The Kneeling Bull Essay Example

📌Category: Art, Culture, History, Mesopotamia
📌Words: 1371
📌Pages: 5
📌Published: 21 May 2021

The study of art history has provided new means into how we understand our past; the people, and the cultures that we’ve derived from. It’s also given us a new understanding in how we view art, and encouraged us to ask new questions to define art. Specifically, How can we determine the purpose behind an ancient piece of artwork? The Kneeling Bull is one such example. Of the Proto-Elamite family, it's easy to assume that this delicately carved bull has no true motive or purpose. Especially when the creators of the piece have long since passed. But by being mindful of the history we know, and the techniques we’ve discovered, we can infer that this small statue is much more important than it seems. It’s likely a religious artifact, in fact, one of many scattered throughout the remains of Mesopotamia. 

The appearance of the bull is the most obvious indication of its importance. A bull’s head and hooves, but with an easily recognizable human torso. These hybrid features are crucial to understanding how important this particular item was to its society. Hybrid animals, especially those that are dangerous, like the lion or bull, typically represented religion or power in mesopotamian cultures. In fact, we can see hybrid animals appearing in cylinder seals, performing various ceremonies and other human-like activities. The Metropolitan Museum (where the artifact is currently held), described the combination of hybrid forms as a way to “emphasize a particular desirable or representative quality of the animal”. In other words, the bull represents features such as strength and courage, and possibly resolve. Though we have no definitive proof that the choice of the bull is significant, the imagery seems like an intentional choice on the artist’s part. In addition to their strength, in some Mesopotamian cultures, such as the Sumerians, the bull is closely related to the Gods, either by serving as a guardian to the divine beings, or by shape-shifting into the gods themselves. (Apollo Magazine)

Arguably more important than the hybrid form the statue has, it’s also immediately apparent that the bull itself is kneeling. Not sitting, not resting, not slouched. The  human-like knees are against the floor, with its arms raised, holding the vessel ahead of itself. Multiple pieces of silver have been forged together to create a single sculpture. There is a significant amount of care in the craftsmanship, evident by the intricate pattern. Despite being approximately seven inches tall, the artist was careful with the texture, including the delicate ears and sunken eyes. Combined with the kneeling position and the vessel in-hand, we can assume that the Bull is bowing. This position is arguably the most common imagery for religious devotion. That being said, the vessel itself is by far the most telling detail of the piece. This simple vase-like object is tall and somewhat thin; the small spout at the top suggests that it held liquids. When viewed in full, the size of the vessel is almost the entire size of the bull itself. The artist could have betrayed this tool to be smaller, but increased its size instead, likely for significance. As the bull kneels, the vessel is extended. We can infer this is an offering of sorts. In fact, there are studies of Mesopotamian rituals which involve offering waters and wines to the gods (Mesopotamian Cults).

The figurine was found in southwest Iran, and is described as Proto-Elamite (Elam being the location in Iran that it most likely originated). In other words, this is a Mesopotamian piece of art, possibly formed just after the Uruk period. If this is true, then this means the material in which the statue is created from is quite odd for Mesopotamian cultures. In the fertile crescent, clay and stone is in massive abundance. It’s a cheap material and one that is easy to form into a work of art. And yet, the Kneeling Bull is made entirely of silver. Even bronze, which is commonly seen in Mesopotamain art, would be a cheaper resource. But the artist chose silver of all things. This is a reflection of the value of the item itself; it’s not a cheap toy. In fact, the Kneeling Bull was found buried within Iran. When archaeologists discovered the piece, it had small bits of cloth carefully wrapped around its torso. We can infer from this that the figurine was intentionally buried, possibly for a ritual or ceremony. Even more revealing, when archaeologists picked up the kneeling bull, they noticed an odd sound from within. The bull is actually filled with small pebbles. Based on it’s miniature size, its assumed that the figurine could be shaken like a rattle, though for what purpose, we still do not know. It seems unlikely that Mesopotamians would take so much care and detail for an insignificant piece of art.

