European Cent re for Upper Mesopotami an Stud i es Cent re europeen de recherches sur l a Haute Mesopotami e Europa i sches Zent rum f i i r Obermesopotami sche Stud i en Cent ro europeo de estud i os sobre l a Al ta Mesopotami a Europees Onderzoekscent rum voor Boven Mesopotami e Cent ro europeo per l a r i cerca su l l 'Al ta Mesopotami a

M . FORTIN (ed . )

TELL `ACHARNEH 1998-2004

RAPPORTS PRELIMINAIRES SUR LES CAMPAGNES DE FOUILLES ET SAISON D'ETUDES PRELIMINARY REPORTS ON EXCAVATION CAMPAIGNS AND STUDY SEASON Subar tu

BREPOLS - 2006 Subar tu

Ed i tor i a l Board

Su l tan Muhesen, Joach i m Bretschne i der , Marc Lebeau, Luc i o M i l ano, Wa l ther Sa l l aberger , Ph i l i ppe Ta l on, Kare l Van Lerberghe .

Wi th the suppor t of the fo l l owi ng i nst i tut i ons : ICatho l i e l ce Un i vers i te i t Leuven, Un i vers i ty Ca ' Foscar i d i Venez i a , L l n i vers i te L i bre de Bruxe l l es , West fa l i sche Wi l he l ms-Un i vers i tat Munster , Ludwi g-Max i mi l i ans-Un i vers i tat M i i nchen .

Subar tu i s ed i ted by the European Cent re for Upper Mesopotami an Stud i es .

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Order forms to be ma i l ed to : Brepo l s Pub l i shers , Beg i j nhof 67, B-2300 Turnhout , Be l g i um . M i che l FORTIN (ed i teur ) D i recteur de l a mi ss i on canad i enne a Te l l `Acharneh

TELL `ACHARNEH 1998-2004

RAPPORTS PRELIMINAIRES SUR LES CAMPAGNES DE FOUILLES ET SAISON D' I TUDES

PRELIMINARY REPORTS ON EXCAVATION CAMPAIGNS AND STUDY SEASON FORTIN, M i che l Te l l `Acharneh 1998-2004 (= Subar tu XVI I1) , Brepo l s , Turnhout , 2006 A4, sewn, 264 pages Contents : Archaeo l ogy , Ep i graphy , St rat i graphy , Arch i tecture , Cerami cs , Co i ns , F l i nts , Bronze Age , I ron Age , M i dd l e Ages Areas : Levant , Inner Syr i a , Orontes va l l ey Al l r i ghts reserved . No par t of th i s pub l i cat i on may be reproduced, stored i n a ret r i eva l system or t ransmi t ted i n any form or by any means , e l ect ron i c , mechan i ca l , photocopy i ng, record i ng, or otherwi se wi thout the pr i or permi ss i on of the pub l i sher . ISBN 978-2-503-52291-3 D/2006/0095/136 © 2006 by BREPOLS Pub l i shers Pr i nted i n the E .U . on ac i d- f ree paper Tab l e des mat i eres /Tab l e of contents

M i che l For t i n Int roduct i on 1

M i che l For t i n Te l l `Acharneh : l oca l i sat i on, descr i pt i on et recherches ant6r i eures 3

Sect i on I : Documentat i on l i t tera i re /Textua l Ev i dence

Doug l as Frayne Te l l `Acharneh and the Orontes Va l l ey : Ear l y Textua l Sources 25

Pau l -E . D i on Te l l `Acharneh i n the K i ngdom of Hamath 43

Grant Frame The Te l l `Acharneh Ste l a of Sargon I I of Assyr i a 49

Rober t B . Mason Pre l i mi nary Cons i derat i ons of Te l l `Acharneh & E l i se G . Des j ard i ne i n the Med i eva l Per i od and Later 69

Sect i on I I : Etudes archeo l og i ques/Archaeo l og i ca l Stud i es

M i che l For t i n Te l l `Acharneh : rappor t pre l i mi na i re sur l a campagne exp l orato i re de 1998 82

M i che l For t i n Te l l `Acharneh : rappor t pr6 l i mi na i re sur l a campagne de fou i l l es de 2001 106

M i che l For t i n Te l l `Acharneh : rappor t pre l i mi na i re sur l a campagne de fou i l l es de 2002 120

L i sa Cooper The Pot tery f rom Te l l `Acharneh . Par t I : Typo l og i ca l Cons i derat i ons and Dat i ng Accord i ng to Excavated Areas i n the Upper and Lower Towns , 1998-2002 140

Mar i e-Cl aude Bo i l eau The Pot tery f rom Te l l `Acharneh. Par t I I : Techno l og i ca l Cons i derat i ons 191

Rober t B . Mason D i agnost i c Med i eva l Wares f rom the 2001/2002 Seasons & Kay S . Sunahara at Te l l `Acharneh 215

No l a J. Johnson The Co i ns f rom Te l l `Acharneh 225

Jacques Chabot Deux nouveaux i nd i ces de product i on agr i co l e Te l l `Acharneh, Pat r i ck E i d a Syr i e ( reg i on du Ghab) 239 Pat r i c i a Anderson The Te l l Acharneh Ste l a of Sargon 11 of Assyr i a

Grant Frame , Un i vers i ty of Toronto

Int roduct i on Te l l Acharneh was undoubted l y a c i ty of some s i gn i f i cance i n anc i ent Syr i a . The s i te i s an ext reme l y l arge one and th i s suggests that a substant i a l number of peop l e l i ved there . The he i ght of the ma i n mound and the dates of the cerami cs found on the sur face of the s i te i nd i cate that i t was occup i ed over a l ong per i od of t i me (3000-720 BC) . Moreover , i ts l ocat i on at a cross i ng of the Orontes r i ver wou l d have g i ven i t st rateg i c i mpor tance . We shou l d not be surpr i sed i f a l arge number of cune i form texts are eventua l l y found dur i ng excavat i ons at Te l l Acharneh .

The Te l l Acharneh ste l a f ragment One cune i form text has a l ready been found at Te l l Acharneh . In 1924, a French of f i cer by the name of Ma i gnan who was i n command of a Senega l i ze reg i ment found a f ragment of a stone monument wi th a cune i form i nscr i pt i on on i t near the br i dge across the Orontes at Te l l Acharneh . Exact l y what commander Ma i gnan was do i ng at Te l l Acharneh i s unknown to me and no deta i l s about the exact f i ndspot of the p i ece have ever been pub l i shed' . The f ragment was i n i t i a l l y depos i ted i n a museum i n Be i rut but was l ater t ransfer red to the Al eppo Museum i n Syr i a (M 10890) . 1 am i nformed that i t has been moved to the new museum i n Hama , thus c l oser to Te l l Acharneh . The i nscr i pt i on was or i g i na l l y pub l i shed by the esteemed French Assyr i o l og i st Frango i s Thureau-Dang i n about seventy years agog and a new ed i t i on of th i s i nscr i pt i on wi l l be presented i n my for thcomi ng vo l ume of the i nscr i pt i ons of Sargon I I for the Roya l Inscr i pt i ons of Mesopotami a pro j ect . The text was k i nd l y co l l ated for me by Dr . Karen Radner when she was i n Syr i a i n 1999 . On l y a t i ny f ract i on of the or i g i na l stone monument i s preserved ( f i g . 1) . Never the l ess , the p i ece i s actu- a l l y qu i te i nterest i ng, par t i cu l ar l y when one cons i ders the who l e quest i on of what a f ragment of anAssyr i an stone monument was do i ng at a s i te on the Orontes r i ver , about 600 km west of the Assyr i an hear t l and . The f ragment i s repor ted to be basa l t and to measure 77 cm i n he i ght , 43 cm i n wi dth, and 36 cm i n depth, a l though both the he i ght and l i ke l y the depth wou l d or i g i na l l y have been greater . I t i s i nscr i bed on three s i des ( f i g . 2 for an ed i t i on of the i nscr i pt i on) , wi th the four th s i de be i ng tota l l y damaged . In what Thureau-Dang i n des i gnated s i de B, we f i nd re ferences to Hamath, an Assyr i an v i ctory , someone ( l i ke l y the ru l er of Hamath) be i ng taken away to Assyr i a , and apparent l y the i mpos i t i on of taxes upon the de feated area . ( I t shou l d be noted that Hamath, modern Hama , i s l ocated on l y about 35 km to the southeast of Te l l Acharneh . ) Si de C appears to ment i on the mak i ng of severa l commemorat i ve monuments to record the k i ng' s v i ctory and the i r erect i on i n at l east f i ve l ocat i ons , i nc l ud i ng Hamath and Hatar [ i kka] . (Hatar i kka i s thought to be Te l l Af i s , l ocated about 80 km nor theast of Te l l Acharneh . ) These were l i ke l y a l l s i tuated wi th i n the reg i on or l and wh i ch had j ust been conquered . Fo l l owi ng th i s , the text b l esses the one who wou l d t reat th i s monument (NA4 .NA .RU . [A] , naru, "ste l a , commemorat i ve monument " ) we l l and beg i ns a curse aga i nst one who wou l d t reat i t poor l y . On l y a handfu l of s i gns are l eg i b l e on s i de D, too few to enab l e us to determi ne what mat ter was be i ng recorded . Thus , the text appears to re fer to the erect i on of severa l ste l ae i n var i ous i mpor tant cent res wi th i n the l and of Hamath fo l l owi ng i ts conquest by an Assyr i an k i ng . Wh i l e i t i s poss i b l e that th i s f ragment was brought to Te l l Acharneh f rom another l ocat i on i n e i ther anc i ent or modern t i mes , i t i s more

Th i s i s a s l i ght l y mod i f i ed vers i on of a paper presented to the members of the Canad i an Soc i ety for Mesopotami an Stud i es at a sympos i um on Te l l Acharneh he l d on September 18, 1999 and i t keeps the i nforma l sty l e used i n that pres- entat i on . The paper makes a great dea l of use of J . Bbrker -K l ahn' s cata l ogue and study Al tvorderas i at i sche Bi l dste l en and verg l e i chbare Fe l sre l i e fs (Baghdader Forschungen, vo l . 4) (Ma i nz am Rhe i n : von Zabem, 1982) and for the con- ven i ence of the user , I wi l l c i te Borker -K l ahn' s cata l ogue numbers when an i tem t reated by her i s ment i oned . F i gs . 3, 5, and 11-15 were k i nd l y prepared by A . Bar ron and f i gs . 7, 8, and 10 by L.M . James . ' M i che l For t i n has i nformed me that a great dea l of work was car r i ed out i n the area of Te l l Acharneh i n the 1920s const ruct i ons and that stones may have been co l l ected to be used i n the foundat i on for the br i dge be i ng bu i l t across the Orontes . Poss i b l y someone not i ced that th i s f ragment had someth i ng engraved upon i t and brought i t to the at tent i on of Ma i gnan . For t i n specu l ates that add i t i ona l p i eces of the ste l a may be i n the foundat i on of the br i dge . z F . Thureau-Dang i n, "La sto l e d'Ashame , " Revue d' assyr i o l og i e et d' archeo l og i e or i enta l e 30 (1933) : 53-56, p l . I , and p . 104 n . 1 . Borker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . 177 .

