Unexamined artistic discoveries from the city of Dilbat

Abstract

This article presents a descriptive and analytical study of a variety of artistic archaeological objects discovered in the city of Dilbat (Tell al-Deylam) during the second and third excavation seasons (2018-2019), which together represented part of a large group of discoveries and diverse archaeological materials such as pottery, metal and stone objects, and are results from the  excavation project conducted by the  Department of Archaeology, College of Arts, University of Babylon, as most of them were found within the area of ​​the city’s main temple, which was dedicated to the worship of the city’s main god, Urash, one of the gods of fertility and agriculture in Mesopotamia. The nature of these discoveries reflects the importance of this city, as well as the social and religious status, ability, and artistic mastery of the residents of the city of Dilbat, which together encourage the importance and necessity of continuing excavation work there. Despite the few artistic models selected for study, it is clear that the city of Delbat may have formed its own artistic school, especially with regard to the method of engraving seal scenes, as we noticed a difference in the way some details of the scene elements were represented, such as the formation of the beards of the gods (Figure 5), as we did not find any evidence for them in other sites, in addition to the similarity in the clothing of the characters despite the difference in their role and religious status in the scene in a way that we find in other seal scenes (Figure 4). At the same time, we find artistic models such as sculptures and pottery panels (Figure 7-8) that fall within the general artistic style followed in their implementation in most sites and cities of Mesopotamia.