Verified Document

The Connection Between Spirit And Matter Among The Akkad Research Paper

Head of the Akkadian Ruler Sargon

I. Concept Statement

The work of art to be examined for this paper is the art piece known as the Head of the Akkadian Ruler Sargon, created ca. 23002200 BC in bronze and currently housed in the Iraq Museum. The piece reflects the belief of the people of the time that the image of a person could also contain the spirit, essence or presence of the individual it represented. The idea is not really very dissimilar from what today are known and used as voodoo dollsrepresentations of a person upon whom some sort of malice is inflected through violence committed against the doll. The belief that a representation can somehow be linked to the body and soul of another real, live human being is one that still exists today, just as it did thousands of years ago. Some might mark it as superstition, but the reality is that people seem to have always believed that there is a connection between spirit and matter, and the ancient nature of this belief is revealed in the Head off the Akkadian Ruler Sargon. The piece in its originality represented the identity of Sargon and would have served as an embodiment of his person. After the fall of the Nineveh, the piece was likely abused by Sargons enemies in the same way one takes vengeance upon another today by way of a voodoo doll. With the Akkadian Head, its ears were cut off, its beard ends demolished, its nose flattened, and its left eye gouged out. The violence committed against this head shows that belief in the relationship between spirit and matter was strong among the ancient people of Nineveh and Babylon. I want to research this idea more deeply in order to understand the connection between culture, beliefs about spirituality, and art.

II. Outline/Thesis

The sources I want to use for this paper include the following:

Art: Royal Portrait Head (Head of Sargon the Great). Annenberg Learner, 2020.

https://www.learner.org/series/art-through-time-a-global-view/portraits/royal-portrait-head-head-of-sargon-the-great/

Art of Akkad: An Introduction. Khan Academy, 2020.

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/ancient-near-east1/akkadian/a/art-of-akkad-an-introduction#:~:text=Head%20of%20an%20Akkadian%20Ruler&text=This%20image%20of%20an%20unidentified,lips%20and%20a%20wrinkled%20brow.

Art of Akkad and Ur. Lumen Learning, 2020.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-arthistory1/chapter/art-of-akkad-and-ur/

Head of a Ruler. Met Museum, 2020.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/329077

Nineveh (Late Dynastic Period - The Imperial Akkadian Period), Temple of Ishtar :

Bronze cast head of ruler, Imperial Akkadian II-III. Australian National University, 2020. https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/201458

The thesis of this paper is that the Head of the Akkadian Ruler Sargon is both a work of art and an artifact that reveals the cultural belief of the ancient people of Nineveh and Babylon in the connection between spirit and matter. This paper will employ close visual analysis of the Head of the Akkadian Ruler Sargon, describing how the form of the work relates to the cultural belief of the spirit being possessed by the matter that represents the actual man.

The outline for this paper will follow this structure:

I. Introduction

a. What can the examination of ancient art reveal?

b. Art represents the culture and beliefs of the people who create it.

c. It is an expression of the spirit of the times.

d. Even art that is destroyed or attacked can tell something.

e. Thesis statements

II. Visual description of the Head of the Akkadian Ruler Sargon

a. Depiction of Head

b. What it is made of

c. Who made it

d. Why it was made

e. What it represents

III. How the form relates to the culture beliefs of the ancient people

a. The belief of the people that spirit and matter were related and connected

b. The belief that rulers were godlike

c. The belief that by attacking the representation of one it would be like attacking the ruler

d. A contrary opinion of the Heads identity

IV. What the intentional damage of the Head suggests

a. The belief in the connection between spirit...

Parts of this document are hidden

View Full Document
svg-one

…belief in the connection between spirit and matter. Even if the Head was not a representation of the likeness of Sargon, it represented some ruler whose enemies detached it from its body and then set about abusing it. The animosity shown to the Head surely was not random but rather illustrates the lengths to which the people of the ancient world would go to ensure that ones foes were properly defeated.

But is such behavior altogether difficult to understand for people living in the modern world? Even people today have heard tales of voodoo dolls being used to exact some sort of malevolence upon the person whose likeness is represented by the doll. This kind of behavior is really no different from that exhibited on the Head of the Akkadian Ruler Sargon. Whether the Head actually represented Sargon or a different ruler is immaterial when one considers the condition of the Head and what it means that it has been so abused. It means that the people then, as now in some cases, were keenly aware of the connection between spirit and matter.

