Semantics and Function of Stelae in the Ancient Architecture of the Near East in the Era from the Neolithic Man to the Epic Gilgamesh and the Biblical Jacob

Sorochinsky Gleb Romanovich ORCID: 0000-0002-7016-9157 Master of Architecture, Postgraduate student, St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. 199034, Russia, St. Petersburg, Universitetskaya Embankment, 17 glebsoro@yandex.ru

Introduction

To date, it is known that the territory of the Middle East (Levant, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Zagros) was the primary focus of agriculture, referred to as the "crescent of fertile lands" or "fertile crescent". It was there that the ancient people, leaving the caves, began to move from hunting and gathering to agriculture and cattle breeding, creating the first settlements, which marked the beginning of the Neolithic revolution ^{[13, p. 5-6]}. Naturally, this phenomenon was accompanied by the process of formation of the monumental architecture of the region, which is confirmed by a number of archaeological discoveries, as a result of which unique monuments of ancient architecture were discovered ^{[15, pp. 80-86; 16, pp. 3-11]}. At this historical stage, religious buildings and ritual complexes were erected, in the architecture of which special attention was paid to steles in the form of vertically installed stones, which may indicate the very ancient origin of such a typological unit in the architecture of the Middle East as a stele. Moreover, the act of sacralizing the steles was characteristic of subsequent Neolithic cultures, as well as the civilizations of the Middle East: Sumer, Akkad, the Babylonian Kingdom and others.

Thanks to the fundamental research of such Russian historians and archaeologists as R. M. Munchaev, N. Ya. Merpet, E. V. Antonova, T. V. Kornienko, as well as the works of such foreign scientists as R. Braidwood, K. Kenyon, J. Mellart, K. Schmidt and others, we are now able to analyze the architecture of the Middle East on concrete examples, to study the tradition of the region within the framework of the theory of architecture and art. At the same time, translations of ancient texts and scientific discoveries of authoritative Russian historians-orientalists, sumeriologists I. M. Dyakonov, V. V. Yemelyanov today determine the possibility of identifying the semantic field of meanings and meanings characteristic of the cult architecture of the Middle East. As a result, based on the scientific data of a number of researchers, the main characteristics of steles in the architectural tradition of this region were identified.

Stele for the Neolithic man

According to the scientific research of the authoritative Soviet and Russian archaeologist, orientalist historian E. V. Antonova, it is known that in the context of the mythological consciousness of primitive man, any object of the material world had not only a utilitarian or functional purpose, but was endowed with a completely "unique character", that is, it was ontological, had its own being, a certain separate "life", having a connection with the rest of the world ^{[1, pp. 25-28]}. It is no coincidence, therefore, analyzing such a typological unit in architecture as a stele, it is appropriate first of all to pay attention to the meanings imprinted in this image. Perhaps the most ancient prototype of a stele in the Middle East was a vertically placed stone. To date, it is difficult to say exactly when such a tradition of installing such megaliths (menhirs) appeared, however, thanks to archaeological surveys of the second half of the XX century on the territory of the Levant and Anatolia, relying on the work of such Orientalist researchers as J. Mellart, N. Ya. Merpet, A. B. Zubov, it can be said that in the era of the Pre–Ceramic Neolithic (PPN - Pre-Pottery Neolithic) there was already a cult of stones in this region, which is confirmed by archaeological finds. Thus, according to the ideas of the ancient settlers, the established shapeless stones were endowed with a certain sacred meaning, being identified with a certain divine principle ^{[9, p. 120; 13, p. 44; 14, p. 60, 73-74]}.