49 Subar tu XVI I I

- F i g . 1 : Te l l Achameh Ste l a f ragment (Al eppo Museum, M 108790) . (Le f t to r i ght : s i de B, s i de C, and s i de D . ) Top row : photographs pub l i shed wi th the permi ss i on of the ed i tors of Revue d' assyr i o l og i e et d' archeo l og i e or i enta l e ; bot tom row : modern photographs taken by the Canad i an Archaeo l og i ca l M i ss i on to Te l l `Achameh .

l i ke l y that i t was par t of a ste l a or i g i na l l y set up i n or near Te l l Achameh . Th i s s i te , under i ts anc i ent name , may we l l have been one of the l ocat i ons ment i oned i n the text as a p l ace i n wh i ch a ste l a was erected. The name of the k i ng whose act i ons are recorded i n the i nscr i pt i on i s not preserved, so why i s i t thought to be Sargon 11, ru l er of Assyr i a 721-705 BCE? The i nscr i pt i on ment i ons Hamath twi ce and the texts of on l y a few Assyr i an k i ngs re fer to that c i ty , ma i n l y those of Sha l maneser 111, Ti g l ath-Pi l eser 111, and par t i cu l ar l y Sargon 11 . Moreover , Sargon i s known to have conquered Hamath i n 720 BCE and many of h i s i nscr i pt i ons ment i on th i s conquest . Hamath i s wr i t ten s l i ght l y d i f ferent l y i n the two p l aces i t appears : [KUR] a-ma-at - te i n s i de B l i ne 10' and KUR ha-am-ma- te i n s i de C l i ne 6' . The on l y other documents i n Te l l `Acharneh 1998-2004

wh i ch both wr i t i ngs appear - that i s , wi th an i n i t i a l H and wi thout i t -are c l ear l y ass i gnab l e to Sargon I I : the `Be i rut ' Ste l a f ragment and the Cyprus Ste l a (see be l ow) . Fragments of stone monuments of Sargon have been found at severa l other s i tes i n Syr i a-Pa l est i ne and, accord i ng to the esteemed scho l ar Hay i m Tadmor , the pa l aeography of the Te l l Acharneh i nscr i pt i on i s i dent i ca l wi th that of two other ste l ae wh i ch c l ear l y date to the re i gn of Sargon - the ste l a f rom Cyprus wh i ch has Sargon' s name preserved on i t and ste l a f rag- ments f rom Ashdod wh i ch c l ear l y dup l i cate passages i n other texts of Sargon . ' For these and a few other more deta i l ed reasons , the Te l l Acharneh text has a l ways been ass i gned to Sargon I I .

The rema i nder of th i s presentat i on wi l l at tempt to prov i de the reader wi th some i dea of what the comp l ete ste l a may have l ooked l i ke and what may have been i nc l uded i n the i nscr i pt i on on i t . We wi l l do th i s by put t i ng i t wi th i n the context of other Neo-Assyr i an roya l monuments , i n par t i cu l ar of those of Sargon I I f rom the per i phery of h i s emp i re . Th i s presentat i on makes no pretense of dea l i ng wi th a l l re l evant Assyr i an monuments or of prov i d i ng a comprehens i ve and deta i l ed study of them as a genre , but i s s i mp l y i ntended to present br i e f l y and i nforma l l y some mat ters to ho l d i n mi nd when cons i der i ng the stone f ragment of Sargon I I found at Te l l Acharneh . '

What do the other stone commemorat i ve monuments of Sargon I I found outs i de of the Assyr i an hear t - l and l ook l i ke and what do the i nscr i pt i ons on them say? I wi l l beg i n wi th f ragmentary ones and then move on to bet ter preserved ones .

Ashdod ste l a f ragments

In 1963, three sma l l basa l t f ragments of a commemorat i ve monument were unear thed at Ashdod i n Ph i l i st i a and these are now preserved i n the Israe l Museum, Jerusa l em ( IAA 63-931, 63-962, and 63-1053) . At l east two of them come f rom secondary contexts (a Byzant i ne dump and a He l l en i st i c wa l l ) and thus we do not know where the ste l a was or i g i na l l y set up i n the c i ty . As wi th the Te l l Achameh f ragment , no t race of a scu l pture re l i e f i s found on any of the Ashdod p i eces . On l y a few t i ny sect i ons of the i nscr i pt i on are preserved, but happ i l y par ts of these dup l i cate some i nformat i on (e .g . , the name of the E l ami te k i ng Humban i [gas] ) found on texts c l ear l y ass i gnab l e to Sargon U . Sargon I I i s known to have conquered Ashdod i n 712/711 BCE and Tadmor has suggested that the f ragments were par t of a ste l a wh i ch had been set up a f ter the k i ng' s capture of that c i ty and had poss i b l y been dest royed dur i ng Hezek i ah' s rebe l l i on i n 705 . 5

"Be i rut " ste l a f ragment

A f ragment measur i ng 58 x 35 .6 cm and now i n the Bi b l e Lands Museum i n Jerusa l em (BLMJ 1115) preserves por t i ons of two ad j o i n i ng s i des of an i nscr i bed stone monument . No t race of an i mage i s preserved, but the i nscr i pt i on descr i bes events of 720 BCE, name l y Sargon' s set t l ement of Assyr i ans at Hamath fo l - l owi ng h i s conquest of that c i ty . I t may a l so have been par t of a monument set up to commemorate Sargon' s conquest of that l and ; however , s i nce the f ragment ment i ons severa l events l ater i n the k i ng' s re i gn on i ts damaged l e f t s i de ( i n par t i cu l ar the submi ss i on of the seven k i ngs of Id' wh i ch took p l ace i n 709/708) , i t can have been created on l y towards the end of the k i ng' s re i gn and may have been erected to commemorate some other act i on . The f ragment appeared on the ant i qu i t i es market i n Be i rut and thus i ts or i g i na l prove- nance i s not known ; however , Dav i d Hawk i ns has suggested that i t may or i g i na l l y have come f rom She i zar , l ocated on the Orontes r i ver about ha l fway between Te l l Acharneh and Hama . '

' H . Tadmor , " Fragments of an Assyr i an Ste l e of Sargon I I , " `Ant i got , Eng l i sh Ser i es 9-10 (1971) : 195 . ° Works by J . Borker -K l ahn (Bi l dste l en) , D . Morand i ( "Ste l e e statue rea l i ass i re : l oca l i zzaz i one , d i f fus i one e i mp l i - caz i on i i deo l og i che , " Mesopotami a 23 [1988] : 105-55) , and A .T. Sha fer (The Carv i ng of an Emp i re : Neo-Assyr i an Monuments on the Per i phery [doctora l d i sser tat i on, Harvard Un i vers i ty , 1998] ) prov i de deta i l ed stud i es of Assyr i an roya l ste l ae and rock re l i e fs and shou l d be consu l ted by anyone i nterested i n knowi ng more about these monuments . Th i s presentat i on wi l l not cons i der the ste l ae of Assyr i an eponyms found at Assur s i nce they are bas i ca l l y d i f ferent i n purpose , form, and content f rom other ste l ae . 5 See i n par t i cu l ar Tadmor , `Ant i got , Eng l i sh Ser i es 9-10 (1971) : 192-97 and p l . XCVI -XCVI I . Borker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . 174 . 6 See i n par t i cu l ar W.G . Lamber t i n Ladders to Heaven, ed . O .W. Muscare l l a (Toronto : McCl e l l and and Stewar t , 1981) , 125 no . 83 and J .D . Hawk i ns , "The Neo-H i t t i te States i n Syr i a and Anato l i a , " i n The Cambr i dge Anc i ent H i story , 2nd . ed . , vo l . 3 par t 1 (Cambr i dge : Cambr i dge Un i vers i ty Press , 1982) , 417. [J .D . Hawk i ns has recent l y pub- l i shed an ed i t i on and study of th i s text i n From the Upper Sea to the Lower Sea : Stud i es on the H i story ofAssyr i a and Baby l on i a i n Honour of A .K . Grayson, ed i ted by G . Frame , wi th the ass i stance of L .S . Wi l d i ng (Le i den : Neder l ands Inst i tuut voor bet Nab i j e Oosten, 2004) , 151-64 . He argues that the ste l a or i g i na l l y came f rom the ter r i tory of Hamath and that i t and the Cyprus ste l a were erected i n 708 or 705 BCE . ]

5 1

Subar tu XVI I I

Si de A = Co l . i Not preserved Si de B = Co l . i i Lacuna Lacuna 1' ) [ . . . ] x x x [ . . . ] i i 1' ) [ . . . ] 2' ) [ . . . ] a-na A.ME[S x (x) ] i i 2' ) [ . . . ] for water [ . . . ] 3' ) [ . . . ] -su u-q i - ru-m[a] i i 3' ) [ . . . ] they made h i s/ i ts [ . . . ]scarce 4' ) [ . . . ] a i l - te-e URU-§u i i 4' ) [ . . . ] the ne i ghbourhood of h i s c i ty 5' ) [ . . . a-n]a s i t -mur ANSEXURAA.M[E] i i 5' ) [ . . . for ] horses to show the i r met t l e 6' ) [ . . . ] - t i L l T e-qa-x i i 6' ) [ . . . ] . . . 7' ) [ . . . d i - i k- ta(?) -s l u-nu ma-at - t [u] i i 7' ) [ . . . a] ma j or [mi l i tary de feat of th]em 8' ) [ . . . i s] - rkP- ru ID i i 8' ) [ ( . . . ) they b l o]cked up the r i ver [wi th the i r corpses] . 9' ) [ . . . d i (?) - ta l (?) - l ] i - i s i q-mu-u-m[a] i i 9' -12' ) They burned [ . . . ] , ( turn i ng them) [ i nto 10' ) [x x (x) i -na KUR] a-ma-at - te i s-ku-nu-m[a(?) ] ash]es ; they estab l i shed [devastat i on i n the l and] of Hamath a[nd . . . ] . They brought that 11' ) [ . . . ] x §4-a-s i c ga-du k i m- t i - [§6] ( i nd i v i dua l ) , together wi th [h i s] fami l y , [ i nto] 12' ) [a-na qe- re]b URU- i a as-sur .K l Fub- l u l - [n i ] my c i ty Assur . 13' ) [ . . . ] i -da-a-a i - ta[p-p]a- l [u] i i 13' -18' ) [Because the godAssur who goes] at my 14' ) [ . . . ] F i rs-n i t - t i ak-§u-du x [ (x) ] s i de answered [ . . . ] I obta i ned v i ctory [ . . . I was ab l e to do] whatever I wanted . I pra i sed [ the am-su(?) ] - tu l ma- l a l i b-b i - i [a] 15' ) [ . . . god Assur ] , my l ord . [ I i mposed upon h i m ( the 16' ) [a-na dag-sur ] fEN1- i a ak- ru-ub-m[a] payment of ) . . . ] fbtu- tax on oxen and she[ep] . 1T) [ . . . ] x s i -b i t GU 4 .MES u se- (x) -e- [n i ] I estab l i shed regu l ar of fer i ngs [ for h i m] . 18' ) [ . . . ] x u-k i n sat - tuk-ku-u[§-su] 19' ) [ . . . -§u-n]u u-nak-k i - i t - [ma] i i 19' ) [ ( . . . ) ] I a l tered [ the] i r [ . . . and] 20' ) [ ( . . . ) ] sap- tug-§u-u[n(?) ] i i 20' ) [ ( . . . ) ] on the i r l i ps .

