Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Open Access Monograph Series: Ivories from Nimrud

 [First posted in AWOL 9 June 2014, updated 3 July 2019]

Ivories from Nimrud

Equestrian Bridle-Harness Ornaments: Catalogue & Plates

Front cover of IN 1/2
Author: J.J. Orchard
Volume: I/2
1967
Format: x+48 pp., 46 pls., hardback
Price: £9.95

Ivories in the Assyrian Style

Front cover of IN 2
Author: M.E.L. Mallowan & L.G. Davies
Volume: II
1970
Format: v + 60 pp., 46 pl., hardback
Notes: Out of print.
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Ivories in the Assyrian Style

Furniture from SW 7, Fort Shalmaneser

Front cover of IN 3
Author: M.E.L. Mallowan & G. Herrmann
Volume: III
1974
Format: 120 pp., 111 pls., hardback
ISBN: 0-903472-02-3
Price: £9.95

Ivories from Room SW 37, Fort Shalmaneser, part I

Front cover of IN 4/1
Author: G. Herrmann
Volume: IV/1
1986
Format: 276 pp, hardback
ISBN: 0-903472-10-4
Notes: Text. Out of print.
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Ivories from Room SW 37 Fort Shalmaneser part I

Ivories from Room SW 37, Fort Shalmaneser, part 2

Front cover of IN 4/2
Author: G. Herrmann
Volume: IV/2
1986
Format: 472 pls., hardback
Notes: Plates. Out of print.
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Ivories from Room SW 37 Fort Shalmaneser part 2

The Small Collections from Fort Shalmaneser

Author: G. Herrmann
Volume: V
1992
Format: xiv + 145 pp., 104 pls., hardback
ISBN: 0-903472-12-0
Price: £19.95

Ivories from the North West Palace (1845-1992)

The front cover of Ivories from Nimrud, vol. VI
Author: G. Herrmann, S. Laidlaw & H. Coffey
Volume: VI
2009
Format: 168 + 138 pp, 138 b/w, 24 colour plates, hardback
ISBN: 9780903472265
Price: £75.00
Notes:
The great, ninth century palace which Ashurnasirpal II (883-859) built at his new capital of Kalhu/Nimrud has been excavated over 150 years by various expeditions. Each has been rewarded with remarkable antiquities, including the finest ivories found in the ancient Near East, many of which had been brought to Kalhu by the Assyrian kings. The first ivories were discovered by Austen Henry Layard, followed a century later by Max Mallowan, who found superb ivories in Well NN. Neither Layard nor Mallowan was able to empty Well AJ: this was achieved by the Iraqi Department of Antiquities and Heritage, who retrieved arguably the finest pieces found at Nimrud. Finally, an interesting collection of ivory and bone tubes was found by Muzahim Mahmud, the discoverer of the famous Royal Tombs, in Well 4.
This volume publishes for the first time the majority of the ivories found in the Palace by location. These include superb examples carved in Assyria proper and across the Levant from North Syria to Phoenicia and provide an outstanding illustration of the minor arts of the early first millennium. In addition ivories found in the Central Palace of Tiglath-pileser III and fragmentary pieces found in the domestic contexts of the Town Wall Houses are also included.
In addition to a detailed catalogue, this book also aims to assess the present state of ivory studies, discussing the political situation in the Levant, the excavation of the palace, the history of study, the various style-groups of ivories and their possible time and place of production. This volume is the sixth in the Ivories from Nimrud series published by BISI.

Ivories from Rooms SW11/12 and T10 Fort Shalmaneser, parts 1-2

Front cover of IN 7/1
Author: G. Herrmann and S. Laidlaw
Volume: VII/1-2
2013
Format: Hardback, 2 vols.
ISBN: 9780903472296
Price: £90.00
Notes:
The attached PDF contains the text of volume I: Chapters 1-6 and the Appendices. The full contents, including the Catalogue and Colour & Black and White Plates, are available as print only and can be ordered from Oxbow Books for £90.00. BISI members receive a 20% discount. 
About Ivories from Nimrud VII - The Lost Art of the Phoenicians 
Fifty years have passed since the British School of Archaeology in Iraq raised the last ivory from the soil of Fort Shalmaneser. Literally thousands were found, many of which have already been published in Ivories from Nimrud I-V, while VI recorded the outstanding pieces from the North West Palace. Ivories from Nimrud VII, Ivories from Rooms SW11/12 and T10 completes the publication of the assemblages in the Fort, as far as records permit. The ivories of Room SW11/12 are similar in character to those of Room SW37 and probably represent another consignment of booty, while those of T10 in the Throne Room block include pieces from all four traditions, as well as some entirely new ones.

With the primary publication completed, it is now possible to look at these remarkable ivories as a whole rather than studying them by prov­enance, as is discussed in detail in the Commentary. Not surprisingly, it immediately becomes apparent that the majority can be assigned to the Phoenician tradition. There are at least twice as many Phoenician ivo­ries than the other Levantine and Assyrian ivories. They form therefore an incredible archive, recording the lost art of the Phoenicians, long famed as master craftsmen.

The Phoenician ivories can be divided into two; the finest, the Clas­sic Phoenician, often embellished with delicate, jewel-like inlays, and the other examples still clearly Phoenician in style and subject. While the Classic pieces were probably carved in a single centre, possibly Tyre or Sidon, the others would have been carved in a variety of dif­ferent Phoenician centres, located along the Mediterranean seaboard.

Designs on Syrian-Intermediate ivories are versions of some Phoe­nician subjects, employing different proportions and styles. They may represent the art of the recently-arrived Aramaean kingdoms, copying their sophisticated neighbours, while North Syrian ivories are entirely different in subject and character and derive from earlier Hittite traditions.

The ivories found at Nimrud present a unique resource for studying the minor arts of the Levantine world.
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Ivories from Rooms SW11/12 and T10 Fort Shalmaneser


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