Papers by Steffen Terp Laursen
Seals of Dilmun type from Bahrain and Failaka island (Kuwait) in 18 cases have depictions of boat... more Seals of Dilmun type from Bahrain and Failaka island (Kuwait) in 18 cases have depictions of boats. Contrary to previous studies, it is argued here that these vessels represent a distinct class of single-masted sail boats and further that this boat type probably is synonymous with the "Dilmun boats" mentioned in Babylonian textual sources as a specific long-distance vessel type native to Dilmun. The prow of the Dilmun boats typically exhibit a characteristic "figurehead" with two horns, large jaws and two forward-projecting "prongs". Based on comparatively similar looking serpent/dragon representations in Dilmun's glyptic art and the mythological information that can be understood from the scene in which they appear, the horned figureheads of the Dilmun boats are identified as a possible Dilmunite goddess of the primordial sea, somehow comparable to the Babylonian Tiamat. Following analysis of this serpent/dragon on the seals, it is argued that there existed a Dilmunite version of the near omnipresent conflict myth. This myth and its distinct topos are discussed, and it is concluded that in Dilmun it played a role in royal ideology and the legitimisation of kingship. How to cite this article: Laursen S. T. Dilmun boats on seals, horned figureheads, and the serpent/dragon slaying myth, c. 2050-1500 BC.
Journal of Urban Studies, 2023
The focus of this article is on the Arabian Gulf in the Bronze Age, which is the geographic and c... more The focus of this article is on the Arabian Gulf in the Bronze Age, which is the geographic and chronological perspective from which this author was invited to contribute to this special issue and the conference that the issue evolves from. This contribution addresses some of the general questions raised by Raja and Sindbaek (this volume). They raise multiple important questions and point towards a new urban archaeology which, however, only to a varying degree can be satisfactorily addressed based on the data available from the Arabian Gulf region.
From Dilmun to Wādī al‐Fāw: A forgotten desert corridor, c. 2000 BC
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy
There is a lacuna of knowledge on the inland trade routes across Bronze Age central Arabia, which... more There is a lacuna of knowledge on the inland trade routes across Bronze Age central Arabia, which this article seeks to fill based on new evidence from Wādī al-Fāw, Saudi Arabia. Contrary to a common belief that interior Southeast Arabia after the Holocene Humid Phase and until the domestication of the dromedary had turned desolate Badlands, this study offers documentation that during the early Bronze Age, a commercial corridor connected the Kingdom of Dilmun on the Arabian Gulf coast with the southern parts of Saudi Arabia, probably Yemen. Seals of Dilmun Type, Dilmun pottery and related burial praxis make up the gist of the evidence from Wādī al-Fāw. A dry mummification mound burial custom is possibly identified at al-Fāw and probably Taymāʾ, which contrasts the classic Dilmun mound burial custom. An attempt is made to reconstruct the most likely route that connected Dilmun and Wādī al-Fāw. The emergence around 2000 BC of this trade network, likely based on donkey trains, closely coincides with the rise of the Kingdom of Dilmun, but surprisingly also with a time when Arabia witnessed unusually arid conditions. Identification of this unexpected ancient corridor should profoundly affect how upcoming models consider linguistic, ideological, genetic, cultural and technological transmission across Bronze Age Arabia.
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 2022
There is a lacuna of knowledge on the inland trade routes across Bronze Age central Arabia, which... more There is a lacuna of knowledge on the inland trade routes across Bronze Age central Arabia, which this article seeks to fill based on new evidence from Wādī al-Fāw, Saudi Arabia. Contrary to a common belief that interior Southeast Arabia after the Holocene Humid Phase and until the domestication of the dromedary had turned desolate Badlands, this study offers documentation that during the early Bronze Age, a commercial corridor connected the Kingdom of Dilmun on the Arabian Gulf coast with the southern parts of Saudi Arabia, probably Yemen. Seals of Dilmun Type, Dilmun pottery and related burial praxis make up the gist of the evidence from Wādī al-Fāw. A dry mummification mound burial custom is possibly identified at al-Fāw and probably Taymāʾ, which contrasts the classic Dilmun mound burial custom. An attempt is made to reconstruct the most likely route that connected Dilmun and Wādī al-Fāw. The emergence around 2000 BC of this trade network, likely based on donkey trains, closely coincides with the rise of the Kingdom of Dilmun, but surprisingly also with a time when Arabia witnessed unusually arid conditions. Identification of this unexpected ancient corridor should profoundly affect how upcoming models consider linguistic, ideological, genetic, cultural and technological transmission across Bronze Age Arabia.