As a result of archaeological discoveries of the second half of the XX–beginning of the XXI century, unique architectural finds were discovered on the territory of Mesopotamia, the most significant of which in the context of this study are such monuments of the pre–Ceramic Neolithic A, B (PPNA, PPNB - Pre-Pottery Neolithic A, B) as Gebekli Tepe ("navel of the earth", "convex mountain") and Nevali-Chori (Nevaly-Chori) ("valley of the plague"), the archaeological layers of which date back to the X–IX thousand BC ^{[17, pp. 67-68, 89-90]}. These Neolithic sites, apparently, had significant cult significance for contemporaries. So, according to the discoverer, the famous German archaeologist and historian K. Schmidt, the Gebekli-Tepe monument was a tell formed by a whole complex of buildings with steles (the earliest of which are Structures A, B, C, D) in the open air (hypetral structures), which were erected by hunter-gatherers to conduct cult rituals (fig. 1, 2) ^{[11, p. 69; 17, p. 109, 243-251]}. The settlement of Nevali-Chori was represented as a whole by a fairly regular development of rectangular residential buildings, while three successively functioning religious buildings with steles were opened in one place on its western outskirts (Buildings I, II, III) (Fig. 3) ^{[11, pp. 58-59]}. For our research, the most significant is that unique processed T-shaped stone steles decorated with relief carvings with images of various animals were found in these locations. These findings indicate the most important evolutionary process of transition from a shapeless stone to a processed T-shaped stele resembling a sculptural statue. It is assumed that T-shaped steles performed the most important role of receptacles for deities or spirits, that is, they were some kind of totem poles, therefore they had anthropomorphic or zoomorphic features ^{[10, p. 14-16; 11, p. 72; 17, p. 114-115]}. Moreover, in the central part of the cult buildings of Gebekli Tepe and Nevali Chori, two main T-shaped steles were installed, presumably testifying to the duality of the mythological consciousness of an ancient man, who, for example, paid special attention to the cult of fertility (the cult of life) and the cult of ancestors (the cult of death) or divided the surrounding reality into the world of "his" (I, the tribe) and the world of the "alien" (spirits, ancestors, animals) ^{[1, pp. 66-68; 12, p. 90]}. The authoritative Russian historian-orientalist T. V. Kornienko wrote about this: "Such symbolism corresponds to the duality of mythological consciousness, binary as one of the foundations of human perception of the phenomena of the world." ^{[11, p. 73]}. Also, some researchers interpreted paired steles in the center of the complexes as the main demiurgic images (the Great Mother and Father) or two hypostases of a god or goddess, and smaller steles installed along the perimeter were compared with a round dance or dance of other deities, possibly forming a zodiac circle, thereby the ancient complex in the consciousness of primitive man was a pantheon spirits, or, better to say, a certain hierarchy of spiritual forces, at the same time had a connection with the astral world and, perhaps, served as a kind of place for observing celestial bodies, which can be partly compared with an observatory or calendar, but these assumptions and hypotheses have not yet been fully studied ^{[4, pp. 130-131; 8, pp. 73-76]}. Moreover, paired steles could also be identified with certain gates marking the sacred space ^{[11, p. 170]}, a kind of "altar barrier" that performed the function of zoning the interior space of the cult building into two parts (the main part and the "holy of holies"), thereby being the forerunner of the royal gates in temple architecture. At the same time, T. V. Kornienko writes that vertically installed stones were also identified with masculinity, fertility and prosperity, therefore they had a phallic shape, especially this seems significant in the context of the importance of the cult of fertility (the cult of life) and the cult of ancestors (the cult of death). At the same time, steles and pilasters performed a symbolic function of protective amulets, for example, Babylonian kudurru stones, which were boundary and boundary signs, as well as perimetrically located steles in the architecture of sanctuaries and temples, forming the rhythm of pilasters and niches, were endowed with a protective function ^{[10, pp. 14, 19-20; 11, pp. 170-171; 15, p. 82]}.

Fig. 1. Gebekli-Tepe. The plan of the main excavation site (Schmidt, 2006. Abb.76).

Source (author's article): ^{[15, p. 89]}

Fig. 2. Gebekli-Tepe. T-shaped steles:

a – Structure A. Pillar 1, height 3.15 m (Schmidt, 1998. Abb. 13-14);

b – Structure A. Pillar 2, height 3.15 m (Schmidt, 1998. Abb. 15-17);

b – Building D. Pillar 43 (Schmidt, 2008. Abb. 8).

