Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, 2254-2218 B.C.E.

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, Akkadian, pink limestone, 2254-2218 B.C.E. (Louvre, Paris)

This monument depicts the Akkadian victory over the Lullubi Mountain people. In the12th century B.C.E., 1,000 years after it was originally made, the Elamite king, Shutruk-
Nahhunte, attacked Babylon and, according to his later inscription, the stele was taken to Susa in what is now Iran.

A stele is a vertical stone monument or marker often inscribed with text or relief carving.

Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

[intro music]

We're in Louvre and

we're looking at the Victory Stele of Naram-Sin.

This a really old stele.

It's a really old relief sculpture.

It is 4200 years old.

It was made, we think, in approximately 2200 BCE.

Now, Naram-Sin was the great-great grandson

of the founding king of Akkadia, Sargon.

And this stele

commemorates a really important victory of his.

It commemorates a victory over the Lullubi people

who were mountain people

living in the Eastern region of Mesopotamia.

Now, normally victory scenes like this from Ancient Mesopotamia

are shown in registers.

In other words,

the scene is divided into horizontal bands.

Here, the artist has created a new kind of composition

where we see Naram-Sin at the top.

And diagonally on the left,

underneath Naram-Sin,

we see his soldiers climbing the mountain.

And then on the right, the vanquished,

falling and defeated and wounded.

What I find so interesting is that

Naram-Sin's army is so disciplined.

They don't break ranks,

they're marching in line.

There're standard bearers

followed by those with weapons

whereas on the right there's all kinds of chaos.

And Naram-Sin is so erect and noble-looking,

and clearly associated with the gods,

compared to the mortals that surround him.

One of the things I have noticed immediately is

how everyone's gaze, or nearly everyone's gaze,

is directed at Naram-Sin himself.

So his soldiers look up at him,

the vanquished turn towards him.

He's clearly the focal point of this composition.

One of aspects that I love most about this

are the vanquished, I have to say.

You have one of the vanquished mountain people

who were actually literally thrown off the mountain.

You can see him upside down, falling,

as if he's falling into water.

You see somebody else literally under Naram-Sin's foot,

somebody with a spear in his neck.

And then, most interestingly, I think,

to the extreme right,

profiled against the mountain,

is a man who is fleeing.

Because you can see that

his feet are facing away from Naram-Sin,

but he's also turned around,

turned back and pleading as he flees.

Clearly, what we're seeing

is using a symbolic language.

This isn't supposed to be a naturalistic representation

of an army climbing a mountain,

but a symbolic image that

tells the story through symbols of this event.

And so we see Naram-Sin,

much larger than everyone else,

with his shoulders frontal, his head in profile,

and close to the deities of the top

who are represented by... well, they're look like suns.

Right, the suns or the stars above are the forces

that have helped guide him to victory.

But also, and this is important,

he's wearing a horned helmet

which is for the Akkadians a symbol of divinity.

So through this victory,

he's actually assuming the importance and status of the gods.

Right.

And in fact, the whole ascension to the mountain top

certainly supports this idea

he's rising into the realm of the heavenly.

[outro music]