Si de C = Co l . i i i Lacuna Lacuna 1' ) [ . . . ] x [ . . . ] d i l l ) [ . . . ] 2' ) [ . . . ] -n i - i a [ . . . ] i i i 2' ) [ . . . ] my [ . . . ] 3' ) [sa i na tuku l ] - t i das-sur E[N- i a . . . ] i i i 3' -5' ) [ that I (had car r i ed out wh i l e) ] act i ng 4' ) [at - to] - l a-ku u mi m-mu-u [ i na(?) KUR(?) [wi th the suppo] r t of the god Assur , [my] l o[ rd, ha(?) -am(?) -ma(?) - te(?) ] . . . ] , and everyth i ng [ that I had] done [ i n the 5' ) [e- tep] pu-su as- tu- ra s[e- ru-us-su- (un) ] l and of Hamath] , I i nscr i bed u[pon i t / them] . 6' ) [1-en i ]na KUR ha-am-ma- te 1-en i na [ . . . ] i i i 6' ) [One] i n the l and of Hamath, one i n [ . . . ] 7' ) [1-en] a i l -na rURU1 ha- ta- r [ i -ka ( . . . ) ] i i i 7' ) [one] i n the c i ty of f j atar [ i kka ( . . . ) ] , 8' ) [1-en i ]na URU KUR- ' -a 1-en i na [ . . . ] i i i 8' ) [one] i n the c i ty of KUR' a , one i n [ . . . ] 9' ) [ . . . ] a- l i k ar -k i ru- r i -x [ . . . ] i i i 9' ) [ . . . ] comi ng a f ter . . . [ . . . ] 10' ) [NUN] EGIR-u NA 4 .NA.RU . [A-a l i -mur -ma] i i i 10' -13' ) May a future [pr i nce l ook at my] ste l [a I l l ) [§ i - t ] i r MU- i a l i l - to-s[ i z i k- r i (?) dag-gur (?) ] and] read my [ i nscr ] i pt i on! [May he ( then) pra i se [ the name of the godAssur , ano i nt ( the 12' ) [ l i t - t ]a- ' - i d-ma I . [GIS l i p-§u-us] ste l a) wi th] o i [ l ] , (and) of fer [a sac] r i f i ce! The 13' ) [SISKU]R l i q-q i dfag l -sur [ . . . ] god Assur [wi l l ( then) l i sten to h i s prayers] . 14' ) [mu] -nak-k[ i r . . . ] i i i 14' -16' ) [ (But ) as for the one who] d i scar [ds my 15' ) [mu-pa] -s i t Fg i l - t [ i r MU- i a ( . . . ) ] ste l a , (or ) erases [my] i nscr [ i pt i on . . . ] 16' ) [ . . . ] x [ . . . ] Si de D = Co l . i v Lacuna Lacuna 1' ) [ . . . ] x [ . . . ] i v 1' -5' ) Too poor l y preserved to a l l ow t rans l at i on . 2' ) [ . . . ] BU IZ [ . . . ] 3' ) [ . . . ] KID E [ . . . ] 4' ) [ . . . ] e-peg [ . . . ] 5' ) [ . . . ] x x DU x [ . . . ] (Rema i nder not i nscr i bed)

- F i g . 2 : Ed i t i on of the i nscr i pt i on on the Te l l Achameh Ste l a f ragment .

52 Te l l `Acharneh 1998-2004

Ti l Bars i p f ragment In the 1930s , a stone f ragment measur i ng 40 x 97 x 15 cm and preserv i ng par t of an i nscr i pt i on of Sargon I I was found i n a l ate wa l l at Ti l Bars i p (modern Te l l Ahmar ) , l ocated i n Syr i a on the upper Euphrates r i ver near the Turk i sh border . The present whereabouts of the p i ece i s not known . Thureau-Dang i n who saw the p i ece stated that i t was par t of a bu l l co l ossus . Si nce the preserved par t of the text re fers to favours granted by Sargon to var i ous Baby l on i an c i t i es , i t must date f rom a f ter h i s conquest of Baby l on i a i n 710-709 BCE . ' I f the f ragment does come f rom a bu l l co l ossus , i t wou l d be tota l l y d i f ferent i n type than the other monuments d i scussed i n th i s presentat i on ; however , i t does show that the k i ng l e f t at l east one monumenta l i nscr i pt i on at th i s s i te , a prov i nc i a l cap i ta l of the Assyr i an emp i re .

Samar i a ste l a f ragment A l i mestone f ragment measur i ng 20 x 9 cm was found i n a modern f i e l d wa l l at Samar i a and i s now preserved i n the Rocke fe l l er Museum, Jerusa l em (D .1430) . No t race of a re l i e f i s found on the f ragment , on l y a few cune i form s i gns whose forms suggest that they were wr i t ten dur i ng the Neo-Assyr i an per i od . ' Si nce Sargon c l a i ms to have conquered Samar i a and to have had many of i ts i nhab i tants t ranspor ted, we mi ght expect that he l e f t some record of h i s act i ons at the s i te . There i s , however , no other par t i cu l ar reason to assoc i ate th i s i nscr i pt i on wi th h i m as opposed to any other Neo-Assyr i an ru l er .

Carchemi sh ste l a f ragment A f ragment of the corner of a basa l t monument was found at Carchemi sh ( l ocated on the Euphrates j ust nor th of the Syr i an-Turk i sh border ) i n the ear l y par t of th i s century by a Br i t i sh Museum exped i t i on, but ne i ther i ts exact provenance nor i ts cur rent l ocat i on are known . No t race of a re l i e f was preserved on the f ragment , on l y a few words i n Neo-Assyr i an scr i pt . The text re fers to s i l ver , t r i bute , horses , and the dest ruc- t i on of someth i ng ( " I demo l i shed" ) . ' I ts ass i gnment to Sargon i s qu i te uncer ta i n s i nce noth i ng i n the text suggests any par t i cu l ar Neo-Assyr i an k i ng . However , Sargon 11 i s known to have conquered Carchemi sh i n 717 BCE and an i nscr i bed br i ck c l ear l y ass i gnab l e to h i m has been found there . Moreover , Tadmor has stated that the pa l aeography of the Carchemi sh and Samar i a f ragments i s "very s i mi l ar " to that of the Te l l Acharneh, Ashdod and Cyprus ste l ae of Sargon . "

Cyprus ste l a Mov i ng on to bet ter preserved stone monuments of Sargon I I , we come f i rst to a l arge ste l a repor ted l y found i n the mi d-1840s i n the v i c i n i ty of Lamaca on Cyprus and now on d i sp l ay i n the Vorderas i at i sches Museum i n Ber l i n (VA 968) . The exact f i ndspot of the ste l a i s d i sputed, but i t may have been found i n the ru i ns of the anc i ent c i ty of K i t i on . I t has a rounded top and i s 209 cm i n he i ght and 68 cm across the f ront . The s i de of the monument i s cur rent l y 32-33 cm i n l ength, but a sect i on f rom the back of the monument has been cut away ; i t has been suggested that the ste l a had or i g i na l l y been ca . 45 cm wi de . Carved upon the f ront of the ste l a i s a l arge i mage of the k i ng, stand i ng i n a forma l pose , fac i ng r i ght , ra i s i ng h i s r i ght hand, and ho l d i ng a mace i n h i s l e f t hand ( f i g . 3) . Symbo l s of var i ous i mpor tant gods are found i n f ront of the head of the k i ng . Re ferences i n the l engthy i nscr i pt i on on the ste l a i nd i cate that i t was composed towards the end of Sargon' s re i gn (708 BCE or l ater ) . Out l i ne of the i nscr i pt i on : a) i nvocat i on of var i ous de i t i es b) roya l name , t i t l es , and ep i thets c) ma j or accomp l i shments of the k i ng' s re i gn (generous act i ons to cer ta i n Baby l on i an and Assyr i an c i t i es ; summary of h i s mi l i tary v i ctor i es , i nc l ud i ng Hamath ; t r i umpha l ent ry i nto Baby l on ; the presentat i on of g i f ts to Baby l on i an gods ; recept i on of t r i bute f rom ru l ers of D i l mun [Bahra i n] and the l and of Id' )

' See i n par t i cu l ar F . Thureau-Dang i n and M . Dur and, Ti l Bars i b (Par i s : Geuthner , 1936) , 159 no . 10 and p l . XV no . 3 and W. Farber and K . Kess l er , "E i ne Inschr i f t Sargons 11. aus Ti l Bars i b, " RA 67 (1973) , 163-64 . s See i n par t i cu l ar C . J . Gadd i n Samar i a-Sebaste , Vo l ume I I I : Ob j ects f rom Samar i a , by J .W. Crowfoot , G.M . Crowfoot , and K .M . Kenyon (London : Pa l est i ne Exp l orat i on Fund, 1957) , 35 and p l . IV nos . 2-3 . Barker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . 179 . 9 See i n par t i cu l ar R .D . Barnet t i n Carchemi sh, Repor t on the Excavat i ons at Jerab l us , Par t I I I , by L . Woo l l ey and R .D . Bamet t (London : Br i t i sh Museum Pub l i cat i ons , 1952) , 265 and 279-80 and p l . A .33 m-m* . Barker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . 178 . ' ° Tadmor , `Ant i got , Eng l i sh Ser i es 9-10 (1971) : 195 .

5 3 Subar tu XVI I I

- F i g . 3 : Drawi ng of the f ront of the Cyprus Ste l a of Sargon 11 (Ber l i n, VA 968) . Af ter BGrker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, f i g . 175a . d) creat i on of the ste l a (naru) , wi th i mages (sa l mu) of the great gods and the k i ng engraved upon i t , and wi th a record of " [ the names of the peop l es] whom, f rom East [ to We]st , I had sub j ected [ to] my roya l [yoke] wi th the suppor t of the gods Assur , [Nabu] , (and) Marduk , my d i v i ne he l pers" ; erect i on of the ste l a i n the l and of Adnana e) curse Th i s and some other i nscr i pt i ons of Sargon ment i on the rece i pt of t r i bute f rom "seven k i ngs of the l and of Id' , a reg i on of the l and of Adnana , l ocated far away , a d i stance seven days ( j ourney) i n the mi dd l e of the Western Sea , " and h i s pr i sms f rom Ca l ah (modern N i mrud) exp l i c i t l y state that he l e f t an i nscr i bed monu- ment i n that l and . Th i s cer ta i n l y re fers to the Med i ter ranean i s l and of Cyprus . There i s , however , no ev i - dence of any Assyr i an presence on Cyprus and no c l ear statement anywhere i n Sargon' s i nscr i pt i ons that the Assyr i ans conquered that i s l and . The ru l ers of at l east some of the Cypr i ot c i t i es had l i ke l y des i red f r i end l y re l at i ons wi th the k i ng of the emp i re cont ro l l i ng the eastern Med i ter ranean coast and had gone to Baby l on i a i n order to congratu l ate h i m on h i s conquest of that l and . In par t i cu l ar , the Phoen i c i an c i t i es on Cyprus wou l d have wanted to be on good terms wi th the over l ord of the i r k i ndred and ma j or t rad i ng par tners i n Phoen i c i a . Rather than commemorat i ng a conquest of Cyprus by Sargon, the ste l a was more probab l y i ntended to mark a forma l `a l l i ance ' or ` f r i endsh i p' wh i ch had been conc l uded between a Cypr i ot ru l er and Sargon when the former went to Baby l on . I ts exact provenance i s not known and i t i s unc l ear f rom the i nscr i pt i on exact l y where i t was to have been erected on the i s l and . S . Da l l ey th i nks that the text re fers to i ts p l acement near mi nes (presumab l y copper mi nes for wh i ch Cyprus was we l l -known) , wh i l e Tadmor th i nks that i t re fers to be i ng set i t up on a mounta i n head l and . There i s no ev i dence that i t ever reached i ts i ntended rest i ng p l ace . I t wou l d be i nterest i ng to know i f the ste l a had been made on Cyprus or been carved on the ma i n l and and then sent to the i s l and . I t i s to be hoped that ana l ys i s of the stone may one day a l l ow us to set t l e that mat ter . ' In any case , we can see f rom the Cyprus Ste l a what at l east one stone monument of Sargon' s f rom the per i phery of Sargon' s emp i re (or actua l l y j ust outs i de i t ) resemb l ed and what i t recorded .