Source (author's article): ^{[15, p. 90]}

Fig. 3. Nevali-Chori:

1 – Nevali-Chori type stele from Building III;

2 – axonometric reconstruction of Structure III;

3 – the reconstructed part of the sculptural

columns (by H. Hauptmann and K. Schmidt).

Source (author's article): ^{[15, p. 91]}

Source (Great Russian Encyclopedia): https://bigenc.ru/archeology/text/2651181

Stele for Epic Gilgamesh and ancient Sumerians

Based on modern scientific discoveries of the late XX–early XXI century in the field of Middle East studies, we can say that the tradition of installing steles continued to exist during the formation and development of the Sumer civilization in the III millennium BC on the territory of Mesopotamia, when steles were assigned a very special sacred role. In any case, much more historical material has been preserved in this period, which modern scientists pay attention to. Thus, referring to the works of the authoritative Russian orientalist, sumerologist V. V. Emelyanov, it is possible to identify a number of semantic meanings baked in the image of steles. When analyzing the oldest literary work "The Epic of Gilgamesh", which began to form at the turn of the III–II millennium BC and was finally compiled in the second half of the VII century BC in the form of XII tables ^{[5, pp. 116-117]}, V. V. Yemelyanov pays special attention to tables IV and V, where the main epic the hero of the work, the ruler of Uruk (Unuga) Gilgamesh (Bilgames), sets up a stele in a foreign country as a result of the campaign, which is very important for our research. However, what function did this mystical act have for the ancient peoples of the Two Rivers?

Answering this question, it is noteworthy that the events of the epic hero Gilgamesh's campaign to the distant lands of the cedar forest, according to other assumptions of the juniper forest, and the victory over the monstrous giant creature Humbaba (Huvava) took place in the mountains to the east, in the direction from which the Sun god Utu, the patron of Gilgamesh in his feats ^{[5, pp. 56-57; 6, p. 205]}. It is known that the territory of the Sumer civilization was entirely flat, and to the east of it towered the Zagros Mountains, where the unknown land of Elam and Anshan was located, which was identified with an alien mystical and sacred world. So the Sumerian word "kur" means "mountain", "foreign land" and "afterlife" ^{[6, pp. 205-206]}. It is on this eastern land, after the victory over the giant Humbaba, the leader of Uruk and the high priest of Kulaba Gilgamesh erects a stele, which is the main purpose of this campaign, thereby carrying out a mystical ritual of setting a name or naming, that is, the act of making a name, which meant glorifying himself and the gods in whose honor this sacred action was carried out ^{[5, p. 56]}. Moreover, the erection of the stele also meant the subjugation of this space, as well as the eradication of the surrounding evil in the form of a giant Humbaba, that is, the expansion of the territory and at the same time its purification, which can also be defined as the spread of power and the consecration rite ^{[6, p. 209]}. It is important that as a result of the campaign and the installation of the stele, the priest-leader Gilgamesh, as the first person in the world's written tradition, declares himself "I" and tries to comprehend his own "I" in the context of the reality surrounding him, understanding his own mortality, corruption in time, this is where the philosophical problem of "I and the World" arises ^{[5, p. 65]}. Thus, the mortal Gilgamesh, seeking immortality and struggling with time, by installing the stele, thereby ensured the immortality of his name. At the same time, the stele was at the same time a carrier of information about past and glorious times, heroic deeds, it preserved memory, that is, perpetuated not only the name, but protected and protected the memory of this name, so the hero Gilgamesh after his repose had to remain in the memory of future generations ^{[6, pp. 89, 207-208, 228]}. Many rulers of Mesopotamia did the same, perpetuating themselves and their exploits on steles. At the same time, the inscription of the name on the funeral stele, according to the ideas of the ancient peoples of the Two Rivers, was a necessary condition for ensuring the afterlife, since the afterlife feeding of the deceased owner of the nominal stele in the Underworld was carried out through prayers-sacrifices ^{[6, p. 208]}. In essence, the steles, being directly connected with the cult of life (the cult of fertility) and the cult of death (the cult of ancestors), were some kind of material markers-points beyond the time of human life.

