subject of this thesis concerns the fragments of inlays found in Mari, dated of the second third of the IIIrd millennium. Mari is the city that has provided the largest number of inlays and its production has to be considered as an integral part of the material and visual culture of the ancient Near East at that time. Our approach of these objects is based on three axis: a material analysis of the pieces and the context of their discovery; an iconographical analysis; a comparative analysis of fragments of inlays discovered in the other cities of the ancient Near East at the same period. Thereby, this study has allowed us to consider the nature and the function of these objects, as well as the terms of representation relative to this period and to that sort of medium.
issued: 2026-05-10T09:05:11.013177
language: fr
modified: 2026-05-10T09:05:11.013181