" B6rker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . 175 and see T 63 .175 . See i n par t i cu l ar E . Schrader , D i e Sargonsste l e des Ber l i ner Museum (Ber l i n : Kon i g l i che Akademi e der Wi ssenscha f ten, 1882) ; L . Messerschmi dt and A . Ungnad, Vorderas i at i sche Schr i f tdenkmd l erdesKon i g l i chenMuseen zuBer l i n, vo l . I (Le i pz i g : 1907) , no . 71 ; C . J . Gadd, " Inscr i bed Pr i sms of Sargon I I f rom N i mrud, " I raq 16 (1954) : 191-92 and p l . XLIX v i i 24-44; A.T. Reyes , Archa i c Cyprus (Oxford : Cl arendon Press ,

54 Te l l `Acharneh 1998-2004

- F i g . 4 :Na j a fehabad Ste l a of Sargon H (Nat i ona l - F i g . 5 : Drawi ng of the re l i e f Museum of I ran, Teheran) . L .D . Lev i ne , Two Neo on the Na j a fehabad Ste l a of Sargon I I Assyr i an Ste l ae f rom I ran (Roya l Ontar i o Museum, (Nat i ona l Museum of I ran, Teheran) . Ar t and Archaeo l ogy , Occas i ona l Paper 23) Af ter B6rker -K l dhn, (Toronto : Roya l Ontar i o Museum, 1972) , p l . VI I . Bi l dste l en, f i g . 173 . Pub l i shed wi th the permi ss i on of L .D . Lev i ne and the Roya l Ontar i o Museum .

Na j a fehabad ste l a

In 1965, a l arge f ragment of a stone ste l a of Sargon I I ( f i gs . 4 and 5) was l ocated i n the v i l l age of Na j a fehabad, i n the Assadabad va l l ey of western I ran . The p i ece was supposed l y found by a v i l l ager wh i l e excavat i ng the foundat i on for an add i t i on to h i s house , but Dr . L .D . Lev i ne has suggested that i t actua l l y

1994) , 50-56 (wi th Da l l ey ' s t rans l at i on of the passage) ; and H . Tadmor , "Notes on a Ste l e of Sargon I I Found at Cyprus , " Eret z- Israe l 25 (1996) : 286-89 [ i n Hebrew] . N . Na ' aman has argued that passages i n Sargon' s D i sp l ay Inscr i pt i on and Anna l s re fer to the Assyr i ans hav i ng sent an of f i cer and the roya l guard to Cyprus to he l p the ru l er of Tyre put down a rebe l l i on by some of h i s vassa l s on Cyprus ( "Sargon I I and the Rebe l l i on of the Cypr i ote K i ngs aga i nst Sh i l ta of Tyre , " Or i enta l i a 67 [1998] : 239-47) . The passages i n quest i on, however , are damaged and h i s i nterpretat i on i s open to d i spute . I f the Cyprus Ste l a was i ntended to mark a d i p l omat i c connect i on between Assyr i a and a Cypr i ot state , th i s mi ght exp l a i n why the ste l a , as far as i t i s preserved, does not seem to record any mi l i tary v i ctory at l ength . Ste l ae s i mi l ar to th i s one were usua l l y created i n order to descr i be and commemorate a v i ctory over the area i n wh i ch they were erected (see be l ow) . The back of the ste l a i s no l onger preserved and i t i s poss i b l e that i t had had an extens i ve account of some mi l i tary act i on . Si nce one ep i sode (Sargon' s conquest of Hamath) conc l udes neat l y at the end of the r i ght s i de of the ste l a and another ep i sode (Sargon' s ent ry i nto Baby l on) beg i ns neat l y at the very star t of the l e f t s i de of ste l a , i t mi ght be thought that the i nterven i ng back of the ste l a had not been i nscr i bed . One mi ght , however , suppose that the back had had a descr i pt i on of (at l east ) Sargon' s de feat of Merodach-Ba l adan and conquest of Baby l on i a . Such a descr i pt i on wou l d then have l ed natura l l y to what appears on the f i na l ( l e f t ) s i de ( i . e . , Sargon' s ent ry i n Baby l on, presentat i on of g i f ts to i ts gods , and recept i on of t r i bute f rom D i l mun and ru l ers of the l and of Id' ) . The i nc l us i on of a deta i l ed account Sargon' s conquest of Baby l on i a wou l d not prec l ude the ste l a hav i ng been sent to Cyprus to mark a forma l t reaty or f r i endsh i p agreement s i nce such an account wou l d have been un l i ke l y to of fend Cypr i ot fee l i ngs .

Subar tu XVI I I

- F i g . 6 : Rock re l i e f of Sargon I I at Tang- i Var , I ran . Photograph cour tesy P. Va l l at .

Stone monument of Sargnn I t o Stone monument at t r i buted to Sargon 11 Rock re l i e f of Sargon 11 Wi nged bu l l ? of Sargnn 11

15-1

- F i g . 7 : Map of the p l aces at wh i ch monuments of Sargon I I have been found outs i de the Assyr i an hear t l and . The `Be i rut ' Ste l a f ragment has not been marked on the map s i nce i ts or i g i na l provenance i s not known .

Te l l `Acharneh 1998-2004

came f rom one of the anc i ent mounds i n the area and was moved to Na j a fehabad at some t i me i n the past . The p i ece i s now i n the Nat i ona l Museum of I ran i n Teheran . Al though damaged the p i ece i s st i l l 165 cm h i gh and measures 65 cm across the f ront and 70 cm on the s i de . A re l i e f bas i ca l l y s i mi l ar to the one on the Cyprus Ste l a i s found on the f ront of the Na j a fehabad Ste l a , except that the f i gure faces l e f t , rather than r i ght . The i nscr i pt i on i s l ess we l l preserved than that on the Cyprus Ste l a , but c l ear l y records a campa i gn aga i nst the Medes conducted by Sargon 11 i n 716 BCE . Out l i ne of the i nscr i pt i on : a) i nvocat i on of var i ous de i t i es b) roya l name , t i t l es and ep i thets ( i nc l ud i ng re ference to generous act i ons to cer ta i n Baby l on i an and Assyr i an c i t i es) c) ma j or mi l i tary accomp l i shments of the k i ng' s re i gn descr i bed i n chrono l og i ca l order , wi th the account of events i n the l ast year recorded ( the k i ng' s s i xth regna l year ) be i ng by far the l ongest and most deta i l ed d) creat i on of the ste l a (naru) , wi th i mages (sa l mu) of the great gods [and the k i ng(?) engraved upon i t ] , and wi th a record of " the v i ctor i ous deeds of Aggur , the conquests wh i ch I had made over the four quar - ters (of the wor l d) , (and) everyth i ng I had done i n the c i ty of K i ...... ; [erect i on of the ste l a] i n the c i ty of K i sas i e) curse ' z

The i nscr i pt i on states that i t was set up i n the c i ty of K i sas i , wh i ch i s presumab l y to be equated wi th K i ges i m, where the Anna l s of Sargon state that a roya l i mage (sa l am sar rut i i a) was erected . " The ste l a was undoubted l y set up dur i ng the course of Sargon' s campa i gn aga i nst the Medes i n order to commemorate that campa i gn . The i nscr i pt i on i s very bad l y wr i t ten, wh i ch mi ght suggest that i t was prepared on s i te by an i nexper i enced or poor l y t ra i ned scr i be and/or stone carver .

Tang- i Var rock re l i e f I t i s a l so use fu l for us to l ook at a rock re l i e f ( i . e . , a re l i e f carved i nto the s i de of a mounta i n or a rocky outcropp i ng) f rom the re i gn of Sargon 11 found about 40 m above ground l eve l i n the Tang- i Var pass i n I ran i an Kurd i stan, about 85 km NW of Kermanshah ( f i g . 6) . A recent ar t i c l e on th i s re l i e f and i ts i nscr i p- t i on was pub l i shed i n the j ourna l Or i enta l i a . Al though th i s i s not a ste l a , the i magery and i nscr i pt i on on i t are s i mi l ar to what we f i nd on commemorat i ve ste l ae f rom the per i phery of the Assyr i an emp i re . The re l i e f and i nscr i pt i on are set i n a n i che wi th an arched top . The re l i e f dep i cts an Assyr i an k i ng i n a stand i ng pos i - t i on, fac i ng r i ght , ra i s i ng h i s r i ght hand, and ho l d i ng someth i ng i n h i s l e f t hand . Symbo l s of var i ous gods were probab l y p l aced i n f ront of the k i ng' s head, a l though th i s i s not abso l ute l y c l ear f rom the ava i l ab l e photographs of the re l i e f . The i nscr i pt i on i s poor l y preserved, but c l ear l y records a mi l i tary campa i gn i nto the Zagros mounta i ns aga i nst the l and of Kara l l a , a campa i gn that took p l ace i n 706 and that was l ed not by the k i ng, but by some of h i s of f i c i a l s . Out l i ne of the i nscr i pt i on : a) i nvocat i on of var i ous de i t i es b) roya l name , t i t l es and ep i thets c) ma j or accomp l i shment of the k i ng' s re i gn (generous act i ons to cer ta i n Baby l on i an and Assyr i an c i t i es ; summary of numerous mi l i tary v i ctor i es) d) descr i pt i on of a v i ctor i ous campa i gn to the l and of Kara l l a

' z L .D . Lev i ne , Two Neo-Assyr i an Ste l ae f rom I ran (Toronto : Roya l Ontar i o Museum, 1972) , 25-50, 60-62, 66-75 f i gs . 3-12, and 82-86 p l s . VI I -XI ; B6rker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . 173 . A new ed i t i on of th i s text has been prepared by myse l f and A . Fuchs for the Roya l Inscr i pt i ons of Mesopotami a pro j ect . The Roya l Ontar i o Museum k i nd l y a l l owed me to exami ne i ts squeezes and unpub l i shed photographs of the ste l a , and S . Razmj ou andA .M. Ar faee of the Nat i ona l Museum of I ran k i nd l y prov i ded me wi th add i t i ona l photos . These have permi t ted numerous i mprovements to our understand i ng of the i nscr i pt i on . i 3 The text has . . . mi m-mu-u i na URU k i -x-x Fe-pu-us(?) l UGU-N i d[s l - t tur i nat URU k i - tsa(?) -s i t sa SU . I I t i ke-§[u-d]a a-na mu-x [ . . . u l -z i z(?) ( . . . ) ] , " . . . everyth i ng I had done i n the c i ty of K i - . . . I i nscr i bed upon i t . [ I erected ( i t ) ] i n the c i ty of K i sas i wh i ch (my) hands had cap[ tured] for . . . [ . . . ] " i i 71 (co l l ated f rom unpub l i shed photographs and squeezes) . Sargon' s Anna l s state that he erected a roya l i mage of h i mse l f at K i ges i m dur i ng h i s s i xth campa i gn (see be l ow) . A wr i t i ng k i -sa-s i for K i ses i m wou l d, however , be un i que . The read i ng of the two s i gns fo l l owi ng the f i rst URU k i - i n the l i ne rema i ns obscure f rom the ava i l ab l e photographs and squeezes , a l though we wou l d expect i t a l so to be K i sas i / K i ges i m . Prev i ous l y , i t has been thought that the Na j a fehabad Ste l a stated that i t had been erected i n a p l ace whose name began wi th HU ( i na KUR 6u- . . . , i i 70) (e .g . , Borker -K l dhn, Bi l dste l en, no . T 59 .173) , but that spot actua l l y reads mu(AS-KUR) -sa[k] - fs i (?) -du i r -n i t ] - t i - i a .