And, finally, it is worth touching upon such an important category of the worldview of the ancient peoples of the Two Rivers as the category of ME, which takes place in the field of our scientific discourse ^{[7, pp. 40-41]}. The authoritative researcher V. V. Yemelyanov wrote about it this way: "The category of ME is one of the most complex and multidimensional problems in sumerology." ^{[7, p. 50]}. Referring to the work of the scientist, we will only indicate some single meanings associated with this category in the context of our research. So, ME is a space-time category expressed as "the will to be" or "the will to manifest", that is, the moment of transition from the potential to the actual and from the essence to the form of the object, at the same time it is "forces", and "ideas", and "energies" associated with the problem of primary self-determination "I and We" ^{[7, pp. 72-73]}. According to V. V. Yemelyanov: "ME express the unconscious desire of an object to declare itself, to manifest itself, to consolidate itself in space and time through self-identification in an image and a word, to escape from the darkness of obscurity and non-existence." ^{[7, p. 70]}. ME can be interpreted as the desire of the form for self-determination, associated with life, power, desire, masculinity, word, image, law, while, most importantly, with the shape of the object, with its vertical orientation (verticalism) ^{[7, pp. 64, 70, 175]}. That is, it is a source, some inner force or energy, thanks to which life, power, fame, and law are possible, which, being in dynamics, can multiply and, on the contrary, decrease ^{[7, p. 88]}. In essence, ME is the primary element on the basis of which a material object is created ^{[7, p. 82]}. Both male and female deities possess ME, and the place of the greatest concentration of ME is both the Sky and the Underworld, in the mortal world, temples or sanctuaries, or more precisely, their thrones, were considered the main place of localization of ME. As V. V. Yemelyanov writes about this: "The two main places of the initial concentration of ME are the region of fixed stars and the depths of underground sources… In the middle, inhabited world, the center of ME is a temple or sanctuary." ^{[7, p. 81]}. Thus, it is worth understanding the following: the temple is the "house of ME", and "the ME of the temple is primarily the ME of his throne", and "the ME of the throne is the ME of the king" ^{[7, pp. 81-82]}. Moreover, the author conducts a comparative analysis of ME with other ontological categories that existed in ancient religions and philosophy, as a result of which obvious similarities of ME with such concepts as "mana", "Platonic idea – eidos ()" and partially "Logos ()" are revealed, but at the same time the obvious The difference between ME is that this category directly depends on the space and time of the temple cult, without which and outside of which ME does not exist ^{[7, pp. 180-186]}. As a result, we can talk about a certain immanence of the forces of ME in the world of people, which had to be constantly maintained in time and updated in the cult space by conducting sacred rituals and rituals through sacrifices. And finally, based on all of the above, one may wonder if there are ME in the image of steles? Thus, turning to the text "The Death of Gilgamesh", we find the final answer to this question in the lines addressed by the gods to the ruler of Uruk Gilgamesh (GD, Tell-Haddad F, 10-18): "After you have explored all the ways, cedar, a valuable tree, brought it out of the mountains, Huvavu killed it in the forest, setting for eternal times, for permanent ME stele, for (eternal) days – temples of the gods, Ziusudras in his dwelling you have reached, ME Sumer, which were forgotten forever, councils, rites returned to the Country (?), rites of hand washing, mouth washing in order ..." ^{[7, p. 225]}. Thus, relying on ancient texts, we can talk about the undoubted presence of ME in the form of steles, in other words, steles, according to the ideas of the ancient peoples of the Two Rivers, served as some vessels where the creative forces of ME were concentrated.

