152 herbert niehr
nature deities is a legacy from the list of oath deities in hittite treaties.108
the north syrian aramaeans adopted this legacy into the Vorlagen of their
treaties.
a third major source for the deities worshipped in Bit agusi is a votive
inscription (Kai 201), written on the base of a stele dedicated to the god
Melqart, found in Breğ. this text allows insight into the cult of a phoe-
nician deity in northern syria. Breğ, located approximately 7 kilometers
north of aleppo, was not inhabited during the iron age. the Melqart stele
was found in the remains of a roman wall and was perhaps brought from
the region around aleppo to Breğ on the occasion of the site’s construc-
tion.109 the inscription reads:
(1) the stele which Bar-h(2)adad, the son of attarsumki, the son of adrame
(3), set up for his lord Melqar(4)t, to whom he made a vow (5) and who
heard (4) his voice.the stele and its old aramaic inscription, dating to the second half of
the 9th century B.c., show the phoenician cultural influence in northern
syria. this influence is also visible in contemporary samʾal (cf. Kai 24)
and in phoenician inscriptions later in Karatepe (cf. Kai 26). Melqart
was actually the god of the city of tyre in southern lebanon, but he was
also worshipped in northern syria, as the treaty between ashur-nirari V
and Matiʾel of Bit agusi (saa ii no. 2) shows according to which Melqart
appears in this region together with eshmun.
one might imagine a colony of people from tyre in this area around
aleppo who formed the basis for a cult of Melqart. perhaps the god
Melqart had a prominent sanctuary here, where King Bar-hadad paid
his respects when he was rescued from some danger mentioned in the
inscription.
the image on the stele, today in the national Museum of aleppo, rep-
resents the god facing left. in his right hand he holds an ankh symbol or a
situla and in his left hand a fenestrated axe leaning on his shoulder. the
bearded god is dressed in a kilt and wears a horned headdress.
a fourth source is a trilingual inscription from incirli, which, from an
epigraphic viewpoint, is very problematic. the phoenician part of the text
mentions the King of arpad’s sacrifice to the god hadad (lines 11–12). it
108 cf. haas 1994: 460–467.
109 on the stele and its inscription, cf. Dunand 1939; Bordreuil – teixidor 1983; pitard
1988; puech 1992; lipiński 2000a: 215f; niehr 2010a: 247f.