146 herbert niehr
the main characteristics of these two mortuary cult complexes are that
the bodies were cremated prior to burial and that ancestor cult occurred
in the burial chapels in front of the statue of the deceased and in the
immediate vicinity of the tomb and its urn.
Whether the drainage systems discovered nearby are associated with
the offerings to the dead or whether they are a later installation can no
longer be determined.
the practice of ancestor cult in the two mortuary cult complexes is
indicated by the bowls in the hands of both statues, the surfaces on the
statues’ laps to deposit offerings, and ash found in both buildings. With
the cups in their right hands the statues stand in a long tradition of ances-
tor statues, which began with a cult standard from ebla (ca. 2400–2300
B.c.),81 as well as with statues from the royal tombs of ebla (first quarter
of the 2nd millennium B.c.)82 and Qaṭna (18th–14th century B.c.)83 and
continued in tell halaf.
the mortuary cult complexes provide a clear picture of the threshold
where ritual contact could be made between the living and the dead. like-
wise, the sitting statues, representing deceased royal personages as sug-
gested by the crown on the later statue, are in an obvious action context
with the offering rituals conducted on or in front of these statues.
another important observation is that both statues, as well as the rooms
they are in, are orientated to the east, facing the sunrise. Unfortunately,
we know nothing about the role of the solar deity in guzana, except in
juridical contexts. What further implications or consequences of the royal
ancestor cult were connected with the sun-god cannot be determined due
to a lack of written sources.84
Both mortuary cult complexes are located on the so-called mud brick
massif, which is currently being reinvestigated. Meanwhile, it is clear that
the discontinuation of the mortuary cult practices in these complexes did
not happen under King Kapara but was due to the invading assyrians.85
the third building complex associated with the mortuary cult is the
cult room (“Kultraum”)86 located at a small square near the southern city
81 cf. Matthiae 2009.
82 cf. Matthiae 1992.
83 cf. novák – pfälzner – elsen-novák 2003: 156–162 and pfälzner 2009.
84 cf. similar observations for samʾal; see section 3.6.
85 cf. on the current state of research Martin – Fakhru 2009; Martin 2010a; Martin –
novák 2010: 14f; Martin – Fakhru – heitmann 2012.
86 cf. on the cult room von oppenheim 1931: 170–174; Müller 1950: 357–360; naumann
1950: 394f; orthmann 2001: 226; id. 2002: 53–55; niehr 2006: 128–132; Martin 2010b: 221–
230.