The Stele for the Biblical Jacob and the Tower of Babel

This tradition was also reflected much later in the biblical text about Jacob, who had a vision of a ladder in a dream ascending to the True God, this place was named Bethel ("House of God") and marked by the installation of a monument stone, but not an idol, but a Pillar of Truth symbolizing the coming Anointed of the Lord Christ the Savior, at the same time, the act of erecting the stone confirmed the law between Jacob and God on tithing (Gen. 28:18-22) ^{[3, pp. 236-239]}:

18 And Jacob arose early in the morning, and took the stone which he had put under his head, and set it up as a monument, and poured oil on top of it.

19 And Jacob called the name of that place Bethel, and the former name of that city was Luz.

20 And Jacob made a vow, saying, If [the LORD] God will be with me and keep me in this way that I am going, and will give me bread to eat and clothes to put on,

21 And I will return in peace to my father's house, and the LORD will be my God, –

22 Then this stone, which I have set up as a monument, will be the house of God; and of all that you, God, give me, I will give You a tenth.

It is also worth remembering the biblical text about the Tower of Babel, where people, being in pride, set out to build a city and a tower in order to glorify themselves, like ancient Gilgamesh to make a name for themselves, but without God, which makes it possible to identify the stele with the tower, after which people were scattered by the Lord all over the earth (Gen. 11:1-9) ^{[2, pp. 206-211]}:

1 There was one language and one dialect in the whole earth.

2 Moving from the east, they found a plain in the land of Sennaar and settled there.

3 And they said to one another, Let us make bricks and burn them with fire. And they had bricks instead of stones, and earthen pitch instead of lime.

4 And they said, Let us build ourselves a city and a tower as high as the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves before we are scattered over the face of all the earth.

5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building.

6 And the LORD said, Behold, there is one people, and one language for all; and this is what they have begun to do, and they will not leave off from what they have planned to do.

7 Let us go down and mix their language there, so that one does not understand the other's speech.

8 And the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth; and they ceased to build the city [and the tower].

9 Therefore his name was given to him: Babylon, for there the LORD mixed the language of all the earth, and from there the LORD scattered them throughout the whole earth.

Thus, during various historical epochs in the Middle East, the installation of a stele was considered a sacred act, the similarity of such rites both in form and content may indicate the unity of the worldview of ancient peoples both within the framework of the general Middle Eastern mythologeme and in the context of the architectural tradition of the region. However, despite this, it is hardly possible for a modern scientist to accurately determine and reveal the metaphysical side of this phenomenon without spiritual experience, that is, to investigate the question not by the letter, but by the spirit, which lies in a different plane of knowledge and is not described by scientific methodology.

Conclusions

As a result of the conducted research, it is impossible to assert that this topic is exhausted, but at the same time it is possible to identify a number of basic semantic meanings and functions that such a typological unit performed in the architecture of the Middle East as a stele in the form of a vertically installed stone:

Neolithic:

- a receptacle for patron deities, spirits, ancestral ancestors;

- personification of duality, binary, dichotomy of primitive mythological consciousness (for paired steles);

- hierarchy or pantheon of gods (spirits), connection with the astral world, a place of observation of celestial bodies in the form of an ancient observatory or a primitive calendar (for perimeter-mounted steles);

- zoning boundary and gates between spaces (for paired steles);

- potency, masculinity (the cult of fertility – the cult of life);

- amulet, protection (protective role), fence and border protection (for perimetrically installed steles).

The Epic of Gilgamesh:

- making a name (glorifying oneself and the gods);

- identification of place, subordination and expansion of space (distribution of power);

- eradication of evil and purification of space (consecration rite);

- self-statement "I", self-knowledge (philosophical problem "I and the World", "I and We");

- information carrier, preservation of the memory of the past (immortality of the name and image in time);

- funeral role, provision of the afterlife of the deceased, afterlife feeding of the soul through prayers and sacrifices (cult of ancestors – cult of death);

- connection with the cult of life and the cult of death as material objects that go beyond human life and are outside its time;

- a receptacle or vessel for the concentration of the divine and creative forces of ME (ME – the will to be).

The Bible:

- The Pillar of Truth, the image of the Lord Savior;

- establishment of the law-covenant with God;

- a manifestation of pride, identification with the image of the Tower of Babel.