Observations placeholder
Various symbolic objects - Kudurrus
Identifier
022127
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Wikipedia
Kudurru was a type of stone document used as boundary stones and as records of land grants to vassals by the Kassites in ancient Babylonia between the 16th and 12th centuries BCE. The word is Akkadian for "frontier" or "boundary" (cf. Hebrew גדר "gader", fence, boundary; Arabic جدر "jadr", جدار "jidar" 'wall'; pl. جدور "judūr"). The kudurrus are the only surviving artworks for the period of Kassite rule in Babylonia with examples kept in the Louvre, the British Museum and the National Museum of Iraq.
The kudurrus recorded the land granted by the king to his vassals as a record of his decision. The original kudurru would be stored in a temple while the person granted the land would be given a clay copy to use as a boundary stone to confirm legal ownership.
The kudurrus would contain symbolic images of the gods who were protecting the contract, the contract itself and the divine curse that would be placed on a person who broke the contract. Some kudurrus also contained an image of the king who granted the land. As they contained a great deal of images as well as a contract, kudurrus were engraved on large slabs of stone.
A description of the experience
Babylonian kudurru of the late Kassite period found near Baghdad by the French botanist André Michaux (Cabinet des Médailles, Paris)
Kudurru, grant deed by Neubchadnezzar I (1125-1104 BCE), Sippar, Babylonia. Six registers. Top to bottom: symbols of astral gods; tiaras of great gods, gods Anu (sky), Enlil (air), Ea (water); two horned dragons, one carrying spade, attribute of Marduk, other carrying stylus with tablet the attributes of Marduk’s son Nabu, god of scribes; goddess Gula with her dog and scorpion-god; young bull carrying thunderbolt of Adad (storm god), scorpion of Ishharra, lap of Nusku.
The source of the experience
Mesopotamian systemConcepts, symbols and science items
Symbols
AetherAir
Bull and cow
Dog
Dragon
Earth
Fire
Horns
Scorpion
Stars
Sun and Moon
Thunder and lightning
Turtle
Water