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The Palace of Sargon, King of Assyria

Article  in  American Journal of Archaeology · January 1989

DOI: 10.2307/505408

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Reviewed Work(s): The Palace of Sargon, King of Assyria by Pauline Albenda
Review by: Gary Beckman
Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 93, No. 1 (Jan., 1989), pp. 144-145
Published by: Archaeological Institute of America
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/505408
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 144 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY [AJA 93

during field processing, it is a pitythough

that many events within could
reference the cycle remain
not obscure." Inev-
have been made to work in the Roman itably, aand Byzantine
conference is by its nature Medi-
somewhat selective, and
terranean at sites like Benghazi, Carthage,
many scholars will and
regretOstia.
the absence Here
of some aspect or an-
the problems are quite formidable and
other yetstudies:
of Beaker the Sardinian
effort hasfor example, re-
Beakers,
been very much worthwhile. Pottery ceivecan
only passing
nowreference,
be used as a link to the Balearics (274)
effec-
tively in the great debate about theand as the probable
ancient link between
economy, Sicily and the Beaker
previ-
ously the almost exclusive preserve world
of the (532). Still, the coverageFinally,
historian. is so broad and the amount
I note that the author has adopted a modern
of detail presented is so ceramicist's
extensive (particularly for the Ba-
definition of "characterization," which leadswith
learics), fortified the discussion
hundreds of generally excellent fig-
into technology as well as provenancing. To will
ures, that readers most European
have little cause to complain.
Although these
archaeologists, characterization involves simplyOxford"finger-
papers will not supplant the
printing" fabrics to distinguish similar materials
Oberreid ofwill
symposium, they differing
take their place beside it as
origin. The discussion might haveanbeen essentialmore
referencefocused
for all futurehad
scholarship on Bell
the term been used in this more restricted sense. Beakers and associated phenomena.
It would be possible to continue in this vein, quibbling
ROBERT J. ROWLAND, JR.
over what are essentially points of detail, and many review-
ers seem to think that this is their main brief. However, to DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS/CENTER FOR ARCHAEOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
say more would be to do both the author and the reader a
grave disservice for this is a masterly, thorough and com- COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND 20742
mendable book. The author deserves our admiration and
gratitude. The work is dedicated to the "memory of Ralph,THE PALACE OF SARGON, KING OF ASSYRIA, by Pau-
who was always on top of everything." In Pottery Analysis, line Albenda. (Editions Recherche sur les Civilisa-
Prudence Rice has demonstrated that she is completely on
tions, Synthise 22.) Pp. 280, pls. 153, figs. 97. Edi-
top of her subject.
D.P.S. PEACOCK tions Recherche sur les Civilisations, Paris 1986.
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY Fr 352
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON
Sargon II of Assyria, like many other Mesopotamian rul-
SOUTHAMPTON so9 5NH
ENGLAND ers, wished to establish a new capital for his realm, and in
717 B.C. work began on the city of Dir-Sharrukin ("For-
tress of Sargon"), situated on the modern site of Khorsabad
near Mosul in Iraq. The most important structure in this
BELL BEAKERS OF THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN,
new foundation was of course the royal palace, which was
edited by William H. Waldren and Rex Claire decorated with hundreds of bas-reliefs carved on large slabs
Kennard. (BAR-IS 331.) 2 vols; pp. vi + 699, nu- of alabaster, gypsum, and limestone. Construction was
merous plates and figures. Oxford 1987. largely completed by 707, and settlement of DUr-Sharrukin
began in the following year. In 705, however, Sargon was
Gone forever are the "Megalithic Missionaries" of our killed while campaigning in Asia Minor, and the new cap-
youth. Despite abundant new information and numerous re- ital, abandoned by his successors, soon fell into ruin.
considerations of old, however, most especially at the Ober- The excavation of the remains of Sargon's palace by the
reid Glockenbechersymposion (1976) and at the Oxford In- Frenchmen Paul Emile Botta (1843-1844) and Victor Place
ternational Western Mediterranean Bell Beaker Confer- (1852-1854) was one of the spurs to the development of the
ence, the papers of which are here (as often) quickly made infant science of Assyriology. In these first days of Meso-
available for a wider audience by BAR, we seem still to be potamian
a archaeology, efforts centered on the recovery of
long way from any widely accepted consensus about Beakers. material fit for exhibit in the museums of the sponsoring
Are we to think of Beaker Culture or Cultures? Phenome- countries, and indeed many of the best bas-reliefs uncovered
non or Phenomena? Assemblages? Presence? Influences? by Botta and Place are today displayed in the Louvre. But
Folk? Or should differing contexts and chronologies turn our the removal and transportation of these slabs, some as much
thoughts in different directions? Surely, Beakers are one as 5.50 m tall, severely strained the technical expertise and
thing in Sicily (pp. 523-49: Tusa; 565-80: Pacci), something financial resources of the early excavators. Therefore only a
else entirely in the Iberian Peninsula (passim). selection of the best-preserved pieces was sent to Paris, and
The essays are divided into two parts, the first under the unfortunately much of the material dispatched was lost in a
heading "Definition, Interpretation and Theory" presenting shipwreck in the Shatt al-Arab in 1855.
11 papers by Chapman, Barfield, Waldren, Topp, Gomes Of the reliefs left in place by the French, many were re-
Lisboa, Lewthwaite, Sherratt, and others; the second "New moved by enterprising locals and ultimately sold to various
Site Data" with 18 papers covering a selection of sites and museums. In this manner 30 or so pieces made their way to
regions from Portugal to southern Poland. Readers would the British Museum via the merchant Alexander Hector,
do well to begin with Humphrey Case's "Postscript" (115- then established in Baghdad. Others are now housed in col-
27), which summarizes the preceding theoretical papers, lections in cities as widely dispersed as New York, Lenin-
concluding (with Lewthwaite, 31-60) that "the Bell Beaker grad, Brussels, and Bombay. Still further slabs were em-
culture, its influence and presence can thus be seen as parts ployed by the natives as grinding stones or chopping blocks,
of a Braudelian-like cycle spanning the centuries, even or burned down for gypsum. More recent work at Khor-

