University of Malta Faculty of Arts Omar Simon N’Shea The Construct of Royal Masculinity in the Textual and Visual Sources of the Neo-Assyrian Empire Supervisor: Prof. Anthony J. Frendo Co-Supervisor: Prof. Saana Svärd A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Oriental Studies presented in the Department of Oriental Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Malta September 2018 i ABSTRACT The Construct of Royal Masculinity in the Textual and Visual Sources of the Neo- Assyrian Empire. In this study, I engage with the state arts and texts of the ancient Neo-Assyrian (911– 612 B.C.E.) to examine the extent to which Neo-Assyrian kings relied on the proper construction and performance of hegemonic masculinity to negotiate and legitimate their exercise of rule. Methodologically, this multimodal study in the different media employed by Neo-Assyrian statecraft will employ the critical tools of Assyriology along with feminist theories and masculinities studies, archaeological, art historical and psychoanalytic critical paradigms, to analyse both visual and textual representations in order to trace the construction of masculinities not only of individual kings but also of the ‘monarchy’ and the ‘state hierarchy’ as expressions of shifting hegemonic masculinities. It will be shown that masculinities were central to the discourse and legitimation of rule, that the state and the ruler were entirely dependent on notions of masculinity expressed as virile military prowess in battle and in diplomatic encounters, domination over men and animals, as well as the management of the reproductive abilities of persons born with male genitals. This study will then focus on the late Sargonid reigns of Sennacherib (704–681 B.C.E.), Esarhaddon (680–669 B.C.E.) to discuss not only the longue durée of gender construction and performance but also to trace internal developments and reconfigurations which indicate that within the time frame of empire, masculinities were not monolithic but were, rather, constructed and performed differently depending not only on the socio-political circumstances of the time but also on the media at issue. References will also be made to other Neo- ii Assyrian sovereigns in general, and to Assurbanipal (668–630 B.C.E.) in particular. This study will also investigate the way royal masculinities were constructed through the contradictory discourse of symbiosis with and dominance over the Other, namely animals and castrated males. It is hoped that this study will not only elucidate the importance of masculinities as ideological state apparatuses and as tools for hegemonic ideology within the Neo-Assyrian Empire, but that it will initiate a dialogue on the role played by gender in general, and masculinities in particular, in the establishment and maintenance of political formations and imperial projects in past societies as well as today through the lens of the ancient Near East. iii DEDICATION To my mother, Josephine iv PREFACE This dissertation is a study of the way masculinities were constructed, performed and brought to the fold of imperial discourse in an ancient empire, specifically the Neo- Assyrian empire in ancient Iraq. After a period of almost twenty years of near-total silence from field archaeologists working in the region, new expeditions by both local and foreign teams are starting to take place. It may be that within a few years from now, studies on gender in general, and masculinities in particular, will not only have more data sets to analyse, but will also have a broader social context to look at than what is currently available. As things stand, the only data that we can access must necessarily come from elite contexts, because it is precisely these that gave rise to an interest in the material culture of the region in the nineteenth century with the British and French expeditions. As a result, I could only investigate the topic as it relates to these contexts. It may be that as new data emerge, we may have to rethink the way we presently study gender in this specific context, and to rephrase our questions as well as reshape our theoretical frameworks. Be that as it may, I feel that our currently available data require elucidation through research into this topic. However, the present work in no way pretends to be a complete and comprehensive volume. Far from it. What I merely sought to achieve here was to initiate a debate on masculinities, and to attempt to contribute to a more comprehensive and more holistic approach to gender studies and the construction of identities in the ancient world. On the suggestion of ancient Near Eastern art historian Megan Cifarelli, I have also sought to include references to scholars who are outside v the Western and heteronormative domains of knowledge production. It is now clear to me that a dissertation which seeks to discern the ways masculinities were constructed in the context of my study also needs to engage with scholars who are not only outside the gender binary, but also with those whose work is under-represented in academia in general, and our field in particular. From the outset of this project, I have been fortunate to meet a group of people whose generosity and collaborative spirit have made this work possible. Saana Svärd and Agnès Garcia-Ventura were kind enough to invite me to talk at the first Gender, Methodology, and the Ancient Near East (GeMANE 1) workshop in Helsinki on October 27–28, 2014. It was at that workshop that my sense of intellectual isolation shifted, and that I was introduced to a group of researchers working in the field to which this study hopes to make a contribution. With the second GeMANE 2 workshop in Barcelona in 2017, it became clear that the interest in gender had grown exponentially, and that now it has become a legitimate area of inquiry within Assyriology. And it is to this area that I would like to contribute my initial foray into masculinities. Since research is never carried out in isolation, I would like to thank my supervisor Anthony J. Frendo, Professor in Near Esatern Archaeology and the Hebrew Bible at the University of Malta, for believing in me and in this topic from the start. His wise guidance as my teacher throughout my undergraduate and postgraduate studies will hopefully be passed on to my students in my teaching. The inspiration to work through easy and difficult times came from my co- supervisor Professor Saana Svärd of the University of Helsinki. Her belief in my vi theoretical conundrums, her patience with my writing, and her close mentoring are truly commendable. This would not have been at all possible without her insistence on my overcoming the fears of academic contributions. This work was completed thanks to the effort she made to be available for our monthly meetings, to read my work closely, to instruct me graciously but firmly, and to host me in Helsinki when my productivity needed a change of scene. Without my supervisors, this dissertation would never have happened. I also wish to thank my doctoral committee, Professor Martin Zammit, Professor Megan Cifarelli, Dr. Agnès Garcia-Ventura and Dr. Dennis Mizzi. Their graciousness in my oral examination as well as their insightful comments on this manuscript will undoubtedly make of this work a sturdier contribution to the field. It was Professor Martin Zammit who first introduced me to East Semitic, and it was he who planted the seed that was to become this dissertation. I wish to thank him here for all the times he has instructed me in all things academic and otherwise. Finally, I would also like to thank Professor Nicholas C. Vella, Professor Isabel Stabile, and Professor Pierluigi Mollicone for their constant support throughout the research and writing of this dissertation. Their sound advice on method and execution has been immensely helpful. Among my colleagues and friends in Assyriology, I wish to thank Professor Lorenzo Verderame of the University of La Sapienza in Rome, Sophus Helle of Aarhus University, and Ann K. Guinan of the University of Pennslyvania, for believing in this topic, for reading and commenting on parts of this work, and for always being helpful and sending me relevant literature to read. vii As a hazard of any dissertation is that it seeps into the lived reality of the researcher, my close friends have had to put up with a lot of theorizing about masculinities. To James Bugeja, Robert Zammit, Giuseppe Fanara, Joe Gatt, Edward George Wilkinson, and Aaron Aquilina I owe my immense gratitude for their love and friendship, for sharing their insights, and for always being there. It is now my turn to listen to you. Numerous other friends and colleagues have supported me and my project. Among those I wish to thank here, for various contributions to my preparation for the doctoral oral examination and for their support, are Dr. Lucienne Vassallo Gatt, Dr. Alessandra Theuma, Robert Labrosse, Christopher Micallef, Sandra Agius Darmanin, Jessica Alamango, Agnetha Agius, Carl Caruana, Therese Camilleri, Stafania Calleja, and my student Essa Qasem. Lastly, I wish to express my special gratitude to Annabelle Attard for enthusiastically listening to stories from Assyria for all these years and for sending me pictures of the Assyrian reliefs from London. Finally, I would like to point out that if any errors of form and content have made their way into this manuscript, they remain entirely of my own making. Malta, September 2018 Omar N’Shea viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................