57 Subar tu XVI I I e) creat i on of the monument (naru) wi th i mages (sa l mu) of the great gods and the k i ng engraved upon i t ; p l ace- ment of an i nscr i pt i on upon i t record i ng " the v i ctor i es of the god Assur , father of the gods , l ord . . . [ . . . ] a l l [ . . . ] " ( rema i nder damaged) Interest i ng l y , th i s i nscr i pt i on ment i ons the name of the Kush i te ru l er of Egypt , Sheb i tku, an i nd i v i dua l whom Egypto l og i sts had thought d i d not ascend the throne unt i l a f ter the re i gn of Sargon I I of Assyr i a . In as far as i t i s l eg i b l e , the i nscr i pt i on does not state where i t was p l aced . Never the l ess , the pass i n wh i ch the rock re l i e f i s s i tuated was probab l y somewhere a l ong the Assyr i an l i ne of march i n Kara l l a . ' 4 One wi l l have not i ced that i n add i t i on to hav i ng s i mi l ar re l i e fs , the l ast three i tems have i nscr i pt i ons on them wh i ch fo l l ow bas i ca l l y the same pat tern . Indeed ste l ae and rock re l i e fs of other Neo-Assyr i an monarchs f rom the out l y i ng prov i nces and per i phery of the Assyr i an emp i re of ten have s i mi l ar i mages and the i r i nscr i pt i ons of ten fo l l ow s i mi l ar pat terns . The f ragment f rom Te l l Achameh bears par ts of the sect i ons descr i b i ng the mi l i - tary accomp l i shments of the k i ng (s i de B) , the creat i on and erect i on of the monument (s i de C) and the b l ess i ng and curse (s i de C) . Too l i t t l e of the i nscr i pt i on of s i de D i s preserved to a l l ow us to make any rea l determi na- t i on about i ts contents . Si nce the l ower par t of that s i de of the f ragment appears to be un i nscr i bed, i t shou l d be the very end of the text . Th i s wou l d mean, however , that the conc l ud i ng curse formu l a wh i ch beg i ns i n s i de C l i ne 14' was unusua l l y l ong (par t i cu l ar l y i n re l at i on to the shor t b l ess i ng formu l a) or that some add i t i ona l and unexpected sect i on actua l l y conc l uded the i nscr i pt i on . Si nce the one c l ear word i n co l umn i v (epes , s i de D l i ne 4' ) appears on the f ront of the Cyprus Ste l a ( i 27) and probab l y towards the beg i nn i ng of the Tang- i Var Rock Re l i e f ( l i ne 10, par t i a l l y restored) , one mi ght be tempted to suggest that what Thureau-Dang i n ca l l ed s i de D was actua l l y the beg i nn i ng of the i nscr i pt i on . The mere dup l i cat i on of one word, however , means very l i t t l e . I f that s i de of the f ragment had the beg i nn i ng of the i nscr i pt i on we wou l d expect (1) to see some t races of a re l i e f s i nce one regu l ar l y appears on the f ront of th i s type of commemorat i ve ste l a and (2) to have the i nscr i pt i on cover the who l e sur face of the co l umn and not end par t way down that s i de of the f ragment . We wou l d expect the beg i n- n i ng of the i nscr i pt i on to beg i n on one of the wi der s i des of the ste l a , but we cou l d note that s i nce the f ragment i s damaged the or i g i na l l ength of s i des B and D i s not cer ta i n and that the re l i e f on the Na j a fehabad Ste l a i s on one of the shor ter s i des . Never the l ess , for the most par t , the i nscr i pt i on on the Te l l Acharneh f ragment appears to fo l l ow the bas i c pat tern found on the Cyprus and Na j a fehabad ste l ae and the Tang- i Var rock re l i e f .

Other commemorat i ve monuments of Sargon I I I have now descr i bed a l l the extant monumenta l i nscr i pt i ons c l ear l y or poss i b l y ass i gnab l e to Sargon I I found outs i de the Assyr i an hear t l and . ' 5 Some are ste l ae or ste l a f ragments , one i s a rock re l i e f , and one i s stated to be a f ragment of a bu l l co l ossus . The map ( f i g . 7) i nd i cates the p l aces at wh i ch these were found . In add i t i on to the extant monuments , we know that Sargon erected severa l others on the per i phery of h i s rea l m f rom statements i n h i s roya l i nscr i pt i ons . These re fer to the p l acement of roya l i mages of Sargon (sa l am sar rut i ya) or commemorat i ve monuments (naru) i n three c i t i es to the east and nor theast of Assyr i a : K i ses i m, Harhar ( l i ke l y l ocated not far f rom Kermanshah) , and I z i r tu (poss i b l y Tapeh Qa l aych i , near Bukan, SE of Lake Urmi ah) . ' 6 The Te l l Acharneh f ragment appears to re fer to at l east f i ve monuments be i ng erected, one i n the l and of Hamath, one the c i ty of Hatar i kka , one i n the c i ty of KUR- ' a (poss i b l y Mad' a) , and two i n p l aces whose names are not preserved (s i de C 6' -8' ) . " (One of these may we l l have been the Te l l Acharneh Ste l a i tse l f . ) A wa l l re l i e f f rom Sargon' s pa l ace at Khorsabad dep i cts a ste l a stand i ng at the gate to the Med i an c i ty of Ti krakk i ( f i g . 11) , but i t i s l i ke l y that the ste l a had been set up i n the t i me of Ti g l ath-Pi l eser I I I , who c l a i med to have erected one at that c i ty . " In sum, i t i s c l ear that Sargon had numerous commemo- rat i ve monuments set up outs i de the Assyr i an hear t l and - i n out l y i ng prov i nces and on the borders of h i s rea l m where he had conducted mi l i tary act i ons - and that on l y a few of these have been found .

' ° See G . Frame , "The Inscr i pt i on of Sargon I I at Tang- i Var , " Or i enta l i a 68 (1999) : 31-57 and p l s . I -XVI I I ; D .B . Redford, "A Note on the Chrono l ogy of Dynasty 25 and the Inscr i pt i on of Sargon I I at Tang- i Var , " Or i enta l i a 68 (1999) : 58-60 ; and Barker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . 248 . ' s A rock re l i e f l ocated i n Turkey at Eg i l i n the upper Ti gr i s va l l ey has somet i mes been ascr i bed to e i ther Sha l maneser I I I or Sargon I I . On the l e f t s i de of a broad i nset pane l i s a stand i ng f i gure - poss i b l y a de i ty - who i s fac i ng r i ght , ho l d i ng an axe i n h i s l e f t hand, and ra i s i ng h i s r i ght hand . In f ront of the f i gure ' s head are symbo l s of f i ve de i t i es . The re l i e f appears to have or i g i na l l y had two fur ther f i gures , but these were l ater erased . Noth i ng i s now l eg i b l e of the i nscr i pt i on the re l i e f or i g i na l l y had . See Borker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . 154 and J .M . Russe l l i n Rea l l ex i kon der Assyr i o l og i e and Vorderas i at i schen Archko l og i e , Band 9, L i e ferung 3/4, ed . D .O. Edzard (Ber l i n and New York : de Gruyter , 1999) , 256 . 16 See Fuchs , Khorsabad, no . 2 .3 l i nes 93-95, 99-100, and 108-109, and no . 2 .4 l i nes 53 and 59-63 ; A . Fuchs , D i e Anna l en des Jahres 711 v . Chr . (State Arch i ves of Assyr i a Stud i es 8) (He l s i nk i : Neo-Assyr i an Text Corpus Pro j ect , 1998) , 26 I I I .b 17-21 . Borker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, nos . T 60-62 .173 . " Borker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, nos . T 64-68 .179 . '$ Borker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, nos . 172 and T 51 .171 .

5 8

Te l l `Acharneh 1998-2004

Stone monument More than one stone monument Rock re l i e f O More than one rock re l i e f

zoakm

- F i g . 8 : Map of the p l aces at wh i ch Assyr i an monuments have been found (ca . 1150 BCE to 625 BCE) .

- F i g . 9 : The ste l a of Adad-narar i I I I i n the ce l l a of l ate Assyr i an temp l e at Te l l a l -R i mah . Photograph cour tesy of D . Oates . Subar tu XVI I I

