248 dominik bonatz
the small assemblage of ivories from Zincirli also includes works in
the south syrian style. In this case an historical explanation can be found
in the actions of King panamuwa II, who in 732 B.c. took part in a cam-
paign against Damascus on the side of the assyrian king tiglath-pileser III.
It is possible that this ivory was taken to samʾal as part of the booty.209
however, samʾal is also regarded as a city in which a distinct school
of ivory production had emerged by the 8th century and continued to
develop until the end of that century. all of the products from this school
come from a secondary context: from the rooms sW 7 and sW 37 in Fort
shalmaneser and from well aJ in the northwest palace of nimrud. they
were brought to these places as tributes to the assyrian kings.210
two main stylistic groups, which themselves can be divided into sub-
groups, are prominent among the several hundred pieces in the collec-
tions from nimrud. the ivory plaques and panels in group sW 7 were
once furniture components. they depict standing or seated men/women
and genii in combination with plants and sometimes with the winged sun.
I. J. Winter was the first to describe samʾal as the provenance of this
ivory, basing her view on the similarities between these pieces and the
later reliefs from samʾal and sakçagözü.211 these similarities pertain not
only to style (e.g., hairstyle and the stylization of the winged sun) but
also to realia (e.g., types of furniture). the second group was described by
G. herrmann as “roundcheeked and ringletted” on the basis of the finds
from sW 37, whose special stylistic features are their round faces and tiny
corkscrew curls.212 Many excellent works have been assigned to this sty-
listic group from later finds at well aJ in the northwest palace, includ-
ing a siren with vultures holding a gazelle in their claws, executed almost
completely in the round,213 and a cosmetics palette richly decorated with
figures of sphinxes, winged lions, vultures, and rams.214 the similar struc-
ture of the animals’ fur and feathers and their voluminous bodies, which
feature the notorious round cheeks and ringlets, establishes a clear link
between these pieces and the stone sculptures in samʾal.215 the icono-
graphic affinity between the motifs is revealed, for example, when we
compare the frontally depicted courtiers on a panel from sW 37 (pl. XXv),
209 Winter 1981: 129.
210 herrmann 1986 (for sW 37); Winter 1976b (for sW 7); safar – al-Iraqi 1987 (for well aJ).
211 Winter 1976b: 53.
212 herrmann 1986: 19, 28.
213 safar – al-Iraqi 1987: 83f figs. 69, 70.
214 Wicke 2002.
215 For a comprehensive discussion and additional parallels, see Wicke 2005: 85–91.