City of
the Hurrians
THE HURRIANS
THE HURRIANS
a puzzling people . . .
all but forgotten by history,
their origin remains obscure
Only recently, Urkesh was
discovered at a hill known as
Tell Mozan
Only recently, Urkesh was
discovered at a hill known as
Tell Mozan
What appears now as a natural hill is
a city shrouded within its own collapse
Beginnings are yet unknown but date back, at least,
to the early part of the fourth millennium B.C.
It was a main center of the Hurrians, who celebrated
it in their myths as the home of the father of the gods,
Kumarbi.
It was also the capital of a kingdom that
controlled the surrounding territory.
Urkesh
is being revealed
by the work of archaeologists
from UCLA, led by
Georgio Buccellati
Georgio Buccellati
Georgio Buccellati &
Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati
Georgio Buccellati &
Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati
Georgio Buccellati &
Excavation so far
has revealed a
royal palace
.
And a temple
And a remarkable structure near
the palace--a large and deep
underground structure--a sacred
area where the spirits of the
Underworld were summoned
A number of cylinder seals
also have been found,
revealing aspects
of Hurrian life.
THE
LIONS
OF
TISH-ATAL
These artifacts were sold
in the antiquities market long
before Tell Mozan began to be
excavated.
This one is in the
Louvre Museum
in Paris.
Its companion is in the
Metropolitan Museum
Of Art in New York.
These lions were
foundation pegs-planted in temple
foundations.
They served as
offerings and were
inscribed with
cuneiform curses which protected the
temple from harm and desecration.
An approximate translation
of the curse held by this lion:
Tishatal, king of Urkesh,
has built this temple . . . .
May . . . god . . . protect it.
May God destroy
whomsoever seeks to
destroy it; may his god not
listen to his prayers. May . . . the sun god . . . and the
god of the storm curse 10,000 times whomsoever might
seek to destroy this temple.this temple.
The text on
this lion’s
tablet
is the oldest
inscription
in the Hurrian language