Contest scenes in the depiction art of Assyrian Trade Colonies Age

The contest scenes of the Assyrian Trade Colonies Age are seen on the seal and seal impressions of this period. It is understood that the international trade was a factor in the widespread and intense emergence of the contest scenes in Anatolia. In this thesis, groupings were made according to the number of figures in a given contest. While the depictions of scenes on seals are seen as two, three, four and multi figures in ritual and mythological scenes, friezes solely hosted contestant figures. There are, however, subgroups similar to the aforementioned groups on the friezes. The contests with the lion feature the most in the double-contestant groups. Contests with the lion and the bull have always been a popular depiction, often as a symbol of power. Important figures of the contests in this group are demons, heroes, gods and humans. In the contests with the lion and the bull, it is observed that the animals are upside down, upright and a weapon is used. Contests of two figures are usually seen in the presence of one or more deities, in ritual worship and presentation scenes. A prominent group in double-contestant scenes is that of a divinity and man. Hunting scenes consisting of lion, gazelle and hunter are seen the most in the triple-contestant groups; hunting is also considered as a contestation and is thereby included in this study. Scenes with more than four figures are grouped as multi-figure contests. The fact that similar contesting forms appear on different seals in the scenes suggests that these contestations point to a symbolic expression. Since there is a multiple contest going on in the depictions of the heraldry, bull-men, nude heroes, heroes, gazelles and lions and the multi-figured friezes, the protective and aggressive ones among the figures cannot be distinguished very clearly. In the depictions of struggle that reveal human control in the wild, especially in the scenes on cylinder seals, it is observed that the seal diggers, who observe nature exquisitely, reflect their realistic interpretations to the seals.