50 dagmar kühn
Loyal aramaean vassal kings evidently did not lose their power and
titles under assyrian dominion.83 on the contrary, it appears that the
loyal vassal kings succeeded in strengthening their power within their
territory. while they had to pay tribute to the assyrians or support their
military campaigns, they enjoyed the protection of the assyrian king
against political opponents or other enemies. this gave the loyal vassal
kings absolute power in their kingdoms. absolute loyalty to the assyrian
Great King therefore sometimes came at the cost of estrangement from
the population. a. Fuchs draws attention to the oldest inscription of King
Kulamuwa from Samʾal in which he boasts about the welfare of the people
in his kingdom (Kai 24: 10–13). this boast corresponds to the old ideologi-
cal principle of royal power that included responsibility for the popula-
tion. contrary to Kulamuwa’s ethos, the statements in the inscriptions of
the later king Bar-rakkab only seem to increase his personal glory and
wealth.84 we hear about the extension of his kingdom and about building
projects carried out at the expense of an excessively taxed population.85 as
Fuchs notes, “Für ihn [den König] schien es kaum mehr notwendig, noch
Zeit und mühe darauf zu verwenden, mit den eigenen Leuten zum Kom-
promiss oder gütlichen ausgleich zu gelangen, konnte man ihnen doch
mit der assyrischen macht im rücken die eigenen wünsche ganz einfach
diktieren!”86 the assyrian power behind the aramaean king acted, for a
long time, as a deterrent to revolts and subversive movements in Samʾal.
the dynasty remained in power up to Bar-rakkab. Kulamuwa from Samʾal
reports that he “hired” the King of ashur (Kai 24: 7–8).87 Bar-rakkab boasts
that he and his father panamuwa before him were running at the wheel
of their master in the King of ashur’s military campaigns (Kai 215: 13;
216: 8–10). elsewhere we learn about the rivalry of tributary kings for the
favor of the King of ashur and the lavish gifts involved (Kai 215: 12–15).
Bar-rakkab boasts of the privileged position of his father panamuwa ii
(Kai 215: 12), for whom the assyrian king probably organized mourning
83 the example of haddayisʿi shows that the rulers did not lose their self-confidence.
the assyrian inscription of the statue of tell Fekheriye uses the title of governor (šakin
māti, lines 8.19) to make his vassal status clear, while in the aramaic inscription he stills
speaks of himself as ‘king of Guzana’ (mlk gwzn, l. 6.13).
84 Fuchs 2008b: 69f.
85 Fuchs 2008b: 68–72.
86 Fuchs 2008b: 68.
87 tropper 1993: 37: “der Satz ist so zu verstehen, daß sich Kilamuwa mittels Geld und
Geschenken den militärischen Beistand des assyrerkönigs sichert. Für einen solchen poli-
tisch-militärischen Schachzug gibt es im alten orient zahlreiche historische parallelen.”