Seals and Sealing Technology in the Dilmun Culture: The Post-Harappan Life of the Indus Valley Sealing Tradition
Seals and Sealing in the Ancient World
The seals and sealing of the Dilmun Culture represent one of the most understudied glyptic tradit... more The seals and sealing of the Dilmun Culture represent one of the most understudied glyptic traditions of the old world. Based on the extant data from the Early Dilmun period (ca. 2250–1650 BCE) the present contribution provides an introduction to the all-pervasive “Gulf” and “Dilmun Type” stamp seals and evaluates the range of their chronological and geographical distribution. Above all, Bronze Age Dilmun is seen as a key context for understanding the sealing traditions of the Old World because it represent a melting pot in which hybrid forms of glyptic art developed under the influence of her major trade partners in the Indus Valley, Babylonia, and beyond. In the present study, rectangular Dilmun seals and cylinder seals carved in the Dilmun style are investigated as cardinal examples in Dilmun art of such creative translations. The study additionally introduces evidence that applies to the symbolic and practical function of the seals as bureaucratic devices in an ideological and administrative system. The latter includes impression on sealings and cuneiform tablets but also address a small group of so-called tokens stamped with Dilmun-related seals, and sealing symbolism expressed on pottery vessels.
Dilmun Boat shaped votive bowls for the Moon‐god Nanna?
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy
The Early Dynastic sources make it clear that there existed a distinct Dilmun boat connected to f... more The Early Dynastic sources make it clear that there existed a distinct Dilmun boat connected to foreign sea trade. The Babylonian Moon god (Nanna/Suen/Sîn) was symbolically associated with both a bowl and a boat that sailed across the night sky during stages in the monthly cycle before Nanna ultimately would “rise” from the bowl and boat at full moon. Sources from the Early Dynastic IIIa period mention actual votive bowls that are related to the “bowl” stage in the lunar cycle. Votive bowls shaped as boats are also mentioned in documentary sources associated with different deities. The boat shaped bowls for Nanna probably existed as a convergence of the cyclical concepts of the “Bowl” and the “Boat”. Importantly, from an Arabian Gulf perspective, these boat-shaped bowls are occasionally explicitly stated to have been fashioned in the shape of Dilmun boats. In this article the ideological concepts are outlined and discussed and a series of boat-shaped copper bowls from Babylonia are suggested as a possible match to the votive bowls shaped as Dilmun boats of the texts.
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy
Seals of Dilmun type from Bahrain and Failaka island (Kuwait) in 18 cases have depictions of boat... more Seals of Dilmun type from Bahrain and Failaka island (Kuwait) in 18 cases have depictions of boats. Contrary to previous studies, it is argued here that these vessels represent a distinct class of single-masted sail boats and further that this boat type probably is synonymous with the “Dilmun boats” mentioned in Babylonian textual sources as a specific long-distance vessel type native to Dilmun. The prow of the Dilmun boats typically exhibit a characteristic “figurehead” with two horns, large jaws and two forward-projecting “prongs”. Based on comparatively similar looking serpent/dragon representations in Dilmun’s glyptic art and the mythological information that can be understood from the scene in which they appear, the horned figureheads of the Dilmun boats are identified as a possible Dilmunite goddess of the primordial sea, somehow comparable to the Babylonian Tiamat. Following analysis of this serpent/dragon on the seals, it is argued that there existed a Dilmunite version of the near omnipresent conflict myth. This myth and its distinct topos are discussed, and it is concluded that in Dilmun it played a role in royal ideology and the legitimisation of kingship.
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 2016
This article presents evidence of a system of symbolic markings, which developed in Dilmun betwee... more This article presents evidence of a system of symbolic markings, which developed in Dilmun between c.1950 and 1500 BC. The symbols predominantly appear on pottery, tokens and seals and may originally have been inspired by similar systems in the post-Indus script period of the Harappan culture. There was a development over time from single symbols on pottery and tokens to more complex sequences on seals that ultimately formed irregular logograms. The system was developed as a means of communication in an illiterate society. Based on the shape of the symbols and related evidence it is argued that they all represent variations on the theme of palm branches, palm trees and altars and that they are connected to the cult of Inzak. From the contexts in which the symbols appear it is demonstrated that the symbols were exclusive to Dilmun's royal house and temple institutions.
Ingvor Filtenborgs flintsamling. Et diskussionsbidrag om senglacialtidens jagtvåbenteknologi
Praehistorische Zeitschrift, 2000
... specifically the alignment of the graves with contemporary routes of communication. Comments ... more ... specifically the alignment of the graves with contemporary routes of communication. Comments (0). Please log In or register to comment. Log inRegister. Have you read our house rules for communicating on De Gruyter Online? ...
