religion 189
(3) this chamber: a bull for hadad (of) Qrpdl,302 a ram for nika-
(4) rawas,303 a ram for Šamaš, a ram for hadad of the Vineyards,304
(5) a ram for Kubaba, and a ram for my spirit that is in this stele.
(6) henceforth, whoever of my sons or
(7) of the sons of anybody (else) should come into possession of
(8) this chamber: let him take from
(9) the produce of this vineyard a sheep305
(10) every anniversary.306 he is also to perform the
(11) slaughter in (proximity to) my spirit307
(12) and is to apportion
(13) for me a leg-cut.308the inscription tells of the installation of the stele (nṣb) in a mortuary
cult chamber (syd ʿlm), an opening ceremony in this chamber, in which
the god hadad (of ) Qrpdl was offered an ox, and Šamaš, hadad of the
vineyards, Kubaba, and the death spirit (nbš) of Kuttamuwa were offered
a ram each. With the sacrifice to the god hadad, the vassal expressed his
loyalty to the highest god of the kingdom, who is also found in the mor-
tuary cult of King panamuwa i (Kai 214: 17, 21–22). the god Šamaš is
included in the mortuary offerings because of his involvement with the
underworld. this corresponds to the eastern alignment of the stele.
the stele was placed in the annex of the intra-urban shrine built by
Kuttamuwa. Vessel fragments were found within close proximity of the
stele. they form the archaeological evidence of offerings given to the spirit
of the deceased Kuttamuwa. no grave or urn of the deceased has been
recovered.
the descendants of the deceased would regularly deposit more offer-
ings (lines 6–13). these yearly offerings might have been made at the
beginning of a new year, i.e., the day of the new moon in the first month.309
particularly remarkable is that a stele inhabited by the spirit of the dead
is called nbš. this is the first attestation of such language use traceable as
tinées à perpétuer, voire rendre éternel, le culte d’un défunt.” the element ʿlm stands for
“tomb” and “netherworld”; cf. tropper 1993: 60f; niehr 1997a; Kutter 2008: 298 with n. 17.
302 cf. above, section 3.1 n. 155.
303 on the anatolian god nikarawas/nikaruas, cf. Masson 2010: 53.
304 cf. above, 3.1.
305 cf. lemaire 2012: 135.
306 cf. lemaire 2013a: 149f.
307 here nbš stands for the stele housing the spirit of the dead.
308 cf. pardee 2009a: 53f.
309 so lemaire 2012: 135f and id. 2013a: 149.