In conclusion, the Head of the Akkadian Ruler Sargon is a bronze work of art that is today an artifact of an ancient culture in which the people had strong beliefs in the relationship between spirit and form. The rulers of those ancient days were held to be godlike, and their spirits were important to the people they looked after. The spirit of Sargon was said to have been embodied in the likeness represented by the Head and the bronze body it had once been attached to. Although the body is now gone, the Head remains, and its appearance tells of the power of belief and the importance to which the ancient people attached such likenesses as this oneespecially when…

Sources used in this document:

Works Cited

“Art: Royal Portrait Head (“Head of Sargon the Great”).” Annenberg Learner, 2020.

https://www.learner.org/series/art-through-time-a-global-view/portraits/royal-portrait-head-head-of-sargon-the-great/

“Art of Akkad: An Introduction.” Khan Academy, 2020.

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/ancient-near-east1/akkadian/a/art-of-akkad-an-introduction#:~:text=Head%20of%20an%20Akkadian%20Ruler&text=This%20image%20of%20an%20unidentified,lips%20and%20a%20wrinkled%20brow.

“Art of Akkad and Ur.” Lumen Learning, 2020.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-arthistory1/chapter/art-of-akkad-and-ur/

“Head of a Ruler.” Met Museum, 2020.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/329077

“Nineveh (Late Dynastic Period - The Imperial Akkadian Period), Temple of Ishtar :Bronze cast head of ruler, Imperial Akkadian II-III.” Australian National University, 2020. https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/201458

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Connection Between Vaccinations and Autism
Words: 1560 Length: 5 Document Type: Research Paper

Vaccinations and Autism Over the last several years, the direct link between vaccinations and autism has been increasingly brought to the forefront. This is because some studies showed how higher amounts of mercury had an impact on if someone would contract various neurological disorders (such as: autism). The result is that numerous theories were developed about the how this contributes to the condition. According to Pallares (2010) this was based upon

Connection Between Music and Politics
Words: 2485 Length: 8 Document Type: Essay

MUSIC & POLITICS: THE ARGENTINE TANGO Music Flamenco or Tango, Spain or Argentina Music & Politics: The Argentine Tango The tango is a form of dancing that originates in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a popular dance form that has spread internationally since its inception in the early nineteenth century. As with all cultural forms, there is a distinctive history and style that accompanies this form of expression. The very creation and performance of

Connection Between Smell, Taste, Perception, Memory, and Cognition...
Words: 1049 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Smell and taste are intimately connected, more so than any other two senses (Bakalar, 2012). Even though the immediate sensory inputs are completely different, smell and taste inputs are processed together. Impediments to smell such as blocked sinuses can impact the ability to fully taste food. Chewing and eating also "releases volatile molecules that travel through the back of the mouth to receptors in the lining of the nasal passages,"

Connections Between the Ustase and the Catholic Church
Words: 1178 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

Ustase and the Roman Catholic Church After the end of World War I, Croatia and Slovenia, both Roman Catholic states, united with the Eastern Orthodox state, Serbia. Together the three states formed Yugoslavia. It was however not a peaceful union, and almost immediately after the formation of Yugoslavia, the Croats founded the Ustase. This name derives from the noun "ustas," meaning "insurgent." Originally this title was used for Serb Orthodox insurgents

Valuation of Airthread Connection Fundamental Objective of
Words: 1107 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Valuation of AirThread Connection Fundamental objective of this report is to present valuation of AirThread Connection. "American Cable Communication (ACC) was one the largest cable operators in the United States"(Stafford & Heilprin 2011P 36). In December, 2007, ACC cable systems reached approximately 48.5 millions homes with approximately 24.1 millions video subscribers. The company also enjoyed patronage of 4.6 million landline telephone subscribers and 13.2 millions high speed internet subscribers. The company

Pyrrhic Defeat Theory Connections Between
Words: 1120 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

In America, the social ostracism of Muslims can feel even more acute. Many Muslims may face discrimination: feared as terrorists, they turn to terrorism. The creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the widely-publicized abuses at the Guantanamo prison, all continue to foster this sense of social isolation of Muslims. These policies may have created a more fertile environment for terrorism, just as police violations of civil liberties and

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now