Opening details

As scientists have discovered, the symbols date back to King Henry II, who reigned from 721-704 BC. He is associated with Sargon. In short, they consist of a lion, a fig tree and a plough. In the longer form, there are five symbols arranged in order: a lion followed by a bird and a bull, followed by a tree and a plough.

These images appear in various parts of the Dur-Sharrukin temples, which were the capital of Assyria for a short time. The buried ruins of the ancient city were excavated in the 19th and 20th centuries. But the meaning of the images was still unclear; Did they represent gods, supernatural forces, the power of the king, or were they an attempt to imitate Egyptian hieroglyphs?

This region of the world, which includes modern-day Iraq and parts of Iran, Turkey, and Syria, is often referred to as the “cradle of civilization.” It is the birthplace of cities and empires, and its history forms a large part of human history. .
– says historian Martin Worthington from Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, who specializes in the history of Assyrian civilization.

Worthington gathered the evidence and concluded that these photographs bear the name Sargon; this idea was first proposed (but not explored) in 1948. He expands on this suggestion by showing that symbols can also refer to star constellations; the aim was to show respect to the king by writing his name on the stars and associating him with the gods.

These figures are depicted at the entrance of the temple / Photo: New York Public Library

Importantly, this comment applies to both long and short forms of this graphics code. While previous theories have suggested that the drawings may refer to the king and the night sky (at least because of the blue and yellow colors in which they are sometimes depicted), this is the first work to systematically connect these ideas.

Worthington explains the language in detail: The Assyrian word for “tree” sounds like “jaw,” the name of a constellation familiar to people of the time. Additionally, the association of these constellations with ancient gods further emphasizes the respect felt for Sargon.

The effect of the five symbols was to establish Sargon’s name in heaven forever; This was a clever way to immortalize the king’s name. And of course, the idea of ​​proud people writing their names on buildings is not unique to ancient Assyria.
Worthington says.

The walking lion symbols may also represent Sargon’s name in the Old Assyrian language; it may also have had a close connection with royal figures, reconfirming the connection with ancient versions of this visual code.

Reconstruction of the figure of Tsar Sargon II / Photo by New York Public Library

Although Mesopotamian civilizations are long gone, they played an extremely important role in many aspects of human history; This means that there is great value in better understanding how they live, think and lead.