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 2011
Højlund has argued that since the numbers are based on counts of rim sherds, this introduces a bi... more Højlund has argued that since the numbers are based on counts of rim sherds, this introduces a bias in the record; therefore the actual percentages of Mesopotamian vessels in periods Ia and Ib are more likely to be as high as 18% and 31% (1994: 130).
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 2009
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 2010
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 2008
Gravhøje set fra luften
Burial Mounds seen from the air A source critical investigation Denmark was systematically survey... more Burial Mounds seen from the air A source critical investigation Denmark was systematically surveyed in secret by means of aerial photography in May 1954. The operation, codename Basic Cover, was executed by the US Air Force and resulted in approximately 42.700 orto-photographs taken from a fixed height of 10.000 feet and rendering a national coverage of 99.6%. The series is now declassified and, as numerous types of archaeological features are apparent on the individual pictures, it is drawn upon with increasing frequency as part of the daily routine of archaeological institutions around the country. As a consequence of the aerial survey having taken place relatively early in the year, archaeological monuments such as burial mounds stand out against the newly ploughed fields primarily as differences in the colour of the soil (fig 1). In 2005 the increasing general interest in the use of aerial photography prompted a group of colleagues to create the archaeological aerial photograph...
Federmesserkulturen i Danmark – Belyst med udgangspunkt i en amatørarkæologs flintsamling
The Federmesser culture in Denmark in light of an amateur archaeologist’s flint collection In 201... more The Federmesser culture in Denmark in light of an amateur archaeologist’s flint collection In 2010, the dedicated amateur archaeologist Ingvor Filtenborg passed away. For more than 30 years he had systematically walked the fields near his home just to the east of Store Andst near Kolding, Southern Jutland. As this area lies on the current administrative boundary between the museums in Kolding and Sonderskov, his collection became divided. This meant that the culture-historical significance of some aspects of this material has not previously been fully appreciated. This article presents and describes flint tools from his collection that are diagnostic of the so-called Federmesser culture (arch- or curved-backed point groups) dating to the Allerod warm phase of the Late Glacial (12000-11000 years BC). This was a time during which Southern Scandinavia saw dramatic changes in the composition of the local fauna and flora (fig. 2). The diagnostic flint tools from this techno-complex are s...
Høje, landskab og bosættelse – Rekognosceringer ved Tobøl-Plougstrup-højgruppen
Barrows, Landscape and SettlementField surveys at the Tobol-Plougstrup barrow groupA group of bar... more Barrows, Landscape and SettlementField surveys at the Tobol-Plougstrup barrow groupA group of barrows located between the villages of Tobol and Plougstrup in the parishes of Fovling and Jernved in Ribe County has on several occasions been the object of intense archaeological interest. The group consists of 26 burial mounds all situated close to or in some cases almost directly on the eroded banks of the Kongea river meadows (fig. 1). Extraordinarily lavish grave goods together with conspicuously large mounds have contributed to an impression of an area of special significance in prehistory. It is, however, the recovery of well-preserved oak log coffins from the Early Bronze Age in three different mounds, which in particular has drawn attention to the locality. The coffins were in every case uncovered under adverse circumstances leaving only scattered information on find circumstances and grave goods. As part of a larger research program the Tobol-Plougstrup area was revisited in 199...
Dilmun Boat shaped votive bowls for the Moon-god Nanna?
Arabian Archaeology & Epigraphy, 2021
The Early Dynastic sources make it clear that there existed a distinct Dilmun boat connected to f... more The Early Dynastic sources make it clear that there existed a distinct Dilmun boat connected to foreign sea trade. The Babylonian Moon god (Nanna/Suen/Sîn) was symbolically associated with both a bowl and a boat that sailed across the night sky during stages in the monthly cycle before Nanna ultimately would “rise” from the bowl and boat at full moon. Sources from the Early Dynastic IIIa period mention actual votive bowls that are related to the “bowl” stage in the lunar cycle. Votive bowls shaped as boats are also mentioned in documentary sources associated with different deities. The boat shaped bowls for Nanna probably existed as a convergence of the cyclical concepts of the “Bowl” and the “Boat”. Importantly, from an Arabian Gulf perspective, these boat-shaped bowls are occasionally explicitly stated to have been fashioned in the shape of Dilmun boats. In this article the ideological concepts are outlined and discussed and a series of boat-shaped copper bowls from Babylonia are suggested as a possible match to the votive bowls shaped as Dilmun boats of the texts.
