234 dominik bonatz
disk.130 this is clearly the symbol of the moon-god (or the lunar cycle in its
two phases), which the stelae set in relation to the storm-god.131 the other
concept is based on the bull as the animal symbolizing both the storm-
and moon-gods.132 the moon-god was associated with the bull as early as
the temple cult in harran.133 In the visual arts, we encounter this link on
a number of stelae from the hauran in southern syria, palestine, and the
region near harran. Monuments such as the famous stelae from Betsaida
in the Golan heights show an image of a standard with anthropomor-
phic features and a bull’s head.134 the bull’s oversized horns resemble a
crescent moon, and the gods on these stelae represent variations of the
moon-god, although a more or less deliberate merging of the moon- and
storm-gods seems to be intended as well.135
the combinations of the crescent moon and other astral symbols com-
mon in Iron age glyptic art in syria (see section 4.1, below) have otherwise
only been seen on a stele from the aramaean city of tell afis that shows a
star above the crescent moon. It has been suggested that this constellation
also symbolizes the storm-god.136
3.2 Statues and Stelae of Rulersas regards the statues and stelae of rulers, it is sometimes difficult to dis-
tinguish between monuments that were commissioned during a ruler’s
life and those that were erected in a funerary context after his death.
there was frequently a fluid transition between prestigious images of
rulers and those intended to commemorate ancestors or the dead. this is
illustrated by the context of many representations of rulers: as “images of
the past,” they remained permanently engraved in social memory as part
of either the monumental relief programs (see above, 2.1) or the sculptural
design of public places (see the following section). Inscriptions like the
one on the Kulamuwa orthostat from samʾal (see above, 2.1) also under-
score the commemorative character of many royal images. and, finally,
panamuwa’s statue of hadad (see 3.1) teaches us that the commissioning
130 Green – hausleiter 2001: 154f figs. 1–5; see the explanations above regarding the
figure of the storm-god on these stelae.
131 see also theuer 2000: 349 and novák 2001: 438f.
132 For an extensive discussion, see Ornan 2001.
133 novák 2001: 447–450 and Ornan 2001: 19–26.
134 Bernett – Keel 1998: 34–40 figs. 1c–e, 11–13.
135 staubli 2003: 69.
136 Mazzoni 1998b: 14 pl. 1.