Why was the ste l a created? The pract i ce of erect i ng stone monuments and carv i ng rock re l i e fs i s we l l -at tested for Assyr i an k i ngs , but i s a l so known for other Near Eastern ru l ers (e .g . , Baby l on i an, Egypt i an, H i t t i te , Urar t i an, and Pers i an monarchs) , as we l l as for ru l ers of other areas . The most famous Near Eastern rock re l i e f , for examp l e , i s the one at Beh i stun, where the Pers i an ru l er Dar i us I recorded h i s quash i ng of severa l rebe l l i ons aga i nst h i s author i ty i n three d i f ferent l anguages . Neo-Assyr i an monarchs erected numerous commemorat i ve monu- ments throughout the i r emp i re and many or most of them come f rom outs i de the Assyr i an hear t l and . They have been found f rom deep i n the Zagros mounta i ns i n the East to the Med i ter ranean i s l and of Cyprus i n the west , and f rom near the Egypt i an border i n the southwest to deep i nto Anato l i a i n the nor th ( f i g . 8) ' 9 . Why d i d the Assyr i an k i ngs erect so many monuments? Stone monuments and rock re l i e fs were med i ums by wh i ch the Assyr i an author i t i es d i ssemi nated Assyr i an propaganda . The i nscr i pt i ons on them record the event or events wh i ch l ed up to the creat i on of the monument or rock re l i e f , genera l l y a successfu l mi l i tary act i on conducted by the k i ng . Vi ctor i ous campa i gns i nto areas not prev i ous l y cont ro l l ed by Assyr i a or areas wh i ch had rebe l l ed f rom Assyr i an author i ty were of ten commemorated by the erect i on of a stone monument or rock re l i e f i n the area a f fected (e .g. , the Na j a fehabad Ste l a wh i ch commemorates Sargon' s campa i gn i nto the Zagros mounta i ns i n 716 BCE and the Tang- i Var rock re l i e f wh i ch commemorates a mi l i tary v i ctory over the l and of Kara l l a i n 706 BCE) . The i nscr i pt i ons on them somet i mes state spec i f i ca l l y that they recorded the k i ng' s act i ons i n a par t i cu l ar p l ace (e .g . , " I i nscr i bed . . . everyth i ng that I had done i n . . . " ) . Vi ctory ste l ae cou l d a l so be erected i n prov i nc i a l cap i ta l s ; for examp l e , a ste l a commemorat i ng Esarhaddon' s campa i gn i nto Egypt i n 671 was erected at Zen j i r l i , i n southern Turkey . z° Stone monuments commemorat i ng ma j or bu i l d i ng const ruct i on - espec i a l l y temp l es , pa l aces , and c i t i es , but a l so i nc l ud i ng such pub l i c works as cana l s - by Assyr i an k i ngs are a l so we l l -at tested . These genera l l y come , however , f rom the Assyr i an hear t l and or f rom Baby l on i a (e .g . , the so-ca l l ed Banquet Ste l a of Ashurnas i rpa l I I f rom the Assyr i an cap i ta l of Ca l ah commemorat i ng the const ruct i on of that c i ty , and a ste l a of Ashurban i pa l f rom Bors i ppa commemorat i ng work on the Ez i da temp l e there) " and are thus d i st i nct i n nature f rom the monuments set up i n the per i phery to record mi l i tary conquests . In sum, l arge numbers of commemorat i ve monuments (ste l ae , rock re l i e fs , obe l i sks , etc . ) are known archaeo l og i ca l l y , textua l l y , or p i ctor i a l l y for the re i gns of cer ta i n Neo-Assyr i an k i ngs , k i ngs who were v i gorous and successfu l campa i gners and/or bu i l ders . In add i t i on to commemorat i ng spec i f i c act i ons , the monuments f rom the Assyr i an per i phery were i ntended to be both a remi nder of Assyr i an mi l i tary power , mi ght and author i ty and a warn i ng of what hap- pened to those who opposed Assyr i a for the peop l e of the conquered areas and for fore i gners v i s i t i ng those areas , as we l l as for Assyr i an of f i c i a l s , so l d i ers , and merchants stat i oned or now set t l ed i n those areas . They were i ntended to serve as a l ast i ng, po i gnant remi nder of the k i ng' s and h i s gods ' ach i evements for peop l e i n the k i ng' s own t i me and for peop l e i n the future and to i nsp i re those peop l e to respect and obey the Assyr i an k i ng and h i s gods . For examp l e , the i nscr i pt i on on the Zen j i r l i Ste l a of Esarhaddon states : I had a ste l a (naru) made wi th my i nscr i pt i on ( l i tera l l y : the i nscr i pt i on of my name) (on i t ) . I had i nscr i bed upon i t pra i se of the va l our of the god Assur , my l ord, the mi ghty deeds wh i ch I (had car r i ed out wh i l e) act i ng wi th the suppor t of the god Assur , my l ord, and the v i ctory wh i ch I had ach i eved . I erected ( i t ) to be a wonderment for a l l the enemy for (a l l ) future t i me . 22 As j ust one other examp l e , the Na j a fehabad Ste l a of Sargon says : At that t i me , I had a ste l a (naru) made and [ I engraved upon i t ] i mage(s) (sa l mu) of the great gods , my l ords , who make me t r i umph . . . [ . . . ] I i nscr i bed upon i t [ ( . . . ) ] the v i ctor i ous deeds of Assur , the conquests wh i ch I had made over the four quar ters (of the wor l d) , (and) everyth i ng 1 had done i n the c i ty of K i - . . . [ I erected ( i t ) ] i n the c i ty of K i sas i wh i ch (my) hands had cap[ tured] , for . . . [ . . . ] . In the future , may a future pr i nce - (one) whom Assur , k i ng of a l l the Ig i gu gods , sha l l summon and name to be ru l er of Assyr i a - read th i s commemorat i ve monument , ano[ i nt ( i t ) ] wi th o[ i l , ( . . . ) ] (and) of fer a sacr i f i ce! May he pra i se the k i nd deeds of Assur and have future generat i ons taught to revere h i m ( i . e . , Assur ) ! ( i i 70-73) These monuments were thus i ntended to d i ssemi nate Assyr i an propaganda and were med i ums by wh i ch the Assyr i ans sought to ma i nta i n cont ro l over the areas i n wh i ch the monuments were erected . (As men-

'9 The map i s based upon i nformat i on found i n Barker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, supp l emented by i nformat i on f rom var i ous other sources . On l y actua l monuments are i nd i cated on the map . There are textua l re ferences to numerous other monu- ments hav i ng been erected . " Borker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . 219 . z ' Borker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, nos . 137 and 225 ; for the provenance of the l at ter p i ece , see J .E. Reade , "Rassam' s Excavat i ons at Bors i ppa and Kutha , 1879-82, " I raq 48 (1986) : 109 . zz R . Borger , D i e Inschr i f ten Asarhaddons , Kon i gs von Assyr i an (Arch i v fur Or i ent forschung, Be i he f t 9) (Graz : E . F . We i dner , 1956) , 99 §65 rev . 50-53 .

60 Te l l `Acharneh 1998-2004

- F i g . 10 : Drawi ng of the re l i e f on the Zen j i r l i Ste l a of Esarhaddon (Ber l i n, VA 2708) . t i oned ear l i er , the Cyprus Ste l a of Sargon 11 i s l i ke l y to have been i ntended to mark an a l l i ance or forma l f r i endsh i p between Sargon and a Cypr i ot c i ty rather than a ma j or mi l i tary v i ctory i n Cyprus . ) Thus , i n add i - t i on to hav i ng been erected to commemorate Sargon' s v i ctory over the state of Hamath, the Te l l Acharneh Ste l a was undoubted l y a l so erected for purposes of propaganda .

Where mi ght the ste l a have been set up? Si nce Neo-Assyr i an roya l monuments and rock re l i e fs were of ten created to commemorate a mi l i tary v i ctory or successfu l campa i gn, they were of ten p l aced i n the conquered c i t i es , at the s i te of a s i gn i f i cant mi l i tary engagement , or at an i mpor tant l ocat i on a l ong a campa i gn route . But where i n par t i cu l ar wou l d they have been erected? Some Assyr i an commemorat i ve monuments have been found i n or near temp l es and pa l aces . For examp l e , a ste l a f rom the t i me of Adad-narar i I I I was found next to the pod i um i n a shr i ne at Te l l a l -R i mah (a s i te l ocated near the Jebe l Si n j ar ) ( f i g . 9) and a huge stone ste l a of Ashurnas i rpa l 11 was d i scovered at the ent rance to the N i nur ta temp l e at Ca l ah . z 3 Al though the re l evant passage i s somewhat damaged, the N i neveh Pr i sm of Sargon 11 appears to i nd i - cate that a f ter de feat i ng the Med i an c i ty of K i ses i m he set up i n a temp l e there an i mage of h i mse l f wi th an i nscr i pt i on descr i b i ng what he had accomp l i shed. " Some monumenta l ste l ae are known to have been erected i n c i ty gates , where they wou l d have been seen by numerous passers-by . A l arge ste l a of Esarhaddon wh i ch commemorates h i s v i ctory over Egypt i n 671 BCE ( f i g . 10) was found on a pedesta l i ns i de a gate-house at

zs Bbrker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, nos . 164 and 136 respect i ve l y . z° Fuchs , Anna l en des Jahres 711, 26 l H.b 17-21 . B6rker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . T 60 .173 .

6 1 Subar tu XVI I I

- F i g . 11 : Drawi ng of a wa l l re l i e f f rom the Pa l ace of Sargon 11 at Khorsabad dep i ct i ng a ste l a s i tuated at the gate of the Med i an c i ty of Ti krakk i (Br i t i sh Museum, BM 124939) . Af ter Borker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, f i g . 172 .

- F i g . 12 : Drawi ng of a wa l l re l i e f f rom the Nor th Pa l ace of Ashurban i pa l at N i neveh dep i ct i ng a ste l a s i tuated on top of a wooded h i l l (Br i t i sh Museum, BM 124939) . Af ter Borker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, f i g . 228 .

- F i g . 13 : Drawi ng of a par t of a bronze band f rom the Ba l awat Gates dep i ct i ng a ste l a or rock re l i e f s i tuated by the shore of the Na i r i Sea (Br i t i sh Museum) . Af ter Borker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, f i g . 146 .

62 Te l l `Acharneh 1998-2004

Zen j i r l i i n southern Turkey ; and a re l i e f f rom Sargon' s pa l ace at Khorsabad dep i cts a ste l a next to a gate of the Med i an c i ty of Ti krakk i ( f i g . 11) .25 I t i s i nterest i ng to note that a re l i e f f rom Ashurban i pa l ' s Nor th Pa l ace at N i neveh dep i cts a roya l monument erected i n or near a sma l l st ructure on top of a wooded h i l l ( f i g . 12) . 26 Some roya l i nscr i pt i ons re fer to monuments hav i ng been erected on mounta i ns ; for examp l e , Ashumas i rpa l I I and Sha l maneser I I I both c l a i m to have erected roya l monuments/ i mages on Mount Amanus . 2 ' One sect i on of the Bronze Gates of Ba l awat dep i cts a monument on the shore of the Na i r i Sea ( l i ke l y Lake Unn i ah) ( f i g . 13) , but i t i s not c l ear i f the ar t i st was i ntend i ng to dep i ct a ste l a or a rock re l i e f . " Cer ta i n l y we know that the Assyr i ans carved rock re l i e fs a l ong sea coasts (e .g . , at Nahr e l -Ke l b) and at other promi nent topograph i c l ocat i ons (e .g . , i n mounta i n passes or gorges , at the source of spr i ngs or r i vers , and a l ong newl y const ructed or i mproved water channe l s) . Somet i mes monuments were erected next to monuments of other k i ngs ; for examp l e , a rock re l i e f of Esarhaddon commemorat i ng a campa i gn i nto Egypt was carved r i ght next to one of Ramesses I I of Egypt at Nahr e l -Ke l b i n Lebanon . Esarhaddon c l ear l y wi shed to i nd i cate that he had done as much as , and i ndeed more than, the Egypt i an ru l er . In any case , i t i s l i ke l y that the Te l l Acharneh Ste l a had been set up or i g i - na l l y i n some promi nent p l ace i n the c i ty , poss i b l y at a c i ty gate , or i n or near a temp l e or pa l ace .

What mi ght the ste l a have l ooked l i ke?

