The Terracotta Figurines from Assur of the Museum of Near Eastern Archaeology in Berlin, Dating from the Early Dynastic til the Parthian Time

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Johannes Renger (†)
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: from 2019 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 433053450

The volume presents all terracotta figurines from Assur now housed in the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin. They come from the excavations of the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft in Assur during the years 1903 til 1914. A general introduction is addresses questions of the techniques of forming and the designing of anthropomorphic figurines, animals and different objects like chariots or wagons and domestic furniture. Singular for the terracotta figurines from Assur is the fact that they are handmade not by molding. Only handmade terracotta figurines permit an individual forming of garments of anthropomorphic figurines. Discussed are questions regarding the time terracotta figurines were made and resulting questions of stylistic developments over time. The main part of the volume is the descriptive and bibliographically annotated catalogue of the nearly 1900 terracotta figurines from Assur in the Vorderasiatisches Museum. All figurines are newly photographed mostly in two or three perspectives thus setting an example for future treatments of terracotta figurines.

• DFG Programme: Publication Grants