The Concept of Battle in Iranian and Mesopotamian Myths with Emphasis on Achaemenid, Assyrian and Babylonian Reliefs

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate professor in faculty of Handicrafts Department, Art University of Esfahan.

2 Master of Arts, University of Isfahan

Abstract

Humans have been dependent on hunting for survival, but the role of hunting somehow changed in the Assyrian civilization, and became a tool to show the power of kings in the form of images of hunting powerful animals or war scenes. One of the subjects that was worked as a relief or seal in the Achaemenid period in Iran was the king’s battle with a hybrid animal. On the other hand, this image is demonstrated in the form of a relief in the ancient Elamite civilization, called Enumaleiš. The comparative study of the creation myths of ancient Iran and Mesopotamia could reveal the common concept of battle with lions or hybrid animals in the Achaemenid and Babylonian reliefs. This research takes a comparative approach to study motifs and myths. According to the alignment of the myths of Iran and Mesopotamia, the question is, what was the purpose of raising this issue in Iranian and Mesopotamian art? The research method was descriptive-analytical and the method of data collection was library-based. The results of the research showed that the artists’ motivation in creating these reliefs was to explain their surrounding world based on the transformation of nature, fertility, and peace. Also, the king’s battle with the hybrid animal has illustrated the myth of order and disorder and good and evil, which has been the commonality and intellectual unity of neighboring civilizations in dealing with nature and establishing order in it.

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