What Does the Graffiti from the City of Ashur Tell Us?
© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Vorderasiatisches Museum, Foto: Olaf M. Teßmer
Between 1903 and 1914, the German Oriental Society led several archaeological expeditions in the ancient Assyrian city of Āshūr (modern-day Qalʾat Sherqāt, Iraq). Under the direction of Walter Andrae— German archaeologists unearthed a treasure trove of antiquities spanning from the mid-third millennium BCE until the third century CE.
The material from Āshūr— approximately 44,000 in total —proved significant and was comprehensively registered by Andrae himself. In addition to the millennia-old artefacts, Andrae documented the city’s ground plans, architectural details, and “Aramaic graffiti”.
Dated to the Parthian period (c. 247 BCE – 224 CE), Andrae meticulously recorded these impromptu inscriptions. Immortalised in stone, were the names of various individuals hailing from all levels of society carved on the outer façade of the city’s monumental structures.
These finds have since provided both archaeologists and researchers with a wealth of information, particularly on the cultural milieu of Parthian Assyria and its internal dynamics. One of the most striking features found in the graffiti were theophoric personal names associated with the characteristically Assyrian deity— Āshūr.
“Remembered be Āsūr-dayyan (Āshūr is Judge) son of Āsūr-dayyan before Sherū for good!”
Such formulaic graffiti appear to have been used by individual’s calling for blessings (i.e., blessed be…) as well as commemorations of oneself or member’s of one’s own household (i.e., “so-and-so son off so-and-so” or “remembered be…”). The graffiti from Āshūr thus allows us to reconstruct some of the most intimiate moments from the lives of its inhabitants.
Although the graffiti from Āshūr is rather small and visually discreet, we may have here some of the earliest forms of “tagging”— millennia before the invention of modern social media. These personalised anecdotes indicate that literacy was a significant feature of society in Parthian Assyria, particularly at Āshūr.
Beyond city walls, are also objects used in ritual worship such as ceramic incense burners engraved with personalised notices or “tags”. One such example, pictured below, reads: “On the twenty-sixth [of the month ... in the year] 496 (185/6 CE). This is the lid of Āsūr-shmā (Āshūr heard) son of Āsūr-naṭān (Āshūr gave) for the high place of Bēl the god, the house in the high place.”
© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Vorderasiatisches Museum
As far as the dates of these inscriptions are concerned, there are two reoccurring clusters— one, which is of particular significance, involves the first twelve days of the first month of the year, Nīsān (March-April), and the other involving the eleventh month, Shebāṭ (January-February). These dates fall directly within what were once the most important observances in Assyria’s religious calendar— the New Year festival and those relating to other celestial events.
“On the tenth day of Nīsān in the year 519 (208 CE). May be remembered Basrū son of ʿAqashmā in good and ʿAqib-Āsūr (He who follows Āshūr) his brother.”
The evidence suggests that at least by the Parthian period, the city of Āshūr had re-emerged as an important administrative and religious centre in the centuries of the pre- and post-Christian period. In fact, the layers of continued occupation post-empire revealed the remains of new temples or sacred sanctuaries, constructed above older religious sites devoted to Assyria’s local deities (i.e., Āshūr, Ishār/Ishārbēl/Ishtār, Shamash, Sherū, and Sīn)
By the mid-third century CE, the Parthians were defeated by the incoming Persian Sāsānians who dominated the ancient Middle East for over four centuries. The city of Āshūr was sacked by the Sāsānian King Shāpūr I (r. 240–270 CE) and the site was later renamed under the Ottoman period to Qalʾat Sherqāt, meaning the “earthen castle”.
Today, the antiquities excavated by Andrae and his team are dispersed between the Vorderasiatisches Museum (Museum of the Ancient Near East) in Germany and the İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri (Istanbul Archaeological Museum) in Türkiye. The Ottoman Government, which then ruled Iraq, had negotiated to a division of the anticipated finds with the Germans.
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Although it was the city of Arbelā that served as Assyria’s administrative capital during the Parthian period, local officials are also attested at Āshūr, also commonly known as Āsūr, as well as in nearby Nineveh.
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Basile Aggoula, Inscriptions et Graffites Araméens D'Assour (Napoli: Istituto Universitario Orientale, 1985).
