01748 a2200313 4500 1351657097 20250317111620.0 250312042017GB 45 eng 9781351657099 Taylor & Francis GBP 42.99 BB 01 eng NKD thema NHC thema 1QBA bisac 1FB bisac HDDC bic HBLA1 bic 1QDA bisac HIS002000 bisac SOC003000 bisac 364.6609394 bisac Rita Dolce Losing One's Head in the Ancient Near East Interpretation and Meaning of Decapitation 1 Oxford Routledge 20171215 110 p In the Ancient Near East, cutting off someone’s head was a unique act, not comparable to other types of mutilation, and therefore charged with a special symbolic and communicative significance. This book examines representations of decapitation in both images and texts, particularly in the context of war, from a trans-chronological perspective that aims to shed light on some of the conditions, relationships and meanings of this specific act. The severed head is a “coveted object” for the many individuals who interact with it and determine its fate, and the act itself appears to take on the hallmarks of a ritual. Drawing mainly on the evidence from Anatolia, Syria and Mesopotamia between the third and first millennia BC, and with reference to examples from prehistory to the Neo-Assyrian Period, this fascinating study will be of interest not only to art historians, but to anyone interested in the dynamics of war in the ancient world. 5715 5715