religion 169
the highest-ranking god of the pantheon (lines 23–27) in the part of the
inscription (B) on the left side of the stele.
an examination of the composition of the Zakkur inscription shows
that it contains features of commemorative and dedicatory inscriptions.
in this case the beginning and ending of a dedicatory inscription bracket a
commemorative inscription.209 this insight is important for determining
the role of the gods mentioned in the inscription namely iluwer as the
personal god of the king and Baʿalšamayin as the god of the kingship and
kingdom. the older commemorative inscription encompasses the events
surrounding hazrak (a 2–B 10) in which the god Baʿalšamayin appears as
kingmaker and liberator of King Zakkur.
considering that the Zakkur inscription originates shortly after 800
B.c. it is not only the earliest aramaean evidence of the god Baʿalšamayin
but also the earliest evidence of his worship. the only older mention of
“Baʿal of the heavens” is in the Yeḥimilk inscription (Kai 4) from Byb-
los from about 950 B.c. additional phoenician mentions of “Baʿal of the
heavens” in the inscription from Karatepe (Kai 26) and the mentions of
Baʿalšamayin in the inscription from hassan Beyli210 and in the treaty of
esarhaddon (saa ii no. 5 iV 10’–13’)211 are from the 8th and 7th century
B.c. the history of the god Baʿalšamayin during the period between 950
B.c. (Kai 4) and 800 B.c. (Kai 202) cannot be reconstructed as we lack
written sources pertaining to this topic.
Baʿalšamayin and iluwer are mentioned together with the divine pair
Šamaš and Śahr in the curses of the Zakkur inscription (Kai 202: 23). the
weather-gods could carry out their curse by sending too much or too little
rain, the solar deity acts as an agency of justice, and the moon-god could
strike someone with leprosy.
information about another god, ašimaʾ from the kingdom of hamath
originates from other sources.212 When hamath was defeated in the battle
of Qarqar in 720 B.c. the assyrians deported part of the population to
the former kingdom of israel (2 Kgs 17: 24–28), which had been annexed as
an assyrian province under the name samerina. according to the old tes-
tament ašimaʾ was the god of the people of hamath who were deported
209 cf. parker 1997: 107–109 and id. 1999: 53–55.
210 cf. niehr 2003: 59f.
211 text and translation in parpola – Watanabe 1988: 27 and additionally niehr 2003:
43–45.
212 on ašimaʾ, cf. van der toorn 1992: 86; cogan 1999b; niehr 2003: 191–195; Merlo
2009.