226 dominik bonatz
clothed in a long undergarment and wears a round cap with flat horns as
a sign of his divine nature. the design of the robe and the execution of
the beard, in several rows of spiraling curls, can also be seen in the male
figures in stylistic levels II–III in Zincirli and reveal an assyrian influence
in both cases.
the statue of hadad not only underscores his central importance in the
pantheon of samʾal,90 but also provides clear evidence of the link between
the cult of the storm-god and that of the deceased ruler. In the commemo-
rative inscription on the statue, panamuwa requests communal offerings
for himself and the storm-god, which emphasizes the ruler’s divine status
in the afterlife.91 this conceptual link between the funerary repast and
the provision of food for a deity has long been recognized and interpreted
in the archaelogical context of the statues from the so-called cult room in
the lower town of tell halaf.92 the cult room contained a double figure
of a seated man and woman (pl. vIII) on a pedestal next to the statue of
a god (pl. IX). In front of the two statues were an altar and a basalt slab
for receiving libations. the offerings brought to the cult room were thus
meant for both the statue of the god and the effigies of the apparently
deceased royal (?) couple.93 the statue of the deity (pl. IX), which holds
a curved object in its hand, resembles the column figure on a bull at the
entrance to the Western palace at tell halaf; like this figure, it is probably
a representation of the storm-god.94 consequently, there is an even closer
link between the presentation of statues in the cult room of tell halaf and
the design of the memorial to the dead in Gerçin. since other fragments
of monumental statues were found in Gerçin95—most likely statues of
rulers—it can be assumed that joint offerings to the effigies of deceased
rulers and the statue of the storm-god were also at the heart of the ritual
acts performed there.
With the exception of the column figures at the entrance to the Western
palace at tell halaf, the statues from Gerçin and tell halaf are the only
sculptures in the round of gods from aramaean centers. the one-meter-tall
90 niehr 2004b: 306.
91 niehr 1994b: 59f, 72.
92 Orthmann 1971: 378; voos 1986: 158–160; niehr 1994b: 66f; Bonatz 2000a: 152; on
the context of the find: Müller 1950: 357–360, pls. 1, 2–74, 70, and recently niehr 2010a:
128–132.
93 On the monuments to the deceased, see section 3.3.
94 von Oppenheim 1955: 121 pl. 149 (here pl. IX) and Orthmann 1971: 242, 378.
95 Orthmann 1971: 75f. the torso of a statue found in tahtalı pınar (see 3.2, below)
probably also originated in Gerçin; cf. Orthmann 1971: 76, tahtalı pınar 1; niehr 1994b: 67.