The Divine Feminine in Mesopotamia: the rosette/star and the reed bundle symbols in early Diyala’s glyptic (c. 3100–2600 BC)

The archaeological expeditions of the Oriental Institute of Chicago in the Diyala region, during the 1930’s, brought to light several sites whose origins dates back as far as the end of the 4th millennium BC. The material culture recovered there allows identifying initial aspects of the Mesopotamian civilization, namely early characteristics of its religious system. Particularly thought-provocative is the discussion about the roles, attributes, and functions of Mesopotamian goddesses, for a period that lacks substantial written sources.
Hence, this paper deals with this subject matter, by analysing the iconographic contents of cylinder seals, found in the Diyala sites’ cultic structures, and dated to the end of the 4th millennium BC and to the Early Dynastic I and II periods (2900-2600 BC).
By addressing the relation between other iconographic elements with the rosette/star and the reed-bundle, two symbols whose connection with Inanna/Ištar is well attested for coetaneous epochs, we hope to contribute to the discussion about the conceptualization of this goddess, in particular, and the Mesopotamian Divine Feminine, in general.