Ancient Life: Comic Relief?

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In his 1920 exposé on magic, Miracle Mongers and Their Methods, the great magician and debunker of magic Harry Houdini traced the art of sword swallowing back to the carnivals of 18th-century England. Some 1,600 years earlier, the Roman writer Apuleius of Madaurus claimed the practice was invented by the ancient Greeks and Romans. The Hittite relief shown here, however, suggests that sword swallowing has been around a lot longer than even Apuleius suspected.

The mid-second-millennium B.C. relief—which adorns the Sphinx Gate at the Hittite city of Alaca Hüyük in north central Turkey—depicts an intrepid performer forcing a blade down this throat. To the right, two acrobats ascend an unsupported ladder.

The 4-foot-high panel is part of a program of reliefs depicting a procession in honor of the Hittite storm god. The gate’s central panel shows a group of priests leading sacrificial animals to an altar, where a Hittite king and queen stand worshiping the storm god (who has taken the form of a bull). The panels depicting the sword swallower and acrobats are tucked away near the southwest corner of the gate, alongside images of a dancer, a guitar player and other figures from the tail end of the procession.

It may seem strange to have circus acts in the middle of a somber religious ceremony, but the Hittites frequently combined their religious rituals with public entertainments and festivals. Musicians, dancers and acrobats often accompany Hittite processions depicted on reliefs. It may be that such novelty acts were intended simply to entertain the public (much as Shakespeare included swordfights in his plays to entertain the “groundlings”). Certainly, these scenes are meant to be lighthearted; while the priests and royalty depicted in the central panel are sculpted in a stiff and formal manner, befitting the gravity of the occasion, the sword swallower and his tumbling friends show a freedom of movement and subtle playfulness. Even when paying respect to the gods, apparently, there’s still fun to be had.

In his 1920 exposé on magic, Miracle Mongers and Their Methods, the great magician and debunker of magic Harry Houdini traced the art of sword swallowing back to the carnivals of 18th-century England. Some 1,600 years earlier, the Roman writer Apuleius of Madaurus claimed the practice was invented by the ancient Greeks and Romans. The Hittite relief shown here, however, suggests that sword swallowing has been around a lot longer than even Apuleius suspected. The mid-second-millennium B.C. relief—which adorns the Sphinx Gate at the Hittite city of Alaca Hüyük in north central Turkey—depicts an intrepid performer forcing a blade […]