Great Hall › The Lullubian Rock Relief of Darband-i Basara » Ancient origins
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Great Hall › Antique Origins
Definition and Origins
The Great Hall was the architectural centrepiece of a medieval castle ’s interior and functioned as the social and administrative hub of the castle and its estates. With everyone dining and sleeping in the hall in its early days, the room evolved to become the imposing host of banquets and courts. Beautifully decorated, well-lit and the largest indoor space most people would ever witness, the Great Hall was the perfect means for a noble to display both their power and generosity to the rest of local society.
LOCATION
The first halls in the Early Medieval Period, as used by the Anglo- Saxons and Normans, for example, were large all-purpose buildings used by everyone, but with the arrival of the castle in the 11th century CE - first the motte and bailey with a simple tower keep and then the more expansive stone castles - an emphasis on security and social standing meant that impressive halls developed as part of larger buildings. Most early Great Halls were located in the safest part of the castle on the first floor (above the windowless ground floor) of a castle's tower keep, but they might also occupy a floor within a lower building in the castle's bailey or courtyard. The Great Hall remained remarkably unchanged throughout the Middle Ages and displayed the following key features:
- a rectangular form
- an impressive high and decorative ceiling
- many large windows
- a raised platform at one end
- a large centrally-placed hearth or fireplace.
PURPOSE
The primary function of a Great Hall was as a place to hold official audiences, to host the court which decided local legal matters, and to provide an elegant setting for banquets, but the room's wider importance to medieval society at large is here summarised by the historian C. Phillips:
Like the castle as a whole, the Great Hall was a bold statement of feudal power. Its size and architectural features - including the number of windows and the intricacy and profusion of decorative embellishments - embodied the lord's wealth and importance. (129)
The early Great Halls were not only a symbolic centre of the community but also a very real one as all the castle residents ate and slept in it. Even the castle lord and lady slept in the hall behind a curtain at one end. Sometimes the lord and his family slept in the gallery of the hall's second floor, from where they could also spy on the guests below through concealed 'squint' holes disguised in artworks. From the 12th century CE, as castles grew in size and accommodation became available elsewhere, the castle's owners had their own entirely separate chambers while the staff slept in the cellar and attic spaces.
Great Hall, Stirling Castle
The lord's supposed superiority to everyone else who visited the Great Hall was reinforced by the presence of his coats of arms on the walls, the liveried servants who wore his badge and the presence of a group of trumpeters blasting out from an upper gallery. Thus the hall became a suitable environment for such ceremonies as knighting a loyal retainer, dispensing the right to wear the lord's badge to a man-at-arms, granting the inheritance of land to a tenant knight, or giving out gifts to the lower classes.
DESIGN & LAYOUT
The dimensions of the Great Hall very much depended on the size of the castle, and these came in all sizes, of course. An early but typical example, now in ruins, is the Great Hall of Chepstow Castle in Wales, built between 1067 and 1090 CE, which measured 30 x 12 metres (100 x 40 ft). Given the wide distance the ceiling had to span, it was not uncommon for early halls to have one or two rows of wooden posts or stone pillars to support it. Once carpenters and masons had discovered the advantages of a truss (triangular support) ceiling construction, the columns could be eliminated and the hall made to seem even more spacious. The windows in 11th and 12th century CE halls were rarely glazed so that at night they would be closed using wooden shutters and an iron bar.
WHEN CASTLE DESIGN CHANGED & MORE DEFENSIVE EMPHASIS WAS PUT ON THE CURTAIN WALLS THAN THE TOWER KEEP, GREAT HALLS WERE SOMETIMES BUILT AS FREE-STANDING BUILDINGS IN THE BAILEY OR COURTYARD.
When castle design changed from the 13th century CE and more defensive emphasis was put on the curtain walls than the tower keep, Great Halls were sometimes built as free-standing buildings in the bailey or courtyard, such as the new Great Hall at Chepstow Castle, completed in 1285 CE. Another development of the 13th century CE, at least for the richest castle owners, was to add glass to the windows, although this was of poor quality and had a green tinge. By the 14th century CE, most Great Halls had glass in their windows. In contrast, the interiors of halls changed little and designs were so consistently followed that 400 years after their first appearance, Great Halls were still of very similar layout and proportions. The version of the Great Hall of Durham Castle in the 15th century CE, for example, was 30 x 14 m (100 x 46 ft).
