Darband-i Gawr Relief

The relief at Darband-i Gawr is massive in scale, over 3 m in height. The rock wall into which it has been carved is not flat but fairly irregular (see the photogrammetric reconstruction); rippling sedimentary layers run diagonally across the surface, and the image is positioned next to a large concavity. The compositional field of the relief has been dug deep into the cliff face in order to form a flat background, but it still bulges along its center and tilts slightly toward the ground. The field’s border is curved at the top, probably imitating the stele format prevalent in the ancient Near East. At the time of the MMM team’s documentation of the relief in 2017, the upper border was lined with a protective bar placed here during restoration work conducted by the Sulaymaniyah/Slemani Directorate of Antiquities. 

The subject of the image—clearly a ruler—is shown mainly in profile, though his broad shoulders and muscular torso are rendered frontally. He strides rightward and upward in accordance with the slope, his right leg stiff and his left leg bent at the knee. The ruler’s beard curls tightly at the chin but lengthens into 14 thin, vertical waves. He wears a cap with a folded edge. His kilt or robe is belted at the waist and is detailed with four parallel lines; a band or object hangs from it towards the rear. He is further adorned with necklaces and armbands. In his left hand, he holds a bow across his chest; his lowered right hand carries another weapon, probably an ax, in a horizontal position. Two figures, significantly smaller than the ruler, lie in splayed, defeated poses beneath a steplike ground line. They are characterized mainly by their hairstyle with a single plait or pigtail. There is no defined border around this lower portion of the relief. As there is no inscription accompanying it, the monument cannot be attributed to a particular ruler, and its precise dating has been debated; iconographic and stylistic considerations favor a date in the Ur III period (see further in “History”). 

The subject of the relief, with the victorious ruler trampling smaller victims, has often been compared with the famous Naram-Sin stele; it is one of several such rock reliefs that take up the same basic theme of the triumphant ruler (including, e.g., that at Darband-i Balula, 50 km to the southeast).1 However, these reliefs are all very different in their compositional particularities and in style. The Darband-i Gawr relief is one of the closest to the Naram-Sin stele, yet important differences can be observed. Of special note, this ruler does not wear the horned headdress of divinities. Additionally, it was unnecessary to portray the locale in the Darband-i Gawr relief—though it was carefully depicted in the Naram-Sin stele—since the sculptor has carefully integrated the carving into the real landscape. The king’s upward stride follows the slope, a sense of movement reinforced by the sedimentation of the limestone layers—a quality that became apparent through direct observation of the relief during MMM fieldwork.2 It may also be noted that the figures below the king’s feet, lacking a lower border, appear to slide down the slope.3 The relief’s sophisticated integration of image and landscape may be significant to interpretations of its function (see “History”). 

• 1. On these reliefs and their relationships to the Naram-Sin stele and each other, see esp. Postgate and Roaf 1997, 150–154; Eppihimer 2019, 57–61.
• 2. Bahrani 2017, 172; Bahrani 2018, 177–181.
• 3. Eppihimer 2019, 62.