art 231
also uncertain whether tukulti-ninurta II commissioned the stele and
its inscription.113 In an effort to shed light on the supposed irregularities
and discrepancies between the text and visual messages, M.-G. Masetti-
rouault proposes that the stele be regarded as a product of the local
urban élite in Širqu and the inscription as a subsequent addition by the
same élite, who not only wanted to protect themselves from harm at the
hands of the assyrians, but, more importantly, also hoped to win power-
ful partners in their struggle against neighboring tribes.114 If their aim was
really to have the assyrians view the text and its visual message in relation
to themselves, the stele would have to be seen as an unusual example of
the intellectual and political shrewdness of Širqu’s inhabitants.115
regional variations can be seen in the few other stelae with represen-
tations of an anthropomorphic god that were discovered by chance at
different locations in syria.116 they also show the great adaptability of
aramaean religious art.
On the stele from tell Breğ near aleppo, which was dedicated by King
Bar-hadad of aram in the 9th century B.c. (KaI 201), elements of dif-
ferent iconographic and stylistic traditions coalesce in the image of the
god Melqart.117 the fenestrated axe in his left hand and the symbol in
his right—interpreted as an ankh and positioned directly above a lotus
symbol—reflect the phoenician milieu in which Melqart, the Baʿal of
tyre, was originally at home. But the physical appearance of the god, who
holds his weapon on his shoulder and wears a thigh-length garment, cor-
responds to a mode of representation that was typical of gods in the syro-
anatolian region beginning in the Late Bronze age.
the so-called stele of amrit, which was in fact found on the banks of
the nahr el-abracheh and is believed to have been erected in the region
of simyra (tell Kazel), the capital of the kingdom of amurru, shows a
smiting god wearing a short kilt and an egyptian crown with an attached
uraeus.118 the god holds a mace and a small lion and is shown striding
over a larger lion in the mountains. as a whole, the iconography seems
113 Masetti-rouault 2001: 128.
114 Masetti-rouault 2001: 105–110. as is well known, even in the aramaean dynasty of
samʾal, loyalty to the assyrians was a means to maintain aramaean autonomy and gain
greater power in the conflicts with local rivals (see section 2.1, above).
115 Masetti-rouault 2009: 144.
116 What follows is basically consistent with my explanations in the IDD dictionary
(Bonatz forthcoming a: 17f ).
117 Orthmann 1975: 485 fig. 420 and Bonnet 1988: 132–137 fig. 6.
118 Yon – caubet 1993: 58f n. 17; cecchini 1997: 83–98 fig. 1; Gubel 2000: 186–188 fig. 3.