244 dominik bonatz
name as a theophoric element in their own names.182 It is therefore not
surprising that aramaean officials chose the assyrianizing image of the
moon-god for their seals.183 Furthermore, the typical astralization of
the moon-god in assyria, which began in the 8th century B.c., is encoun-
tered on many seals that have aramaic name inscriptions and that incor-
porate the crescent as a visual element.184 One specific group is formed
by the seals bearing a crescent standard, the symbol of the sin of harran
(see 3.1.2). nevertheless, the widespread use of this motif on stamp and
cylinder seals—with or without inscriptions—speaks against classifying
them as specifically aramaean. the crescent standard is just as common
in neo-assyrian and palestinian-Israelite glyptic art, perhaps even more.185
the winged sun disk, the second prominently represented astral symbol
in glyptic art, is one of the two divine symbols seen in the impression of
the Bar-rakkab seal from Zincirli (pl. XXI). this impression, which comes
from an archaeological context, is the only evidence of a royal aramaic
seal existing today. the inscription mentions the names of both Bar-rak-
kab (without his royal title) and his father panamuwa. the symbols that
appear above the inscription—the winged sun disk on the left and the
yoke on the right—are interpreted as symbols of the sun-god Šamaš and
the dynastic god rakkabʾel.186 they also appear together with other divine
symbols on the orthostat reliefs of Kulamuwa and Bar-rakkab. While
the yoke is a highly specific symbol from the local pantheon in samʾal, the
winged sun is a nearly omnipresent icon of visual religion in the Iron
age in western asia.187 Its close association with the king and kingship is
particularly evident in the visual syntax of the Bar-rakkab seal, on which
the winged sun serves as a royal emblem combining the idea of solar pro-
tection with that of delegated royal authority. We can conclude that a sim-
ilar concept underlies the representation of the winged sun on stamped
jar handles from Judah, which also bear the inscription lmlk, “belonging
182 theuer 2000: 361–364 and Galter 2004b: 178. see also section 3.1.2 concerning the
representation of the moon-god in monumental sculptural art.
183 But correspondences between the motif on the seal and the name of its owner are
an exception (see also avigad 1997: 309f no. 828).
184 avigad 1997: nos. 758, 761, 762, 778, 783, 786, 793, 801, 802, 804, 806, 817, 822, 823,
825, 826, 836 (crescent standard), 845, 849, 853, 855.
185 Buchanan – Moorey 1988: 54 and Ornan 1993: 64, contra spycket 1973. For a good
selection of palestinian-Israelite, syrian, and assyrian stamp and cylinder seals depicting
the crescent moon standard, see staubli 2003: 78–87 nos. 81–103.
186 tropper 1993: 24–26; for a discussion of the identification of divine symbols in
samʾal, see niehr 2004b: 310.
187 e.g., parayre 1993: 30–34.