Designed, then, to impress, the Great Hall usually had a beautiful wooden beam ceiling or impressive stone vaults, decorative stonework, and large windows (opening to the safe interior side of the castle) which gave plenty of light. The presence of light was itself an impressive feature in medieval times, and it was made the most of by adding seats to the windows. Walldecorations might include weapons, wall hangings (useful for keeping out drafts besides their aesthetic purpose), and plaster walls which might be decorated with red lines to imitate ashlar stonework or carry murals of daily life such as hunting and gardens or scenes of chivalry such as episodes from the legends of King Arthur.
The flooring was usually of beaten earth, stone or plaster, when on the ground floor, and, if on an upper floor, made using timber which might then be tiled. Curiously, despite the use of textiles for wall-hangings and benches, carpets were not common in northern European halls until the 14th century CE. Floors were usually covered with rushes and sprinkled with a good dose of herbs and flowers to improve the smell of the hall and deter vermin. These plants included basil, chamomile, lavender, mint, roses, and violets.
Great Hall, Caerphilly Castle
A large hearth in the centre of the room was a persistent feature of ground floor Great Halls, despite the obvious problem of the smoke they created. The hearth usually took a square, circular, or octagonal form and was edged with stones or tiles. A clay cover was put over the hearth at night to prevent any fire mishaps. In an effort to reduce the smoke accumulation, some architects added a flue to one or more of the windows. Other options included building ventilation holes through the roof covered by a terracotta figure or a louvre - a small structure like a lantern that could sometimes turn with the wind - which was opened or closed using a cord.
When Great Halls were built on the first floor, the hearth was moved up against a wall and given a stone hood to capture the smoke better. Smoke was driven out through a hole in the wall, usually through an outside supporting buttress. Eventually, by the start of the 13th century CE a fireplace with a chimney built into the wall had taken over as the best means to heat the room, but even a large one - some halls measured up to 18 metres (60 ft) in height - was usually not sufficient to heat all of the room. Later halls, therefore, often had several fireplaces. The Great Hall of Kenilworth Castle has a fireplace on each wall, including a huge triple fireplace at one end. Fireplaces increased in efficiency when it was discovered that using tiles at the back not only protected the stone from fire damage but helped to reflect the heat back into the room.
THE LORD & LADY OF THE CASTLE WITH THEIR IMMEDIATE ENTOURAGE USUALLY SAT ON A RAISED PLATFORM OF WOOD OR STONE AT THE END OF THE HALL.
Rooms and corridors branched off from the hall and led to the kitchens, pantry, and private chambers. There might also be a wooden staircase along two walls which led up to private chambers on the next floor. The corridor which led off to the service rooms was usually concealed behind an ornate wooden screen and often lined with shelving. The main entrance to the hall was monitored by an usher who controlled who came and went, especially after the accessibility to the lord became a privilege in itself. This was again covered by a wooden screen with entrances at either side so that draughts were minimised. A gallery for musicians was often built above this screen.
BANQUETS
At dinner, long tables set on trestles with accompanying benches were set around the perimeter of the room. These were set up for mealtimes, but it did become a mark of prestige if there was space to keep one table permanently in the hall. The lord and lady of the castle with their immediate entourage usually sat on a raised platform of wood or stone at the end of the hall - the original high table and usually the most draught-free spot. Only the lord of the castle and sometimes his lady sat on a chair;everyone else had to make do with the benches. Seating arrangements were quite well defined. Laid with a tablecloth, each place had a knife, spoon, and cup while shared between diners were jugs for drinking and a dish for salt. Lighting was provided by rushlights, oil lamps made from bowls, flares or candles made from wax or tallow (animal fat). These lights could be set around the walls or on movable candelabra stands made of iron. The hall would have been decorated for special occasions like Christmas and religious feast days using local plants and flowers such as holly boughs and trailing ivy.
