Document Type
Honors Thesis
Abstract
The image of a figure holding two wild animals, often called the “Mistress/Master of Animals”, has appeared across many ancient periods and regions, on artifacts from proto-literate Mesopotamia in the Near East to the Aegean Iron Age. This motif has a demonstrable chain of cultural custody that is closely tied to concepts of both divinity and royalty. Rather than following a linear progression of diffusion with consistent interpretation, the Master/Mistress motif is culturally translated by adopting populations to suit the understandings within those populations. Though some concepts such as healing remained constant from culture to culture, the symbol was reinterpreted or modified based on the role it played in adopting populations’ cultural schemas. This resulted in the two seemingly separate motifs of the “Master” and “Mistress”. This translation demonstrates the close relationship these early cultures had to one another in spite of their perceived distinctness.
Publication Date
5-1-2018
Language
English
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Dubhrós, Jeremy, "CULTURAL TRANSLATION AND THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE MASTER AND MISTRESS OF THE ANIMALS" (2018). 2018 Spring Honors Capstone Projects. 39.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/honors_spring2018/39