144 herbert niehr
2.6 Funeral and Mortuary Cultthree building complexes in guzana (tell halaf; cf. pl. xxx) will be dis-
cussed in connection with the mortuary cult. these are the two burial
vaults north of Kapara’s palace, the two mortuary cult complexes (“grab-
kultanlagen”) near the southern citadel gate, and the cult room (“Kult-
raum”) near the southern city gate.
the southern burial vault near Kapara’s palace had a barrel vault and
interior dimensions of 3.90 × 2.50 m with a crown height of 2.12 m.78 the
walls were 1.80 m thick. access to the vault was via a gate in the narrow
eastern side, which had been walled up after the burial. in the narrow
western side there was a 20 × 30 cm niche with a depth of 25 cm, 18 cm
above the floor. its purpose is uncertain. perhaps it once housed a statue
of the deceased. thirty-two centimeters above the threshold of the walled
up entrance to the vault is a 2.40 m wide by 4 m long rammed-earth plat-
form. this platform directly in front of the burial vault offered space to
conduct the royal burial and ancestor worship rituals.
the burial vault had not been looted and yielded several finds. Fore-
most, the remains, which had been buried with the head to the east, vari-
ous remnants of the deceased’s garb such as a golden mouth covering, a
plaque that was part of the headdress, golden appliqués on the sandals
of the deceased, and three earrings. additionally, there were grave goods
made of silver, bronze, and ivory.
the northern burial vault on the palace terrace near the hilani building
is larger than the southern vault.79 it has a double burial vault contain-
ing two burial chambers separated by a central wall. the northern of the
two chambers is 5.62 × 2.12 m, the southern one 5.62 × 2 m large. the
thickness of the outer walls varies between 1.30 and 1.68 m. the interior
height of the vault was at least 2 m. access to the vault was through a
door on the northwest corner. the southern chamber was only indirectly
accessible though the northern chamber via a door in the central wall.
Both chambers had already been looted by the time they were excavated.
in the northern chamber the remains of a clay tub were spread on top of
the rubble on the floor.
78 cf. on the following von oppenheim 1931: 192–194; langenegger 1950: 100–103; Voos
1986: 38–40; orthmann 2001: 222f; id. 2002: 47–49.
79 cf. on the following von oppenheim 1931: 193; langenegger 1950: 103f; Voos 1986:
38–40; orthmann 2001: 223f; id. 2002: 50.