DECLINE & LEGACY
By the end of the Middle Ages, as castles became less defensive fortresses and more private residences, their owners looked for a greater comfort and privacy than could be offered by the Great Hall. As one writer noted in the 14th century CE, lords and ladies were already abandoning the idea of eating in the Great Hall, at least on a regular basis:
Woe is in the hall each day in the week.There the lord and lady like not to sit.Now every rich man eats by himselfin a private chamber with a chimneyAnd leaves the great hall.( Piers Plowman, William Langford, quoted in Gies, 74)
The castle owners preferred, instead, to take their meals in the small private chambers known as “withdrawing rooms”, away from the prying eyes, noise, and draughts of the Great Hall. For this reason, by the 17th century CE, the Great Halls had eventually evolved into the servants' hall of great houses. Great Halls, unfortunately, fell into disrepair along with their medieval castles, but some fine examples do still survive, perhaps the best being the 33.8 x 16.8 m Great Hall of Winchester Castle, built between 1222-35 CE.
The concept certainly survived even if most physical examples did not as the large communal hall had already taken root in other places. Large manor houses had copied the idea from castles, and many later buildings, keen to utilise the wow-factor of a grand room on visitors, also employed large open halls. The modern reincarnation of the Great Hall: the impressive entrance hall which branches off into smaller rooms, can still be seen today in such diverse buildings as imposing courthouses, national museums, and plush hotels.
The Lullubian Rock Relief of Darband-i Basara › Ancient History
Ancient Civilizations
History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme. (Mark Twain)
Darband-i Basara (the Pass of Basara) is a narrow natural gorge which transects the anticlines of the upper part of the Qaradagh Mountain Range. The elevation is about 605 meters above the sea level. A stream descends and passes through the gorge from the north-east to the south-west. The gorge (35°26'39.56"N, 45° 9'20.91"E) is within the western borders of the Governorate of Sulaymaniyah (Iraqi Kurdistan), about 27 km south-west from the well-known Darband-i Bazian.
Darband-i Basara and its Rock Relief
NAME & SIGNIFICANCE
The origin of the word “Basara” (Kurdish: دەربەندى باسەڕە; Arabic: دربند باسره) is disputed. Literally translated from modern Kurdish language, the phonetic word Basara would mean “the cold wind”. The late Taufiq Wahby (1891-1984 CE) suggested that Basara is an old Indo-Iranian word and reads Vasarah ( Sanskrit : 'thriving' or 'radiant'), which is also found in Old Persian as Vaharah and means 'spring'. However, there is a small village near Ranya (north-west of Sulaymaniyah) called Basara. In addition, one of the local tribes bears the name of Basara. There are various English spelling forms of Darband-i Basara: Darband Bāsahrah, Darband-i Bāsara, Darband Basahrah, and Derbend Baseṟe.
DARBAND-I BAZIAN IS CONSIDERED THE MAIN GATE THROUGH WHICH ONE CAN ENTER THE WESTERN PART OF THE MODERN CITY OF SULAYMANIYAH.
Unlike Darband-i Bazian, which is somewhat dry and hot in the summer and lacks water resources, Darband-i Basara is cold, with a very refreshing scent of wind and water continuously flowing through it. The narrow path and the relatively high flanking terrain would prevent the rays of the sun from reaching the area after midday. Darband-i Bazian is considered the main gate through which one can enter the western part of the modern city of Sulaymaniyah. It had played a critical role in the military history of the region for millennia. Any army must pass through it in order to reach the western cities of the Zagros Mountain Range and then to penetrate deeply into the western Iranian regions. Cuneiform tablets tell us that the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (r. 884-859 BCE) in the year 881 BCE mobilized his well-trained and well-equipped imperial army to suppress a revolt in Zamua, the Land of the Lulubis (Lullubis; modern-day Sharazur as its core). The chiefs of Zamua's uprising fortified the narrow Darband-i Bazian, by constructing a large and thick wall, in a desperate attempt to ward off the overwhelming Assyrian wave. They failed, and the Assyrians conquered the area and killed approximately 1400 soldiers who were defending the walls of Darband-i Bazian. There have been many battles in and around Darband-i Bazian since then; the last military conflict was in the early 20th century CE between Kurdish leader Sheikh Mahmud Barzinji (who had revolted against the British occupation and the newly formed Iraqi Government) and two British brigades.
