Public Transcripts Expressed in Theatres of Cruelty
The Royal Graves at Ur in Mesopotamia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6044817 |
|---|---|
| Authors | D Bruce Dickson (Texas A&M University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 123-144 |
| Publication date | 2006-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Cambridge Archaeological Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0959-7743 • E-ISSN: 1474-0540 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0959774306000084 |
| OpenAlex | W2155803776 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 15 |
| References cited | 23 |
The interpretation of the Royal Graves at Ur, Mesopotamia, by their excavator, Sir Leonard Woolley, has long been accepted. Woolley implies that the people sacrificed along with the dynasts went willingly to their deaths out of loyalty, devotion, and faith in the dead monarchs; but other interpretations are plausible. One is that these graves are the remains of dramas portraying a ‘public transcript’ played out in a public theatre of cruelty staged by rulers claiming divine status. State power united with supernatural authority can create extraordinarily powerful ‘sacred or divine kingdoms’; but ‘sacred’ or ‘divine’ kings need continuous contact with the supernatural and affirmation of their divinity. They are obliged to practise acts of public mystification, of which the Royal Graves appear to be examples. Ur's kings may indeed have been strong and their subjects loyal, but it is equally likely that they were weak and vulnerable and that they practised ritual sacrifice to terrorize a restive citizenry and convince themselves and others of their right to rule. Other examples of public transcripts made manifest in state-sponsored theatres of cruelty confirm that the Royal Graves at Ur are not unique but represent a phenomenon of wider historical generality
Ancient history · Cruelty · Divinity · Faith · Mesopotamia · Political science · Theology · Ancient Near East History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Eurasian Exchange Networks · History · Law · Philosophy
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Diets, social roles, and geographical origins of sacrificial victims at the royal cemetery at Yinxu, Shang China
Violence, desecration, and urban collapse at the Postclassic Maya political capital of Mayapán
Archaeology of Violence, The
The Power of Ritual in Prehistory
Chips off the Block
PG 1237, Royal Cemetery of Ur
The Uruk Expansion
Sacrificial Status and Prestige Burials
Radical 'royals'? Burial practices at Başur Höyük and the emergence of early states in Mesopotamia
Human sacrifice and intentional corpse preservation in the Royal Cemetery of Ur
The Archaeology of Urban Landscapes
The Archaeological Study of Sacrifice
Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches
I write what I like
World Conqueror and World Renouncer
Basic concepts in sociology
The Theory Of Social And Economic Organization
Alterations of State
Dressed to Kill
Excavations at Ur, 1928–9
The Symbolic Mechanisms of Sacred Kingship
Of Priestesses, Princes and Poor Relations
Assyrian King-Lists, the Royal Tombs of Ur, and Indus Origins
Divine Kingship in Africa
Women of Babylon
The power of images
Buganda
History as Charter Some Observations on the Sumerian King List
A History of West Africa since 1800
Issues in Divine Kingship
The Chrysanthemum Throne
Oracles, Divine Kingship, and Political Representation in the Inka State
Expansionary Dynamics of Some Early Pristine States
Spiritual Aroma
Three faces of cruelty
| Unique citing works | 15 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,94 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2024 (15) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 15 |