Ikonography of shepherds from Sumer to Byzantium

Shepherd, which has continued from ancient times to the present without losing its importance both professionally and religiously, appears continuously in many sources including the tablets. Besides being an important source for livelihood, Shepherdism is very important because clergymen and statesmen were used to be trained with this job in the early times of their professional life. In addition, the fact that a stepherd is the one who raises, selects and prepares animals for offering to God in temples also makes this profession sacred. In this thesis, what the 'shepherd' mean in daily life starting from the Sumerians, Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian including the Hittites, Urartian, Phrygian was investigated cronologically in the light of tablets. Afterwards, the concept of shepherding in ancient Greece and Rome and its importance in pagan religions were explained. Since the traces of this profession were found in different sources such as mosaics, frescos, sculptures, reliefs etc. in Byzantine period, these sources were also discussed. With the adoption of Christianity at the beginning of the Byzantine period, the description of "Jesus The Good Shepherd" appeared, and the gods in pagan religions adapted to this description. The thesis continued with the gods which this title was used for and especially the description of the figure depicted in the frescoes. In the last chapter, the Bible, the Qur'an and the Torah were examined in the parts of the holy books that Shepherd has passed through. Thus, the importance of the shepherd profession in various ways was investigated and conveyed. Keywords: shepherds, shepherds in the Sumerians, shepherds in the Hittites, shepherds in ancient Greece, shepherds in ancient Rome, shepherds in the Byzantine period, Good Shepherd Jesus, Good Shepherd Orpheus