B100 – “SEAL OF TARIBA TESHUB KING OF KARKEMISH, SON OF INI-TESHUB” – 2008 - Acrylic on canvas 125 x 190 cm or 49,2 x 74,8 inches. - The B99 and B100 make a diptych 125 x 360 or 49,2 x 149,6 inches - BABYLONIAN / Cylinder-seal recovered in Israel (ref. S.333, Keel & Uehlinger 1995), also from the hegemonic period neo-Assyrian, 1100-612 B.C. The hunting god Nin Ur = Ninurta in the sumerian and akkadian mythology, is chasing after the bird’s monster Imdugud = Anzu, that he’ll killed at the end. Because he stole the tablets of destiny to Nin Ur’s father Enlil. Top: from the left to the right: a seal, the sun’s god and a flying bird. Middle: two undefined symbols. Bottom: a dog, the rhomb is perhaps an eye and an unidentified symbol topped by the monogram of Philhelm. The colours of the background symbolized the superposed vault of heaven. The cuneiform’s text is coming from the original cylinder seal sent to the king of Ugarit. The original cut of the signs has been modified and the literal translation is: “Seal of Talmi-Teshub, king of Karkemish, son of Ini-Teshub.” Ninurta: Nin Ur, in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology was the lord of land and the God of Hunting. His name is related to Saturn’s planet. Anzu: or Imdugud, an evil bird but which could also represent holiness is at the origin of the symbol of Ninurta. Years passed and the Mesopotamian mythology removed the more favourable facet of the bird and described it as a mischievous monster. A poem has been released after a fight with his ex master: it enables us to remember the myth of Anzu: how a holy hero such as Ninurta was forced to kill the beast in order to recover the shelves of destiny which were stolen from his father. Therefore, the harmony on earth has been restored. Did something happen in the mean time to break this harmony again? Ugarit: or Ougarit was an old city of the Levant, actual Ras Shamra near Lattaquié on the Syrian coast. It’s one of the most ancient sites of the Near-antique East, occupied by the Neolithic, 6500 BC. Talmi-Teshub: one of the many Karkemish kings, mostly famous thanks to his magnificent royal seal, recovered on the east bank of the Euphrates. He has been replaced by his own son Kuzi-Teshub. Karkemish: at the present time located on the Turkish territory near the Syrian border, the city, quoted in the bible, was the theatre of an important battle between Babylonians and Egyptians who had enslaved this land.