118 paolo merlo
in an emphatic initial position (“i am Zakkur, King of hamath and Luʿaš... .”
Kai 202 a: 2; cf. also Kai 214). this line is to be considered as a new
introduction to the central body of the inscription (perhaps a text taken
from a previous inscription)27 concerning military matters and the king’s
building activities.
an opening formula similar to the dedicatory literary form is found in
the inscription of King panamuwa ii (Kai 215): “Stele that Bar-rakkab
set up for his father, for panamuwa, son of Bar-Ṣur, King of Yādiya... the
year of [his dea]th.” the necessary changes in the formula derived from
the fact that the monument was erected by Bar-rakkab on his father’s
behalf, after panamuwa’s death during a military campaign (cf. line 16).
the opening line of the inscription lacks the name of the god to whom it
is dedicated, but at the end of the inscription (line 22) we find the cus-
tomary request for the divine blessing of the gods (“may hadad and el
and rakkabʾel, Lord of the dynasty, and Šamaš and all the gods of Yādiya
[have favor... .”).
the bilingual assyrian-aramaic inscription on the basalt statue from
tell fekheriye (Kai 309)28 is also a dedicatory inscription. this dedication
to the god hadad is carved on a statue of a standing male figure in assyr-
ian style representing haddayisʿi, governor of Gozan. the opening formula
of the inscription follows the usual pattern: “image of haddayisʿi, which
he has set up before hadad of Sikani.” the distinctiveness of this inscrip-
tion is that the name of the god is immediately followed by a long list of
epithets, such as “regulator of the waters of heaven and earth,” deriving
from the usual assyrian inventory of divine appellations. after this first
dedication, probably translated from an akkadian original text, a second
dedicatory phrase is found together with a lengthy request for a bless-
ing for the life of the donor and his well-being. this request uses some
customary expressions such as “(may) his days be long... to increase his
years... (may) his descendants flourish... .”29 the inscription closes with
many curses against anyone who violates his statue (cf. below 5.4).
27 So parker 1997: 108.
28 for the akkadian version of the inscription, cf. riMa 2 a.O. 101.2004.
29 the request for a long life is a very common element in many royal dedicatory
inscriptions; cf. Kai 7: 5–6: “May the Mistress of Byblos prolong the days of Shipitbaʿal and
his years over Byblos”; Kai 26 a: 4–6: “May Baʿal Krntryš and all the gods of the city give
to azitiwadda length of days, and many years.. .”; and Kai 286: 4–5: “(May she) prolong
his days... .” cf. also the biblical royal ps 21: 5.