Archaeology Magazine - March/April 2020 - 10

DIGS

DISCOVERIES

was particularly important when it came
to astronomical observations, whose success could depend on the local weather.
"Now there are clouds everywhere; we
do not know whether the eclipse took
place or not," Bel-ušezib, a Babylonian
scholar based in Nineveh, told Esarhaddon. "Let the lord of kings write to
Assur and all the cities, to Babylon, to
Nippur, to Uruk and Borsippa; maybe
they observed it in these cities."
Having connections to an extensive
network of colleagues, particularly if
they were widely geographically dispersed, could help a scholar find favor
with the king. For instance, when a
Babylonian astrologer named Marduk-

OFF THE GRID

šapik-zeri, who had fallen out of favor
with Esarhaddon, tried to return to the
king's good graces, he cited not just his
skill at observing good and bad portents
in the sky, but also his connection to
"twenty competent scholars worthy of
royal desire." These included a haruspex,
or diviner, from Elam, in Iran, several
exorcists from Assyria, and various other
physicians and chanters.
Singletary points out that both Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal had good
reason to encourage communication
among scholars throughout the empire.
Both kings were younger sons who
were elevated to the throne over older
brothers, causing intense controversy

and strife during their respective reigns.
Keeping tabs on omens discovered by a
broad range of scholars was, therefore,
highly advantageous. In Ashurbanipal's
case, he became king of Assyria while
his older brother was named king of
Babylon, a lesser yet competing position.
"Ashurbanipal collected scholars almost
the same way he collected tablets for his
library," says Singletary. "I wonder if his
interest in making sure he was engaging
with scholars in Babylonia as well as
Assyria had to do with getting insider
knowledge from his brother's portion of
the kingdom to make sure there weren't
any uprisings there."
-Daniel Weiss

GUNUNG KAWI, BALI

Some 1,000 years ago, stonemasons cut into a basalt escarpment in a river valley outside the modern Balinese village of Tampaksiring.
They carved out a nearly 100-foot-wide courtyard backed by a 40-foot-tall vertical wall. Into this wall they carved five shrines, called candis,
each almost 30 feet tall and intended to resemble temple facades. Across the small river bisecting the valley, the masons carved another
courtyard and four more, slightly smaller, candis. A tenth candi is set apart from the others. The two courtyards and the candis, as well as a
number of small artificial caves that may once have been used as prayer or living spaces for monks, make up the site of Gunung Kawi. This
is one of many temple complexes built on Java and Bali starting around the first century a.d., when Hinduism and then Buddhism began
to come to Indonesia from the Indian subcontinent.
The Gunung Kawi complex was likely built to memorialize the Balinese ruler Anak Wungsu, who died around a.d. 1077. The smaller candis
are thought to commemorate Wungsu's children, wives, and concubines. "Multiple queens or children get a monument that's 95 percent
the size of the monument to the king," says archaeologist John Schoenfelder of the University of Massachusetts Boston, "so they are being
categorized as nearly as important." Schoenfelder suggests that this relative lack of hierarchy emphasizes the fact that the extended royal
household was considered a single entity. At Gunung Kawi, the ruler and his kin were venerated alongside patron gods with whom they
were reincorporated after death.

THE SITE
The entrance to Gunung Kawi is a short
walk from the center of Tampaksiring and a
half-hour taxi ride from the popular tourist
town of Ubud. Beyond a gauntlet of souvenir
stalls, a steep set of more than 300 stairs
leads down into the valley. The price of
admission includes the rental of a sarong
and sash, which are customarily worn when
visiting temples in Bali. Very little in the way
M A L AY S I A

BALI

INDONESIA

Gunung Kawi
Ubud

AUSTRALIA

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of interpretive display is available at
the site, so you may wish to inquire
with local tour agencies or at your
hotel about hiring a guide.

WHILE YOU'RE THERE
Gunung Kawi, as well as nearby
Tirta Empul, a water temple just
half a mile north that has been
visited for centuries by pilgrims
seeking ritual purification, is nestled
Candis, Gunung Kawi, Bali
within an ancient landscape of rice
terraces and irrigation canals. Between
inextricable connection-both physical and
temple visits, sign up for a walking tour
symbolic-between Balinese agriculture
along one of the various pathways in
and religious life.
the Ubud area to witness firsthand the
-Marley Brown
ARCHAEOLOGY
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Archaeology Magazine - March/April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - March/April 2020