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 1989] BOOK REVIEWS 145

sabad by the senior Classical archaeologist

Oriental on his discipline. No doubt it
Institute of
(1927;1929-1934) and
is the purpose of the
the Sather lectures Iraq
to present such views in M
centrated on salvaging
a general context in order towhat rema
allow the subject matter to
With the material
reach a widesoaudience.scattered
This is a worthy goal when it suc- or l
in poor condition,
ceeds in makingit known theis views obviously
of a noted scholar. The
original decorative program
present work is successful of
in this respect, but it is unsuccess- t
Botta had employed
ful with regard to otheran matters. It excellent
is not a systematic treat-
draw the sculptures
ment of Greek archaeology, as excavated
as the reader may infer from the
tions of their original
title, but mainly the thoughtsappearance
of the author upon the rela-
been fully published.
tions of the new archaeology Luckily
to Classical archaeology as the Fla
or pen and ink, latter have been
is practiced in Greece. preser
I'Institut de France.
The book is laid outIt is The
in six chapters. the pre
first two chap-
along with a few sketches
ters are extended byof Bo
essays on the longstanding relationship
present volume Classicalis primarily
archaeology and history, and the more recent in- ded
beautifully reproduced and desc
fluence of the new archaeology on Classical archaeology.
and as a complement photographs
These are interesting essays, and the topic could bear fur-
liefs are provided, again accompan
ther scrutiny, so the reader is somewhat dismayed when
tive catalogue as varying circums
Snodgrass veers off in Chapter 3 into a discussion of how
After outlining the history of a
little can be known of the rural landscape of ancient Greece
Khorsabad and delineating
when we are restricted to what the ancient sources have to
the
which the reliefs were set, Alben
say on the subject. The discussion of the rural landscape
of this material in detail, utilizin
continues in the fourth chapter where the Cambridge and
reliefs themselves and the drawin
Bradford Boeotia Survey is the main topic. The purpose of
somewhat dry and of necessity re
for a lively, if this chapter is evidently to show what modern survey meth-
brief, "aesthetic a
uments. It will ods can achieve in provide
also restoring the balance of knowledgea about
secu
search already the ancient rural landscape.by
begun Chapter 5 offers
otheranother abrupt sc
shift of focus as the discussion moves to the content of the
and propagandistic function of As
In addition, first figure scenes inWalker
C.B.F. Greek art. The book is concluded of
with a th
tributes a few sixth
pageschapter on yet another
on topic, an the
analysis of whatshor
Clas-
panying several sical of
archaeologythehas contributedbattle
to an understanding of the
scen
and 91 pages ofearly the
Iron Age of Greece.
volume are d
lation of the bulk Althoughof it is not always
the evident, the chapters are con-
text by
The present nected by a unifyingthus
volume theme, viz., the author's
belongs critique of
studies known Classicalas
archaeology."museum
In the first chapter he lays out his ar
which thesis: Classical archaeology
concentrates not has been
on ignored,the
wrongly he di
from ancient sites
argues, by the new but onholds
archaeology. Snodgrass the
that Clas- st
collections and the
sical archaeology has a records
great deal to offer to archaeologyof in t
While in this instance
general, most notably achievements the in method, andultim
a rich
sculpture from historical and material
the seventh data base. He defends Classical
centuryar-
inquiry is drawings
chaeology's achievementsfrom in fieldwork, and thehe lauds the 19
interested in the history
richness of the archaeological record for the and
Classical world, cu
East will be grateful
but, unfortunately, heto has little Dr. Albend
to say about the wider goals
the legacy of Flandin
of Classical archaeology. and
In Chapter 1 heto the
defines Classical
presentation of archaeology
this important
as art history, and not, as the reader might ex- m
GARY BECKMAN
pect, as the archaeology of the Graeco-Roman world. Such a
326 STERLING MEMORIAL LIBRARY
narrow definition of Classical archaeology will not convince
YALE UNIVERSITY
new archaeologists that it should be taken more seriously,
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT 06520
for the new archaeology has explicitly embraced the goals of
systematic analysis and the explanation of cultural pro-
cesses, aims that have drawn them closer to anthropologists
AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF GREECE. THE PRESENT STATE
than to art historians or philologists. New archaeologists are
AND FUTURE SCOPE OF A DISCIPLINE, by Anthony not inclined to define archaeology by subject matter. What is
M. Snodgrass. Pp. 218, ills. 64. University of Cali- more, the examples offered by Snodgrass to illustrate the ex-

fornia Press, Berkeley 1987. $30 emplary methods of Classical archaeology seem a little
forced: Dorpfeld's investigations in Lefkas and Kunze's at
The use of the indefinite article in the title is an apt Olympia are described as models of what Classical archaeo-
choice, for this book is unlikely to please many archaeolo- logy has to offer. These investigations appear too narrowly
gists. The book, based upon the lectures given by the author focused to offer grounds for comparison with the achieve-
when he was the Sather Professor at the University of Cali- ments of the new archaeology, as seen in, to take but one re-
fornia at Berkeley in 1983-84, offers the personal views of a cent example, the Melos Project (C. Renfrew and M. Wag-

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