religion 137
if one considers the pantheon to be mirrored in the proverbs, the fol-
lowing becomes clear. the god hadad is at the head of the pantheon
together with a circle of divine beings (qdšn; aḥ 6: 79), el follows as a
personal god, and Šamaš as the god of justice and order. there are also
some unnamed deities.
2.2 Kingshipif the iconographic program of the orthostats in guzana (tell halaf)48 is
read as royal ideology, it provides an insight into the concept of kingship
in Bit Baḫiani at the time of Kapara and his successors.49 the manifold
subjects depicted in the relief panels range from hunting (e.g., nos. 17,
23, 45, 73) and wild animals (e.g., nos. 21, 34) to the depiction of legends
such as the orchestra of animals (nos. 57, 92), nature, and war (no. 182).
all these depictions underline the concept that the king holds power over
nature, wild beasts, and his enemies. another dimension to the under-
standing of such imagery and scenes opens against the background of
then-contemporary assyrian art. as s. M. Maul notes, “Den Jagden kam
auch die aufgabe zu, sichtbar und exemplarisch das grundsätzliche Ver-
mögen des Königs zu offenbaren, alle wie immer gearteten bedrohlichen
Kräfte besiegen und so das land in Frieden und ordnung halten zu
können.”50 the king of guzana sees himself, like the assyrian king,51 as
the “keeper of world order.”
the motifs of goats and stylized trees (e.g., nos. 40, 50, 65, 66) point
to the fertility of the land. in addition, the sphere of demons and hybrid
creatures (e.g., nos. 19, 43, 46, 48, 50, 77, 78) transcends the royal sphere
toward the supernatural. the gods and demons, before whose renditions
altars sometimes stood, protect the royal palace.
one thinks of the audience52 for these images as the king and his
family, courtiers and diplomats, as well as domestic and foreign visitors to
the palace in which the orthostats were mounted.
From sikani (tell Fekheriye) comes the royal votive statue whose inscrip-
tion has already been discussed. Kings often placed votive statues before
the divine image in temples, to ensure that they were thus permanently
48 see note 12.
49 cf. Denel 2011 and section 2.3.
50 Maul 2000: 24.
51 cf. Maul 1999.
52 on this question, see also ataç 2010: 86–89 with regard to the neo-assyrian palace
reliefs in niniveh.