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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Thanks Genevra and Christopher, But... I seem to recall reading about a different broken image of Gudea having been worn smooth, presumably by numerous hands touching it. In other words, a paraliturgical ritual. It strikes me that a similar explanation concerning this work is just as likely (if not more) as a suggestion that the concavities were the result of grinding grain. In fact, given their odd and awkward conjunction, a grain grinder would have had to have been fairly acrobatic to create all of those concavities. And wouldn't one have done the trick? Also, the rock with the concavities enshrines Gudea's feet, somewhat like a reliquary. Cheers, Jim On 17/12/2010 9:41 AM, Genevra Kornbluth wrote: > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > Thanks, Christopher. > Jim, for the ID of Gudea (far outside my area of expertise) I rely on > the BM, but it seems reasonable to me given Gudea's mania for > self-representation and and the surviving portion's similarity to > those images. The finished/natural look of the concavities is due to > grinding down, as Christopher notes, with a pestle (using the statue > as a mortar). For such a hard stone (basalt) "official" shaping is > done in the same way, i.e. grinding rather than using a chisel. > Official shaping, however, is on images of this period normally given > a high polish, as these concavities are not. > Best, > Genevra > >>> Genevra, >>> Do you happen to know how these feet have been identified as those >>> of Gudea? >> An inscription, perhaps? What I find fascinating about this is >> that they are >> not surrounded by "unfinished" rock forms but by finished attempts at >> creating >> "natural" rock forms. The emphasis on feet is also >> reminiscent of the cult of Serapis. >> >> non, Jim, that was my first thought when looking at it, but G. set me >> straight >> by saying that those "unfinished rock forms" were the result of the >> [broken?] >> statue being used as a pestle for grinding grain. > > ********************************************************************** > To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME > to: [log in to unmask] > To send a message to the list, address it to: > [log in to unmask] > To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion > to: [log in to unmask] > In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: > [log in to unmask] > For further information, visit our web site: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html > > ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html