During the Ottoman-Persian war in 1733 CE, the Ottoman army fought the army of Nader Shah at Darband-i Bazian. The Persians did not march through the usual roads but very probably took the path of Darband-i Basarah (which was unknown to the Ottomans and therefore it was not fortified) to reach the western region of Darband-i Bazian (behind the Turkish army), and they took the Ottomans by surprise. Nader Shah won a decisive victory and killed the famous Ottoman army officer Topal Osman Pasha.
ROCK RELIEF REPLICA
As a result of an unfinished dam-building project in the 1990s CE, former director of the Antiquities of Sulaymaniyah, Mr. Adel Majeed, visited the gorge to examine a relief carved on the face of an anticline. The construction of the dam did not stop because of this relief, and the surrounding area underwent no formal excavation. In early 2002 CE, the Directorate of Sulaymaniyah Antiquities decided to make a replica of the relief as the operation of the dam would result in the relief being submerged and lost for good. The replica is in the storehouse of the Sulaymaniyah Museum and is not on display.
The Lulubian Rock Relief of Darband-i Basara
Darband-i Basara Rock Relief
According to Mr. Hashim Hama Abdullah, director of the Sulaymaniyah Museum, few people know about the relief; mainly those who participated in the process of making the replica. Of course, local archaeologists and historians also have an idea about it, however, while there are numerous geology-related articles addressing the gorge of Basara, none of them mentions the presence of a nearby relief. Someone had used a modern white paint to write his name (in Kurdish language: ئارام زوراب سه رده شت) on the surface of the rock; some letters of his name cover the relief, and it is unclear whether he intentionally vandalized the relief or it was just a coincidence and he did not glimpse the relief itself.
Dr. Kozad Muhammed Ahmad, assistant professor and head of the department of archaeology at the College of Humanities of the University of Sulaymaniyah, told me that, when he was an undergraduate student at the Baghdad College of Arts in 1988 CE, one of his friends from Chamchamal told him about this rock relief. Prior to the Kurdish uprising in 1991 CE against Saddam's Regime, this region was a no man's land, part of the Anfal's Military Campaign. In 1993 CE, Dr. Kozad and a local TV team visited the relief and made a short documentary about it. Unfortunately, the archive of this TV network (and all of its accompanying images) was lost in the mid-1990s CE during the internal Kurdish conflict.
THE REAL ROCK RELIEF
The details of the replica are inconspicuous and vague, and so on March 8, 2018 CE, together with Hashim and my friend Othman Towfiq, a lecturer at the department of archaeology, University of Sulaymaniyah, we headed to Darband-i Basara. The trip was through the Sulaymaniyah-Kirkuk road and Tasluja, and via the village of Allayi, we headed southward passing through several villages, including Mahmudia and Khewata. At the confluence of Darband-i Sutao, Sola, and Dailaizha, we turned westward and southward, and we finally arrived at the outlet of the Darband-i Basara.
Darband-i Basara
Google E arth image of Darband-i Basara showing the location of the Lullubian rock relief (black arrow). Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan.
Darband-i Basara Rock Relief
Darband-i Basara Rock Relief
The rock relief of Darband-i Basara at the southwestern rocky limb of the Qaradagh's anticline. The overlying modern white paint is a Kurdish name (someone wrote his name on it, unknown date). Some modern yellow pain can also be seen. There are two reliefs. The one within the sunken square is the main scene. Another one (greatly weathered) is on the right. Water was poured on the relief to highlight its details. March 8, 2018 CE. Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan. Exclusive photo. Photo © Osama SM Amin.
There are two reliefs, not one, on the face of the southwestern rocky limb of the Qaradagh's anticline. They are about 2.5 m above the road level. The main relief was carved within a roughly square area and another very weathered relief has survived nearby; it lies to the right side, a little bit above the right border of the square.
The Lulubian Rock Relief of Darband-i Basara
This is the rock relief of Darband-i Basara. Three figures can be recognised within the sunken square area. The overlying white and yellow paints are modern. The surface of the relief was poured with water in order to highlight the details (the surface was very dry and the sun was very shiny). March 8, 2018. Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan. Exclusive photo. Photo © Osama SM Amin.
