The Lion, the Shepherd, and the Master of Animals: Metaphorical Interactions and Governance Representations in Mesopotamian and Levantine Sources

International audienceThe images of the lion, the shepherd, along with the master of animals, though closely associated in the realm of sovereignty, have not been the object of what could be called an associative or interactive analysis. This contribution aims at revisiting these images, analyzing the sources in interaction, without excluding them and confronting them even to their contradiction. My analysis is based mainly on textual sources and should be further enriched by the study of iconographic sources. In the first part, I will review Assyrian royal inscriptions and their treatment of the figures of the lion and the shepherd. In the second part, Levantine sources will be examined and allow me to focus on the book of Amos in which a detailed analysis of the interactive metaphors of the lion and the shepherd will be proposed. A comparative conclusion will be drawn, and the fruits of this interactive analysis highlighted