THE MARḪAŠEAN TWO-FACED ‘GOD’: NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE ICONOGRAPHIC AND RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPES OF THE HALIL RUD VALLEY CIVILIZATION AND THIRD MILLENNIUM BCE SOUTH-EASTERN IRAN

This paper discusses a truncated chlorite vessel currently held in the Miho Museum, Japan. It was probably produced around 2300-2200 BCE in the Halil Rud Valley or Jiroft region and comes perhaps from a grave. This vessel displays a fascinating iconography, including the depiction of a hybrid character combining bovine, human, lion and bird features. After discussing the hybrid characters which are observed on chlorite artefacts and glyptics in third millennium BCE south-eastern Iran, available textual data are considered for a narrative interpretation of the possible religious landscape of the polity designated Marḫaši or Paraḫšum in Mesopotamian sources. It is also suggested that the so-called ‘Treaty of Naram-Sin’ might provide additional insights on the pantheon worshipped in Marḫaši around 2250 BCE.