Dilmun boats on seals, horned figureheads, and the serpent/ dragon slaying myth, c. 2050–1500 BC
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 2020
Seals of Dilmun type from Bahrain and Failaka island (Kuwait) in 18 cases have depictions of boat... more Seals of Dilmun type from Bahrain and Failaka island (Kuwait) in 18 cases have depictions of boats. Contrary to previous studies, it is argued here that these vessels represent a distinct class of single-masted sail boats and further that this boat type probably is synonymous with the “Dilmun boats” mentioned in Babylonian textual sources as a specific long-distance vessel type native to Dilmun. The prow of the Dilmun boats typically exhibit a characteristic “figurehead” with two horns, large
jaws and two forward-projecting “prongs”. Based on comparatively similar looking serpent/dragon representations in Dilmun’s glyptic art and the mythological information that can be understood from the scene in which they appear, the horned figureheads of the Dilmun boats are identified as a possible Dilmunite goddess of the primordial sea, somehow comparable to the Babylonian Tiamat. Following analysis of this serpent/dragon on the seals, it is argued that there existed a Dilmunite version of the near omnipresent conflict myth. This myth and its distinct topos are discussed, and it is concluded that in Dilmun it played a role in royal ideology and the legitimisation of kingship.
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Papers by Steffen Terp Laursen
jaws and two forward-projecting “prongs”. Based on comparatively similar looking serpent/dragon representations in Dilmun’s glyptic art and the mythological information that can be understood from the scene in which they appear, the horned figureheads of the Dilmun boats are identified as a possible Dilmunite goddess of the primordial sea, somehow comparable to the Babylonian Tiamat. Following analysis of this serpent/dragon on the seals, it is argued that there existed a Dilmunite version of the near omnipresent conflict myth. This myth and its distinct topos are discussed, and it is concluded that in Dilmun it played a role in royal ideology and the legitimisation of kingship.
jaws and two forward-projecting “prongs”. Based on comparatively similar looking serpent/dragon representations in Dilmun’s glyptic art and the mythological information that can be understood from the scene in which they appear, the horned figureheads of the Dilmun boats are identified as a possible Dilmunite goddess of the primordial sea, somehow comparable to the Babylonian Tiamat. Following analysis of this serpent/dragon on the seals, it is argued that there existed a Dilmunite version of the near omnipresent conflict myth. This myth and its distinct topos are discussed, and it is concluded that in Dilmun it played a role in royal ideology and the legitimisation of kingship.
understudied glyptic traditions of the old world. Based on the extant data
from the Early Dilmun period (ca. 2250–1650 BCE) the present contribution provides an introduction to the all-pervasive “Gulf” and “Dilmun Type” stamp seals and evaluates the range of their chronological and geographical distribution. Above all, Bronze Age Dilmun is seen as a key context for understanding the sealing traditions of the Old World because it represent a melting pot in which hybrid forms of glyptic art developed under the influence of her major trade partners in the Indus Valley, Babylonia, and beyond. In the present study, rectangular Dilmun seals and cylinder seals carved in the Dilmun style are investigated as cardinal examples in Dilmun art of such creative translations. The study additionally introduces evidence that applies to the symbolic and practical function of the seals as bureaucratic devices in an ideological and administrative system. The latter includes impression on sealings and cuneiform tablets but also address a small group of so-called tokens stamped with Dilmun-related seals, and sealing symbolism expressed on pottery vessels.
The Royal Mounds of A’ali in Bahrain has long been shrouded in mystery and suspected to be the final resting place of the Bronze Age kings of Dilmun. Puzzled by their great size professional archaeologists and self-proclaimed explorers have for hundreds of years attempted to penetrate their interior and wrestle secrets and treasures from the tombs. This book presents information from the early days of archaeological exploration at A’ali as well as new data from the joint Bahrain - Moesgaard Museum investigations 2010 -2016 directed by the author.
The collective evidence from both old and new field explorations at A’ali are meticulously analyzed. The results are discussed with a strong focus on the royal cemetery as an institution, using a theoretical approach based on the anthropology and ethnography of death and death rituals. Emphasis is also placed on developing an architectural typology and a radio-carbon based chronology of the royal tombs at A’ali based on Bayesian modelling. In this study, vast quantities of hitherto unpublished data from excavations in the burial mounds of Bahrain is integrated to allow a more informed and diachronic picture of the evolution in tomb architecture, death rituals and social organization in the Early Dilmun period, c. 2200-1700 BC. Philological evidence is presented which demonstrates that the entombed kings were of Amorite ancestry. The study reveals that the Amorite Dynasty buried at A’ali emerged with the formation of huge monumental tombs in a royal cemetery proper around 2000-1900 BC and lost its grip on power c. 1700 BC.
Moesgaard Museum og Aarhus Universitet har siden 1953 udforsket Bahrains unikke bronzealdergravpladser, der engang talte henved 76.000 høje. Moesgaards videnskabelige satsning har blandt andet resulteret i flere bøger om gravhøjene.