Many Neo-Assyr i an roya l ste l ae , and i n par t i cu l ar those f rom the per i phery of the Assyr i an emp i re , have severa l d i st i nct features : (1) a rounded top ; (2) an i mage of the k i ng, wear i ng h i s roya l headdress and i n forma l at t i re , stand i ng erect and fac i ng e i ther r i ght or l e f t , wi th h i s r i ght hand ra i sed i n a gesture of supp l i cat i on and/or adorat i on and wi th h i s l e f t hand grasp i ng some ob j ect (usua l l y a mace , a symbo l of author i ty) ; and (3) symbo l s of severa l (genera l l y 5-10) i mpor tant de i t i es p l aced near the head of the k i ng . " The Cyprus Ste l a of Sargon I I and, as far as we can te l l , h i s Na j a fehabad Ste l a f i t th i s pat tern, as does h i s rock re l i e f at Tang- i Var , a l though the l at ter was not of course a f ree-stand i ng monument . Numerous other Neo-Assyr i an ste l ae and rock re l i e fs f i t th i s bas i c pat tern, for examp l e ones of Ashurnas i rpa l I I and Sams i - Adad V f rom Ca l ah and one of Adad-narar i I I I f rom Te l l a l -R i mah ( f i g . 14) .3° Most of the ste l ae and rock re l i e fs dep i cted by Assyr i an ar t i sts on pa l ace wa l l re l i e fs and on the bronze gates f rom Ba l awat a l so f i t th i s descr i pt i on except for the fact that s i nce these are dep i cted i n mi n i ature the symbo l s of the gods are of ten omi t ted, as i s occas i ona l l y the i tem he l d i n the k i ng' s l e f t hand (see f i gs . 11-13) . Ste l ae f i t t i ng th i s pat tern have been descr i bed by L.D . Lev i ne and other scho l ars as be i ng monuments of a "standard type . " Two ste l ae of Esarhaddon f rom Ti l Bars i p and one f rom Z i n j i r l i ( f i g . 10) are notewor thy i n that they add (1) i n f ront of the k i ng sma l l er representat i ons of two de feated enemi es i n postures of submi ss i on and (2) on e i ther s i de of the ste l a a representat i on of a son of the k i ng . " Ste l ae tend to be dec i ded l y rectangu l ar i n sect i on, wi th the f ront of the ste l a ( the s i de hav i ng both the re l i e f and the beg i nn i ng of the i nscr i pt i on) be i ng one of the two l onger s i des . The Na j a fehabad Ste l a , however , i s actua l l y th i cker than i t i s wi de , and the Cyprus Ste l a and the Te l l Acharneh Ste l a may or i g i na l l y have been more squar i sh i n sect i on than rectangu l ar .

25 B6rker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, nos . 219 and 172 respect i ve l y . 26 B6rker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . 228 . 2 ' A .K . Grayson, Assyr i an Ru l ers of the Ear l y F i rst M i l l enn i um BC 1 (1114-859 BC) (Roya l Inscr i pt i ons of Mesopotami a , Assyr i an Per i ods 2) (Toronto : Un i vers i ty of Toronto Press , 1991) , 219 A .0 .101 .1 i i i 89 (asumet tu sa qurd i ya) and 298 A .0 .101 .33 l i nes 6' -7' ( [sa] l am sar rut i ya) ; B6rker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . T 32 .138 . A .K . Grayson, Assyr i an Ru l ers of the Ear l y F i rst M i l l enn i um BC 11 (858-745 BC) (Roya l Inscr i pt i ons of Mesopotami a , Assyr i an Per i ods 3) (Toronto : Un i vers i ty of Toronto Press , 1996) , 103 A .0 .102 .28 l i ne 22 (sa l am sar rut i ya) . 28 B6rker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . 146 . 29 The i mages are , of course , far more comp l ex and subt l e than th i s standard i zat i on i mp l i es . For examp l e , there are numerous sty l i st i c d i f ferences i n the manner i n wh i ch the i mages are dep i cted on the numerous ste l ae and rock re l i e fs and these have been d i scussed by A .T. Sha fer i n The Carv i ng of an Emp i re : Neo-Assyr i an Monuments on the Per i phery (doctora l d i sser tat i on, Harvard Un i vers i ty , 1998) . so B6rker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, nos . 136, 161, and 164 respect i ve l y . 3' Borker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, nos . 217-219 . For a study of these three monuments wh i ch po i nts out that the i r re l i e fs and i nscr i pt i ons were ta i l ored for the i r par t i cu l ar aud i ences , see the paper presented by Dr . B .N . Por ter to the Canad i an Soc i ety for Mesopotami an Stud i es i n January 2000 ( " ' For the Aston i shment of Al l Enemi es ' : Assyr i an Propaganda and I ts Aud i ences i n the Re i gns of Ashumas i rpa l I I and Esarhaddon, " BCSMS 35 [2000] : 7-18) . Wh i l e i n Ber l i n i n 1999, 1 noted that the f i gures on the s i des of the Zen j i r l i Ste l a had a cons i derab l y h i gher ground- l i ne than the f i gures on the f ront ( i . e . , cont rary to the pos i t i on i ng on the Ti l Bars i p ste l ae and aga i nst drawi ngs of the Zen j i r l i Ste l a i n B6rker - K l ahn, Bi l dste l en and e l sewhere) . The f i gures on the r i ght and l e f t s i des are respect i ve l y c . 60 and 62 cm h i gher than the ground l i ne of the f i gures on the f ront (measurements cour tesy of P. M i g l us) . F i g . 10 shows the i r approx i mate pos i t i on, but may i nd i cate them as be i ng s l i ght l y l arger i n s i ze i n re l at i on to the f i gures on the f ront than i s actua l l y the case .

63 Subar tu XVI I I

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- F i g . 14 : Drawi ng of the re l i e f on the ste l a of Adad-narar i I I I f rom Te l l a l -R i mah ( I raq Museum) .

Of course , not a l l f ree-stand i ng stone monuments f rom the Neo-Assyr i an per i od fo l l ow the above pat tern . For examp l e , the so-ca l l ed Banquet Ste l a of Ashurnas i rpa l 11 f rom Ca l ah i s a l arge rectangu l ar b l ock (128 x 105 x 57 cm) wi th a sma l l rectangu l ar pane l i nset i nto the cent re of the top of one face . In the pane l i s an i mage s i mi l ar to those descr i bed above , except for the fact that the k i ng grasps a sta f f wi th h i s r i ght hand ( f i g . 15) . 32 Other types of ste l a i nc l ude the so-ca l l ed obe l i sks , such as the Bl ack Obe l i sk of Sha l maneser I I I f rom Ca l ah . ( f i g. 16 i s a drawi ng i nd i cat i ng the genera l shape of the Bl ack Obe l i sk . ) Th i s monument measures 198 x 61 x 43 cm and tapers toward the top, wh i ch resemb l es a z i ggurat i n form . Inset i nto each of the four s i des of th i s ste l a are f i ve pane l s wi th re l i e fs dep i ct i ng the k i ng rece i v i ng t r i bute and the submi ss i on of fore i gn ru l ers . 33 Another examp l e of th i s type of commemorat i ve monument i s the Wh i te Obe l i sk f rom N i neveh wh i ch has 8 bands of re l i e f on each s i de , dep i ct i ng mi l i tary mat ters and hunt i ng, as we l l as the k i ng' s recept i on of t r i bute and submi ss i on .34 No Assyr i an obe l i sk , however , has been found outs i de the Assyr i an hear t l and and no c l ear examp l e of one i s known to date l ater than the re i gn of Sha l maneser I I I (858-824 BCE) . Two ste l ae of Adad-nararn 111 (810-783 BCE) f rom southeast Turkey a l so present a qu i te d i f ferent appearance wi th respect to the i r i mages .35 A ste l a f rom the Pazarc i k area has on i ts f ront a s i mp l e i mage of the crescent moon on top of a po l e ( f i g . 17) and a damaged ste l a found c l ose to the Orontes r i ver near Antakya has at the top of i ts f ront a re l i e f represent i ng two i nd i v i dua l s stand i ng on e i ther s i de of what appears to be a po l e or standard wh i ch wou l d l i ke l y have had a symbo l of a god on i ts top ( f i g . 18) . The i nscr i pt i ons on both ste l ae dea l wi th the estab l i shment of borders and i nd i cate that they were boundary stones ( ta&umu) . Thus , they are qu i te un l i ke the Cyprus and Na j a fehabad ste l ae of Sargon and h i s rock re l i e f at Tang- i Var i n both purpose and i magery . As j ust one fur ther examp l e of a d i f ferent type of ste l a erected outs i de the Assyr i an hear t l and, we mi ght note the i nscr i bed monument of Ashurban i pa l (sa l am sar rut i ya) found at Baby l on and commemorat i ng h i s

32 B6rker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . 137 . 33 B6rker -K l dhn, Bi l dste l en, no . 152 . 34 B6rker -K l dhn, Bi l dste l en, no . 132 . 35 V. Donbaz , "Two Neo-Assyr i an Ste l ae i n the Antakya and Kahramanmaras Museums , " Annua l Rev i ew of the Roya l Inscr i pt i ons of Mesopotami a Pro j ect 8 (1990) : 5-24 . B6rker -K l dhn, Bi l dste l en, nos . 166-67 . 36 B6rker -K l dhn, Bi l dste l en, no . 224 .

64

Te l l `Acharneh 1998-2004

100 0 , ,

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- F i g . 15 : Drawi ng of the re l i e f ( i nset pane l ) on the Banquet Ste l a of Ashurnas i rpa l I I f rom Ca l ah ( I raq Museum, ND 1104) Af ter Barker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, f i g . 137b .

reconst ruct i on of the shr i ne of the god Ea wi th i n the Esag i l a temp l e at that c i ty ( f i g . 19) . 36 I t i s much sma l l er than the other ste l ae ment i oned (36 x 22 x 6 cm) and has on i ts f ront an i mage of the ru l er fac i ng forward and car ry i ng a work basket on h i s head . The mot i f of a ru l er car ry i ng a work basket on h i s head was an o l d one i n southern Mesopotami a , one go i ng back to the th i rd mi l l enn i um BCE, and was i ntended to represent the ru l er persona l l y tak i ng par t i n the rebu i l d i ng of the st ructure ( temp l e) ment i oned i n the i nscr i pt i on . Th i s re l i e f was c l ear l y i ntended to show Ashurban i pa l act i ng i n the t rad i t i ona l manner of a Baby l on i an ru l er . As far as I am aware , th i s mot i f i s not dep i cted on any Neo-Assyr i an re l i e fs or monuments outs i de of Baby l on i a and thus the ste l a f rom Te l l Acharneh i s most un l i ke l y to have had a s i mi l ar i mage upon i t . On l y a few of the commemorat i ve monuments of the Neo-Assyr i an k i ngs have been descr i bed . I t wou l d be fa i r to say that the re l i e fs on the ste l ae of Sargon f rom Cyprus and Na j a fehabad - as we l l as on the rock re l i e f of that k i ng f rom Tang- i Var - re f l ect what was found on most Assyr i an ste l ae f rom outs i de the Assyr i an hear t l and, and i n par t i cu l ar on those erected dur i ng the l at ter ha l f of the e i ghth century and the seventh century BCE . I f the Te l l Acharneh Ste l a had or i g i na l l y a re l i e f carved on i t , i t i s qu i te poss i b l e that the re l i e f wou l d have f i t the pat tern found on these monuments .

