art 213
encouraged the formation of a distinct court style that even determined
the themes of the images.
assyrian influences can also be seen in one of the few surviving exam-
ples of monumental art in samʾal from the time before Bar-rakkab’s reign.
the orthostat from the entrance area of building J bears an inscription
and an image of King Kulamuwa, who is thought to have ruled in the late
9th century B.c. the position of the royal figure at the head of the inscrip-
tion reflects the tradition of hittite and Luwian hieroglyphic inscriptions
and illustrates the semantic interaction between the image and the text.31
In contrast to the inscription, the visual representation of the ruler—his
pose, the style of his hair and beard, his hat, and his tightly bound robe—
is a faithful reproduction of assyrian royal images.32 the divine symbols at
which the ruler is pointing in a characteristically assyrian gesture are also
consistent with the design of assyrian royal stelae.33 the only detail for-
eign to assyrian representations is the wilted flower that Kulamuwa holds
in his left hand. It emphasizes the posthumous commemorative character
of the depicted person,34 which is a feature of other sculptural works from
samʾal as well. to a certain extent, this commemorative character fits
in with the inscription, which provides a long review of the ruler’s deeds in
autobiographical apologetic form.35 In this text Kulamuwa affirms, among
other things, that he “hired” the army of the assyrian king for support in
his conflicts with the Danunians (KaI 24: 7f ). With the clear intention of
providing legitimacy for Kulamuwa’s rule, the image of the king and the
account of his deeds emphasize his ties to the large assyrian power, which
possibly provided a model for the king’s mode of self-representation.
the emulation of assyrian models continued in the relief orthostats of
hilani Iv (“northern hall”) and hilani III. however, since these orthostats
were works by local sculptors they show a clear synthesis with the highly
developed local art tradition. the aramaean king Bar-rakkab appears on
two corner orthostats erected at the entrance to hilani Iv. On one he is
enthroned in front of a scribe (pl. III), and on the other he sits at a banquet
31 hamilton 1998: 222 and Gilibert 2011: 119–129.
32 Orthmann 1971: 66. For a discussion of the local development of this type of repre-
sentation on the Kulamuwa stele, see czichon 1995.
33 the gesture is known as urbāna tarāṣu from assyrian texts and can be interpreted in
this context as a gesture of communication with the gods, cf. Magen 1986: 94–99.
34 Bonatz 2000a: 102 c46, c72.
35 see also Ishida 1985.