The scene was carved as a sunken relief, within a roughly square-shaped area, and its margins were demarcated clearly; 60 cm in width and 52 cm in height. On the right, a standing figure (47 cm in height and 3 cm in depth), wearing a horned pointed helmet, stands on the lower side (or edge) of the square. It is unclear whether this deity is a male or a female. There are no discernable facial features. The feet are pointing to the left, and therefore the deity looks to the left. The deity wears a long dress, from the neck down to the ankles. It is not obvious whether the lower half of the gown is ruffled, tiered, or smooth. The deity's arms are outstretched forward and are a little bit inclined downward; they appear to embrace a human figure in front of it, at the lower chest.
A human figure was carved in front of the deity; this figure does not touch the ground. It is presumed to be a male, wearing a rolled-up head cap (similar to the Ur III ones). Once again, the facial features are indistinguishable, but he looks to the right, towards the deity. His arms are also outstretched forward and seem to hold the deity at his shoulders or lower neck. The pelvic area of the human figure is in a very close proximity to the deity, almost touching the latter. The human figure's extended legs cuddle the deity's waist. Its height, from the tip of the head cap to the lowest point of the pelvis is about 17 cm. The oval-rounded hole within the relief at the abdomen of the deity might well have been naturally created as a result of weathering or it may be man-made to affix something. Behind the deity, and at the right lower corner of the square, there is a trace of what appears to be a small kneeling human figure with raised arms and clasped hands. No remnant evidence of any rope connecting the deity to this kneeling figure can be recognised. Another hole in the rock can be seen at the ankle of the kneeling figure. The back of the deity faces Darband-i Basara; therefore, the deity looks away from the outlet of the gorge.There are no traces of any original paint; the white and yellow we can see are modern.
Darband-i Basara Rock Relief
The lower part of this relief has survived the severe and long-standing weathering effect. It was carved on the right side of the main relief of Darband-i Basara. The lower body (dress and feet) of a standing figure looking to the right can be recognised.The white and yellow paints are modern. March 8, 2018 CE. Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan. Exclusive photo. Photo © Osama SM Amin.
The area a little bit above and to the right of the aforementioned relief was smoothed out and another low-relief was carved.However, there are no clear-cut boundaries, and only the lower half of a standing figure, looking to the gorge and wearing a long ankle-length gown can be recognised. The details and purpose of this second relief are enigmatic. It is debatable whether it was added later on, beside the main relief, or it was carved first; it is unlikely that both were carved simultaneously.
INTERPRETATION
What was the intention behind carving those reliefs? No inscription of any kind was found. Were there any inscriptions and were they erased deliberately or naturally through weathering? The iconography and the depicted figures are somewhat unusual. Local scholars disagree whether the deity is engaging in a sexual relationship with the human being or not. This explicitly depicted coitus between a divine creature and a human being might reflect some sort of sacredness or be granted impunity. The latter observation was coined by Mr. Mu'atasim Rashid and Mr. Adel Majeed.
The deity's prominently pointed helmet and the rolled-up head cap of the human figure, as well as the kneeling figure, are reminiscent of the Lullubian rock relief of Anubanini at Sarpol-e Zahab. Dr. Kozad and Mr. Hashim Hama Abdullah agree with this notion. Therefore, the relief is interpreted as a Lulubian (Lullubian) one and dates to the late 3rd millennium to early 2nd millennium BCE. However, Dr. Kozad, whose PhD thesis was about the “Beginnings of Ancient Kurdistan”, also suggested that Darband-i Basara was close to the Gutians' territory and that the relief might well have been a Gutian one. This would have dated the relief to the late 3rd millennium BCE.
History tells us that this gorge was an important, yet relatively unknown, road. Does the relief depict the victors and the vanquished theme? What happened here 4000 years ago? Unlike other rock reliefs in Iraqi Kurdistan (which were carved high on the mountains), this relief was on the side of the road where anyone could spot it easily. Was it painted vibrantly? An important point to highlight is that the relief has escaped vandalism and iconoclasm in spite of being easily accessible.
Acknowledgements
A special gratitude goes to Mr. Hashim Hama Abdullah and Dr. Kozad Muhammed Ahmad for their kind help and cooperation.
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Article based on information obtained from these sources:with permission from the Website Ancient History Encyclopedia
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