Ashurbanipal's headhunt: An anthropological perspective

Abstract

The severed head is a topic that has always attracted popular attention. In Christian art, for example, it was an image of martyrdom and fearless resistance against suppression. In contrast, popular accounts of headhunting have been used to convey an image of the primitive for Western audiences since the nineteenth century (e.g. Panel 1992). In anthropology headhunting has long been discussed in terms of materialist and evolutionary models. Only recently attempts have been made to place the phenomenon of headhunting in a wider historical and regional context (Hoskins 1987; idem 1996b; George 1991). The headhunter has become a professional recruiter in the search for executives to fill high-level positions. However, most scholars would not look to urban societies when researching the topic of the practice of headhunting, namely the taking of a head. We still habitually perceive it as an expression of violence and primitive warfare that occurs in stateless societies. In opposition to that view, this article will focus on an urban society in which a headhunt was, in at least one case, carried out in a strict anthropological sense: that is the headhunt of Ashurbanipal, described in the annals as the overthrow of the Elamite king Te-Umman and portrayed on the reliefs at Nineveh.

Aspekte des Menschseins im Alten Mesopotamien

“…Gerardi 1988. Siehe zudem die Studien von Bonatz (2004) und Bahrani (2004;. 24 in jüngsten Studien zu assurbanipals "kopfjagd" (Bonatz 2004, 94, 99f.)…”

Assyrian Attitude Towards Captive Enemies: A 2700-year-old Paleo-forensic Study

“…Victory in inter‐group warfare has been known to be followed by the mutilation of fallen enemies (Potter & Chuipka, ). Historical depictions of Assyrian warfare include a variety of violent acts against defeated enemy soldiers (King, ; Luckenbill, ; Luckenbill, ; Belibtreu, ; Bonatz, ), which suggests a series of events accounting for the type and locations of the wounds on the warrior's skeleton. For example, Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC) is quoted: ‘I captured many troops alive: I cut off of some their arms [and] hands; I cut off of others their noses, ears, [and] extremities… I made one pile … of heads’ (Belibtreu, ).…”

“…The fact that Assyrians decapitated their enemies following victory is supported by reliefs, such as those in Sennacherib's (704–681 BC) palace in Nineveh, in which he is quoted saying, ‘I cut off their throats like lambs’ (Belibtreu, ). Similarly, Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC) bragged, ‘I felled 800 of their combat troops with the sword (and) cut off their heads’ (Bonatz, ). In a relief from Sargon's (721–705 BC) palace, decapitated corpses are being run over by Assyrian war chariots (Figure a).…”

“…Besides acting as a deterrent against potential rebels, and since warfare was considered a religious duty of the king, it is likely that these violent practices had a symbolic, magical, or religious value. The attention paid to details may lead us to think that the body parts of the enemy, usually the heads and skins that were duly preserved, were more than just statistical elements used to count the enemy's casualties, but also elements of political warfare and ritual objects (Bonatz, ). If so, the Assyrians may have believed that killing one's enemies was not enough, and that the destruction brought upon them had to be done for good, in a way that would prevent them from being able to continue to harm Assure.…”

“…Amongst the people of the ancient Middle East, the Assyrians were noted for their cruelty, which has been hypothesized to be designed as psychological warfare (Foster & Foster, ). Reliefs found at Assyrian palaces provide vivid images and textual descriptions of this brutality, including the dismembering (mainly hand amputations), skinning, decapitating, impaling, and burning of their victims (King, ; Luckenbill, ; Luckenbill, ; Belibtreu, ; Bonatz, ; Foster & Foster, ). Furthermore, mass deportation following a conquest was a common policy among Assyrian rulers, e.g.…”