138 herbert niehr
represented in prayer in the deity’s presence.53 the prayer to the god
hadad was described as good (Kai 309: 5) on the votive statue from tell
Fekheriye. given as purpose for the placement of the statue are the length
of days and years for the king and his dynasty, the absence of illness, and
the esteem the king held in the eyes of the gods and his people. con-
trasted to this is the curse of the weather-god and his paredros toward the
enemies of the king (Kai 309: 6–10, 16–23).
the subject of the statue’s votive inscription is an endowment of King
haddayisʿi (Kai 309), corresponding to the invocation of the pantheon’s
high gods, as they were responsible for the welfare of the royal house.
Furthermore, the curses in lines 16–23 are within the royal sphere, since
“his people” (line 22) and “his country” (line 23) are mentioned as objects
of the curse.54
the placement of a votive statue in tell Fekheriye also points to the
existence of a temple in the city as well as to the king having built said
temple.
according to the proverbs of the aḥiqar novel the king is as beautiful to
look at as the sun-god (aḥ 6: 92). only the person whom the god el favors
can last before the king (aḥ 6: 91). the king’s subjects are strenuously
encouraged to be loyal to the king, otherwise the king shall be to them as
fire is to wood or a knife is to meat (aḥ 6: 88).55
2.3 Temples and Cultsthe oldest evidence for the existence of a temple in guzana (tell halaf) is
provided by the relief panels labeled “temple of the weather-god,” because
they originally belonged to that temple. they were found in Kapara’s
palace, where they were mounted in a subordinate position. perhaps the
panels were only intended for such a temple and were repurposed for
Kapara’s palace before they could be installed. it is also possible that the
temple of the weather-god was already derelict at the time of Kapara.56
the votive statue from sikani (tell Fekheriye) with its inscription (Kai
309) provides another indication for a temple in guzana. the inscription’s
53 cf. essentially Magen 1986: 40–45.
54 some notable close parallels to curses aimed at an enemy king from tell Fekheriye
(and in part also from sefire) can be found in the aramaic inscription from Bukan (Kai
320); cf. lemaire 1998a: 22–27 and id. 1998b: 297f.
55 on aḥ 6: 84–88 and 6: 91–92, cf. niehr 2007: 17 and Weigl 2010: 110–160; on the
equivalents in neo-assyrian literature, cf. parpola 2005: 102–104.
56 cf. cholidis – Martin 2010: 23, 27.