Description
Book SynopsisIn The Meaning of Color in Ancient Mesopotamia, Shiyanthi Thavapalan offers the first in-depth study of the words and expressions for colors in the Akkadian language (c. 2500-500 BCE). By combining philological analysis with the technical investigation of materials, she debunks the misconception that people in Mesopotamia had a limited sense of color and positions the development of Akkadian color language as a corollary of the history of materials and techniques in the ancient Near East. "...The Meaning of Color in Ancient Mesopotamia is a ground-breaking, methodologically innovative, and insightful work. It makes an important contribution to the fields of color studies, historical semantics, and to the history of technologies, enriching our current understanding of Mesopotamian worldviews, languages and material culture. The book will be a valuable resource not only to Assyriologists, but, due to its comparative perspective, also to historians, linguists, and readers interested in the interrelations between language, thought, and culture." -Ulrike Steinert, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2020) "The study particularly nuances the way biblical scholars and students should begin to interpret ancient colour categories which ultimately enriches our understanding of different ancient cultures; this, in turn, deserves wide readership." -Ellena Lyell, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 44.5 (2020)
Trade Review“This thorough and enlightening study on the meaning of colour in ancient Mesopotamia is a revision of T.’s Yale PhD thesis (supervised by Benjamin Foster). (…) The study particularly nuances the way biblical scholars and students should begin to interpret ancient colour categories which ultimately enriches our understanding of different ancient cultures; this, in turn, deserves wide readership.” - Ellena Lyell, in Society for Old Testament Study Book List 2020
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Color Metalanguage, Signs and Convention Used List of Figures and Plates 1Color Semantics 1.1What is Color? 1.2Color Vision and Language: Gladstone, Magnus, Allen and the Puzzle of Color Vocabularies 1.3Color Categories and Names: Relativity and Universalism 1.4Scope and Nature of the Present Study 2Abstract Colors 2.1Talking about Color in Akkadian 2.2Abstract Color Words 2.3Aspects of Color 2.4Terminology for the Process of Coloring and the State of Being Colored 2.4.1 Bašalu 2.4.2 Šamatu 2.4.3 ?arapu 2.4.4 Tarapu 2.5Terminology for Abstract Color Terms 2.5.1 Arqu 2.5.2 Barmu 2.5.3 Da ?mu 2.5.4 Ebbu, namru (with ellu) 2.5.5 Eklu, e?û (with adru) 2.5.6 ?elû 2.5.7 ?/ruššû 2.5.8 Pelû 2.5.9 Pe?û 2.5.10 Samu 2.5.11 ?almu 2.5.12 Tarku 3Material Colors 3.1What are Material Colors? 3.2Materials and Colors in Parts of Speech and in the Archaeological Record 3.3Abstraction 3.4Colored Materials 3.4.1 Wool and Leather 3.4.2 Pigments 3.4.3 Glass 3.4.4 Metals 3.5Terminology for Fabrics, Stones and Glass 3.5.1 Argamannu and takiltu 3.5.2 Du?šu 3.5.3 ?a?artu 3.5.4 ?aš?uru/?at?uru 3.5.5 ?ašmanu 3.5.6 Kina??u 3.5.7 Makru 3.5.8 Šurat?u 3.5.9 Tabarru and nabasu 3.5.10 Tamk/qar?u 3.5.11 Uqnû 3.6Terminology for Dyes, Pigments and Colorants 3.6.1 ?i/enzuru, ?i/enzuribu, inzuratu 3.6.2 ?uratu 3.6.3 ?ur?uratu 3.6.4 Kalgukku 3.6.5 Kalû 3.6.6 Kasû 3.6.7 Šaršarru 3.6.8 Ur?û/uri?û 3.6.9 Zagindurû 3.7Terminology for Metals 3.7.1 ?ura?u 4Colorful Matter 4.1History of Scholarship on the North-West Palace 4.2The Polychromy Then and Now 4.3Museology 4.3.1 Acquisition and Display of the Assyrian Reliefs at Yale University 4.3.2 Conservation 4.4Egyptian Blue on the Assyrian Reliefs at Yale University: A Study by Visible-induced Luminescence Imaging 4.4.1 Egyptian Blue and VIL-imaging 4.4.2 VIL-imaging on the Yale Reliefs: Analysis and Discussion 4.5The ‘Colorful Matter’ of Assyrian Architecture Epilogue: Making Sense of Color Bibliography Appendix A Appendix B Plates