A common counter argument exists for the ideology behind the Kneeling Bull. “How do we know it was for a religious ceremony?”. Despite the figurine’s shape and origin, there is no evidence that specifically ties it to a Mesopotamian religion. In fact, Mesopotamian culture and ideals vary greatly depending on location and generation. Multiple cultures, not a single entity, belonged to the fertile crescent. For example, the ceremonies of the Sumerians have many differences in comparison to Babylonian celebrations. So how can we imply that this bull figurine is a religious item? Many ceremonies exist, from childbirth to marriage engagements. However, this figurine was buried. It once carried water, and is filled with small pebbles. The kneeling position implies worship, and is not something we associate with marriage or fertility. In fact, it is much more similar to items found with religious purposes. It was not uncommon for Mesopotamians to give offerings like small trinkets to the gods, nor was it odd to involve water or animals in ceremonies. Ancient Mesopotamian, a website dedicated specifically to Mesopotamian cultures, suggests that gifts like this could even be votives. Votives being offerings given to the gods as a sort of vow by the worshiper. By this logic, we can assume that the bull belongs to a ritual that’s much more occult; this is not a simple trinket.

There are other votive-like figurines and art pieces in Mesopotamia. Sumerian worship statues, for example.  are small figures that have carved faces looking upwards, at the gods. These figures have the same upright position as the Kneeling Bull, attentive for any divine being that may descend. The Founding Figures are similar, and are metal statues with bowls upon their heads. They stand as an everlasting monument to one’s contributions to society, particularly royalty. Note the bowl, similar to the Bull’s vessel. Finally, we have the Lumasso, the large chimera-like statue that acts as a guardian. Note the lower half of the body, which takes on the shape of a bull. Multiple artistic aspects of the Kneeling Bull appear in other forms of artwork in Mesopotamia, particularly those with religious or spiritual means. It is not far-fetched to assume the Kneeling Bull does the same. We see this in various sculptures, from stone to copper. As noted in The Morgan Library, there are hundreds of artifacts like the kneeling bull, though not quite the same. But they all have very similar characteristics of hybrid animals and delicate patterns. It would be difficult for one to argue that this small figurine is somehow not unique to other Mesopotamian objects. The Morgan and The Metropolitan museum are not the only ones to recognize this either; even international museums, such as in Iran, have recognized the subtle importance of the object.

Everything about the Kneeling Bull suggests a far more complex purpose than what we see now. The hybrid animal form that kneels with the spouted vessel suggests worship, and the small remains of cloth and rock shows an unusual amount of care for the object. When compared to other artforms, particularly other religious idols and statues within Mesopotamia, it seems clear that this small bull is special, and highly likely to be the remains of a religious ritual. And yet, asking a simple question such as “what is the purpose” has revealed years of study on Mesopotamian cultures. It’s these questions that make art history so fascinating, and also so crucial to our general knowledge of history. And whether or not we believe the Kneeling Bull to be a true religious artifact, it can’t be understated how much research and documentation is required to truly understand these objects, even for a figurine as small as this one.

Works Cited

“Kneeling Bull Holding a Spouted Vessel.” Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/anan/hd_anan.htm.

Gardner, Helen, and Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner's Art through the Ages a Global History. 16th ed., Cengage Learning, 2020.

Collins, Paul. “Mythical Beasts in Mesopotamia.” Apollo Magazine, 23 Mar. 2020, www.apollo-magazine.com/mythical-beasts-in-mesopotamia/.

“Founding Figures: Copper Sculpture from Ancient Mesopotamia, Ca. 3300–2000 B.C.” The Morgan Library & Museum, 25 Aug. 2016, www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/founding-figures.

“Mesopotamian Cults.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Mesopotamian-religion/Cult.

“Rituals, Worship and Festivals.” Ancient Mesopotamian, ancient-mesopotamian.weebly.com/rituals-worship-and-festivals.html.

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