SYMBOLIC INTERPRETATION OF THE RITUAL SCENE ON THE GOLD MEDALLION FROM TOPRAK-KALE
SYMBOLIC INTERPRETATION OF THE RITUAL SCENE ON THE GOLD MEDALLION FROM TOPRAK-KALE

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to the analysis of the Urartian (the Kingdom of Van, 9th-6th centuries BC) gold medallion from Toprak-Kale (Turkey). The Urartian medallions known to us are mostly circular and usually adorned with artistic compositions of a religious or mythological character corresponding to the form. The interpretation of the potential symbolic value of the medallion’s artistic decoration is the main goal of the study. Iconographic and religious parallels in Urartu and other cultures of the ancient Near East were used for the analyzing of the ritual scene on the cultic object. Within the framework of the article, an attempt was made to reveal through iconography the role of the female deities in the Urartian religious life.

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