literature 115
of Damascus. Being most likely a usurper, Zakkur makes no mention of
any ancestor kings (unlike Kai 310, cf. infra 4.6), but revealing himself
nonetheless as a king chosen by god (“Baʿalšamayin stood beside me and
made me king,” line 3).17 immediately after recording his ascension to the
throne, he remembers his victory against a powerful alliance of many rul-
ers. the credit of this victory is given not to the king or his army, but to
the god Baʿalšamayin, who had promised the victory to Zakkur with words
of assurance (“do not be afraid” line 13) and accordingly “delivered” him
from all his enemies (line 14).18 as indicated by the literary and ideologi-
cal patterns of this inscription, Zakkur’s victory should be apparent to the
reader, because it had already stated that he ascended the throne with the
support of the god Baʿalšamayin.
4.6 The (Inferior) Past Contrasted with the (Superior) PresentMany ancient royal inscriptions affirm a deep contrast between the pres-
ent and the past. in ancient aramaic royal inscriptions it is possible to
find the same chronological cliché. according to this literary convention,
the past is marked by negative connotations such as disorder, oppression,
ruin, fear, the gods’ anger (cf. Kai 24: 2–6; 26 a: 4–5; 181: 5–9). in contrast,
the present is marked by positive connotations such as victory, recon-
struction, order, military conquest, and general well–being (cf. Kai 24:
4–5, 9–13; 181: 7–21).
as far as ancient aramaic royal inscriptions are concerned, the inscrip-
tions from the southern anatolian kingdom of Samʾal (Zincirli) appear
as important witnesses.19 in lines 8–11 of the so called hadad inscription
(Kai 214), King panamuwa remembers his ascension to his father’s throne,
granted by the god hadad, then states that he removed “sword and slan-
der” (ḥrb wlšn) from his father’s house, whereas in his days the inhabitants
of Yādiya could “eat and drink” (line 9). as a consequence of this time of
reconstructed peace, panamuwa builds fortresses, and—with the divine
help of the deities—succeeds in creating a general period of “abundance
17 cf. the tel Dan inscription: “hadad made me king... and hadad went before me... .”
(Kai 310: 4–5).
18 in this respect, Zakkur’s delivery narrative shares similar features with some assyrian
inscriptions of esarhaddon. for example, in the prophetic text Saa iX 1.1 the goddess ištar
of arbela encourages esarhaddon with the words “fear not!” and reassures him saying,
“i will go before you and behind you” (cf. parpola 1997: 4f ). Similar literary conventions can
be found in the Moabite stele of Mesha (Kai 181). On the formulaic expression “fear not!”,
cf. Nissinen 2003.
19 cf. tropper 1993 and hamilton 1998.