religion 131
guzana and of sikani and of azran. For continuing17 his throne, (14) and for
the length of his life and so that his word might be (15) pleasing to gods and
to people, this image he made better than before. in the presence of hadad
(16), who dwells in sikani, the lord of the Khabur, he has set up his statue.
Whoever removes my name from the furnishings (17) of the house of hadad,
my lord: May my lord hadad not accept his food and water (18) from his
hand. May my lady Šuwala not accept food and water from his hand. When
he (19) sows, may he not reap, and when he sows a thousand (measures) of
barley, may he take (only) a fraction from it. (20) should one hundred ewes
suckle a lamb, may it not be satisfied. should one hundred cows suckle (21) a
calf, may it not be satisfied. should one hundred women suckle a child, may
it not be satisfied. (22) should one hundred women bake bread in an oven,
may they not fill it. May his men glean barley from a refuse pit to eat. (23)
May plague, the rod of nergal, not be cut off from his land. (Kai 309)of the two inscriptions on the statues it is clear that the assyrian version
is the older one. it originates from a lost votive statue from guzana (tell
halaf ) and is referred to in line 7. the text had been transferred onto the
votive statue from sikani (tell Fekheriye) and been extended by an ara-
maic inscription. likewise, the statue is an “improved” version of the older
one (Kai 309: 15; line 23 in the assyrian text).18
Deities mentioned by name in this inscription include hadad (Kai 309:
1, 5–6, 12, 15–17), Šuwala (line 18), and nergal (line 23), as well as “all the
gods” collectively (line 4; cf. lines 14–15).
this inscription quite obviously presents hadad as the weather-god
and he thus assumes the highest position as a deity. he has taken on theo-
logical aspects of the Mesopotamian weather-god addu, conspicuously
vi sible in the epithets “regulator of the Waters of heaven and earth” and
“regulator of the Waters of all rivers,” thus cementing the fact that the
assyrian version influenced the theology of the aramaic version. hadad
is also found in his regional manifestation as “hadad (of ) sikani” (lines
1, 5–6, 15–16). thus, the city of sikani seems to have been a special cult
center for hadad in the kingdom of Bit Baḫiani. in the older assyrian ver-
sion hadad is located in guzana (line 7; cf. also lines 24–25 of the assy-
rian version). in line 16 hadad is additionally named “lord of the Khabur
river,” thus subordinating the Khabur region to “hadad of sikani.” as the
weather-god he is responsible for the waters of the heavens and the earth;
17 cf. Dietrich – loretz 2006.
18 regarding philological questions, questions on the origin and editorial history of the
inscription, cf. abou-assaf – Bordreuil – Millard 1982; Fales 1983; id. 2011b: 563f; gropp –
lewis 1985; lipiński 1994: 19–81; leonhard 1995; schwiderski 2003.