Who cou l d have seen and read the ste l a? A great dea l of e f for t was expended to create these monumenta l ste l ae and rock re l i e fs and many of them were p l aced i n promi nent l ocat i ons where peop l e cou l d eas i l y see them (e .g . , at a c i ty gate or outs i de a temp l e) . I t i s not c l ear , however , how many peop l e wou l d have had access to those p l aced i ns i de temp l es and pa l aces , even i f they were erected i n the outer cour tyards of those st ructures . Moreover , the rooms of most bu i l d i ngs wou l d have been reasonab l y dark and thus any monuments erected i ndoors cou l d have been somewhat d i f f i cu l t to read . Some rock re l i e fs were p l aced i n rather h i dden l ocat i ons and/or h i gh up on rock faces wi th no easy access . No one wou l d have been ab l e to read the i nscr i pt i on on the rock re l i e f of Sargon I I at Tang- i Var to determi ne even to wh i ch k i ng i t shou l d be at t r i buted . Of course , the fact that these rock re l i e fs were a l most tota l l y i naccess i b l e meant that i t wou l d be much harder for anyone to dest roy or de face them . The creators of these re l i e fs were we l l aware that th i s cou l d happen to Assyr i an monuments and i nc l uded curses on them to t ry and prevent i t . The i nscr i pt i ons on some of these monuments i nd i cate that i t was expected that future ru l ers wou l d be ab l e to read them . (See for examp l e the passage f rom the Na j a fehabad Ste l a quoted above and the Te l l Acharneh Ste l a s i de C 10' - l 1' . ) However , on l y a few ru l ers of anc i ent Mesopotami a ever c l a i med to be ab l e to read . They wou l d undoubted l y have had to re l y on the i r scr i bes to te l l them what a ste l a

65 Subar tu XVI I I

- F i g . 16 : Drawi ng dep i ct i ng the genera l shape of the Bl ack Obe l i sk of Sha l maneser I I I f rom Ca l ah (Br i t i sh Museum, BM 118885) . sa i d . " The rate of l i teracy i n the hear t l ands of Assyr i a and Baby l on i a themse l ves i s thought to have been very l ow and thus i t i s un l i ke l y that many Assyr i ans or Baby l on i ans wou l d have been ab l e to read the monuments even i f they cou l d get c l ose to them . Not many i nd i v i dua l s i n d i stant Assyr i an prov i nces , vassa l k i ngdoms , or border areas wou l d have been ab l e to read cune i form scr i pt and understand the Akkad i an l anguage . Poss i b l y no more than a handfu l of scr i bes emp l oyed by l oca l merchants t rad i ng wi th Assyr i a and a few Assyr i an of f i c i a l s stat i oned at Te l l Achameh wou l d have been ab l e to read the ste l a erected there . Many scho l ars be l i eve that at l east some Assyr i an roya l i nscr i pt i ons were read a l oud to the pub l i c i n Assyr i a (e .g . , the i nscr i pt i on record i ng Sargon' s campa i gn i nto Urar tu) . Thus , i t i s not i mposs i b l e that the i nscr i pt i on on the Te l l Achameh Ste l a was read a l oud dur i ng some ceremony at the t i me the ste l a was erected . Even i f the i nscr i pt i on had been read a l oud to the l oca l i nhab i tants and/or l oca l d i gn i tar i es , how many of them wou l d have been ab l e to understand i t un l ess i t had been s i mu l tane- ous l y t rans l ated f rom Akkad i an i nto Arama i c? In sum, the i nscr i pt i ons on the commemorat i ve monu- ments found on the per i phery of the Assyr i an emp i re wou l d have been i naccess i b l e to the vast ma j or i ty of peop l e i n the l ocat i ons i n wh i ch they were erected . Th i s does not mean, however , that the l oca l i nhab i tants wou l d not have understood the bas i c mean i ng of an Assyr i an monument erected i n the i r mi dst . The i nscr i pt i ons engraved on these monuments and the i mages dep i cted upon them comp l emented one another . The i mages on the ste l ae and rock re l i e fs wou l d have been read i l y understandab l e by l oca l and fore i gn v i ewers and they gave the same bas i c i dea /v i ew of the Assyr i an k i ng as the i nscr i pt i ons : a ma j est i c , st rong, conf i dent , and p i ous monarch exerc i s i ng h i s author i ty wi th the approva l and suppor t of the gods . In other words , the k i ng i s dep i cted as an i dea l ru l er , one whom i t wou l d be wi se to obey . The mere presence of the ste l a wou l d have served as a constant remi nder to the l oca l popu l at i on of Assyr i an mi ght and of the d i re consequences oppos i t i on to Assyr i a mi ght br i ng . In add i t i on to be i ng d i rected toward the peop l e of the i r own t i me and l ater t i mes , the i nscr i pt i ons and i mages had another aud i ence : the gods . They were i ntended to acknowl edge the he l p the gods had g i ven to the Assyr i an k i ng i n conquer i ng the area i n wh i ch they were p l aced, to pra i se them, and to demonst rate the k i ng' s p i ety towards them . They wou l d have been access i b l e to the gods whether p l aced i n a temp l e sanctuary i n Syr i a or carved h i gh up on an i naccess i b l e mounta i n face i n I ran .

Ceremony and r i tua l Aceremony may have taken p l ace at the t i me of the erect i on or ded i cat i on of the Te l l Achameh Ste l a and such a ceremony may we l l have i nc l uded re l i g i ous r i tua l s and sacr i f i ces . Scu l ptura l representat i ons of gods and (on at l east some occas i ons) of k i ngs are known to have undergone r i tua l s when they were consecrated and i nsta l l ed i n Assyr i a and Baby l on i a , and these commemorat i ve ste l ae regu l ar l y have on them representa- t i ons of the k i ng and symbo l s of gods , as we l l as i nscr i pt i ons wh i ch of ten beg i n by i nvok i ng severa l de i t i es . One of the bronze bands of the Ba l awat Gates dep i cts a ste l a or rock re l i e f at a seashore and assoc i ates i t

37 Note that the i nscr i pt i on on the Zen j i r l i Ste l a of Esarhaddon asks that i t be read to the future ru l er (Borger , Esar . 99-100 §65 rev . 56-57 NUN-u EGIR-u NA4 .NA .RU .A s i - f i r MU- i d 1 i --ma ma-bar -§( t l i l - ta-su-ma) .

66

Te l l `Acharneh 1998-2004

n r : f f j , ay 'O

1. 1.1r*~r Il T >0JI111

- F i g . 17 : Ste l a of Adad-narar i I I I f rom - F i g . 18 : Ste l a of Adad-narar i I I I f rom the area the area of Pazarc i k (Maya§ Museum) . of Antakya (Antakya Museum, Env . nr . 11832) .

wi th some r i tua l s , i nc l ud i ng the p l ay i ng of mus i ca l i nst ruments , the of fer i ng of l i bat i ons , and the sacr i f i ce of an i ma l s . The sacr i f i ced an i ma l par ts were then thrown i nto the sea ( f i g . 13) . '8 In f ront of the ste l a dep i cted i n the wooded garden or park on one of Ashurban i pa l ' s wa l l re l i e fs ( f i g . 12) i s p l aced an a l tar , suggest i ng that some r i tua l act i ons mi ght have taken p l ace i n f ront of that ste l a . 31 The fact that the garment the k i ng wears on these representat i ons i s of ten thought to be the one worn by h i m when he was act i ng i n h i s pos i t i on as ch i e f pr i est of the god Aggur mi ght a l so i nd i cate the ceremon i a l nature of the ob j ect or at l east be connected wi th the i dea beh i nd the i mage dep i cted on i t . Some of fer i ngs may have been d i rected to the monuments themse l ves and not j ust to the gods ment i oned on them or the k i ngs who commi ss i oned the i r creat i on and were a l so dep i cted on them . The i dea that these monuments were ob j ects of some venerat i on cou l d be i nd i cated by the request on many of them that future ru l ers ano i nt them wi th o i l and of fer sacr i f i ces . (See for examp l e the Te l l Acharneh Ste l a s i de C 12' -13' and the passage f rom the Na j a fehabad Ste l a quoted ear l i er . ) 1°

Conc l us i on In conc l us i on, a l though the stone f ragment found at Te l l Acharneh may l ook sma l l and un i mpress i ve , i t i s actua l l y qu i te i nterest i ng when cons i dered i n the proper context . I t i s a f ragment of an Assyr i an roya l monu- ment undoubted l y dated to the re i gn of Sargon I I of Assyr i a and i ntended to record and commemorate that monarch' s v i ctory i n 720 BCE over the Aramean state of Hamath, a state of wh i ch Te l l Acharneh was a par t . Th i s ru l er i s known to have set up severa l commemorat i ve monuments throughout h i s emp i re as he conducted mi l i tary campa i gns to conso l i date h i s cont ro l of i t and to expand i t . In erect i ng monuments i n conquered areas , Sargon was act i ng i n accordance wi th a common pract i ce of Neo-Assyr i an monarchs . The ste l a had probab l y been erected at a promi nent l ocat i on at Te l l Achameh and been i ntended to commemorate Sargon' s mi l i tary v i ctory , to mark Assyr i an suzera i nty over that c i ty and area , to honour the gods who had he l ped h i m conquer i t , and to serve as a remi nder and warn i ng to the l oca l popu l at i on of the Assyr i an k i ng' s power and mi ght . Some ceremon i es and r i tua l s were probab l y car r i ed out at the t i me the monument was set up . The or i g i na l ste l a may we l l have had a re l i e f of some type on i t , poss i b l y one s i mi l ar to those found on the ste l ae of Sargon f rom Cyprus and Na j a fehabad and on h i s rock re l i e f at Tang- i Var (as we l l as on severa l monuments of other Neo- Assyr i an k i ngs) , but th i s rema i ns pure specu l at i on . The i nscr i pt i on and any i mages on the ste l a wou l d have comp l emented one another and been med i ums by wh i ch Assyr i an propaganda was commun i cated .

ss B6rker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . 146. 39 Borker -K l ahn, Bi l dste l en, no . 228 . ' ° A ste l a of Ti g l ath-Pi l eser I I I f rom I ran a l so ment i ons wash i ng that monument wi th water ; see H . Tadmor , The Inscr i pt i ons of Ti g l ath-Pi l eser I I I , K i ng ofAssyr i a (Jerusa l em : Israe l Academy of Sc i ences and Human i t i es , 1994) , 110 111 B 7' . Subar tu XVI I I

- F i g . 19 : Ste l a of Ashurban i pa l f rom Baby l on (Br i t i sh Museum, BM 90864) . Pub l i shed wi th permi ss i on of the Trustees of the Br i t i sh Museum .

Many Assyr i an monuments set up i n sub j ugated areas may have been i ntent i ona l l y knocked down, e f faced, and/or dest royed dur i ng t i mes of rebe l l i on aga i nst Assyr i an over l ordsh i p or when the Assyr i an gr i p over those areas had s l i pped . The reason we have on l y a f ragment of Sargon' s ste l a f rom Te l l Acharneh may be because i t had been dest royed i n anc i ent t i mes by the l oca l popu l ace , j ust as at the fa l l of commun i sm numerous statues of Sta l i n were dest royed by mobs i n eastern European c i t i es . Cer ta i n l y , the creators of most of the Assyr i an monuments recogn i zed that the i r works mi ght be purpose fu l l y de faced or dest royed and i nc l uded curses i n the i nscr i pt i ons on them to t ry and prevent th i s . For examp l e , the i nscr i pt i on on the Na j a fehabad Ste l a of Sargon I I curses anyone who wou l d h i de i t or throw i t i nto a r i ver or dest roy i t wi th f i re ( i v 74-75) , and the Te l l Acharneh Ste l a probab l y curses anyone who wou l d d i scard or erase i t (s i de C 14' f f . ) . I t i s to be hoped that for thcomi ng archaeo l og i ca l work at Te l l Acharneh wi l l resu l t i n the d i scovery of the mi ss i ng par ts of the monument and that we wi l l one day have a bet ter i dea of exact l y what was on i t .