216 dominik bonatz
in numerous Luwian locations at city gates and the entrances to palaces.46
In samʾal such figures conspicuously flanked all the gates to the citadel.
at the outer citadel gate the lions in the lower passages are set out in
relief from the orthostats and depicted in profile. their elongated bodies
stretch across the width of two connected orthostats.47 however, the three
contemporaneous or only slightly older lions found near the inner citadel
gate (gate e) already exhibit the combination of fully sculptured form and
relief figures typical of portal lions (pl. v).48 In this case only the animals’
heads are fully sculptured, while their bodies are represented in rela-
tively flat relief. these three older-style portal lions were found together
with two others in a ditch south of the inner citadel gate (gate e), where,
during a later phase of the city’s history, they had been buried in almost
ceremonial fashion. however, prior to this they and a lost sixth lion must
have formed an impressive ensemble of guardians in the lower passages
of the inner citadel gate for several centuries.49 Upon closer inspection,
it is conspicuous that the two portal lions (pl. vI) in the later style are
reworkings of sculptures in the earlier style.50 the remains of the paws of
the older figures can still easily be made out in front of the relief backdrop
at the base of the orthostats. above them rises a sculptured body featur-
ing a greater elaboration of details such as the animal’s coat. the section
featuring the chest and forelegs has also been rendered in fully sculptured
form. the lion’s mouth is wide open, the whiskers bristle back along the
head, and the ears are laid back closely against the head. the aggressive
demeanor of this predatory cat represents a stark contrast to the cubic
and torpid form of the head of the older sculpture. to a certain extent,
the creature’s aggressive expression corresponds to that of the two roar-
ing lions from gate Q—the only entrance to the palace complex in the
northwest of the citadel—but the lions from gate Q are significantly more
compact and therefore probably also older than the reworked lions from
46 For an overview of the portal lions in Luwian centers, see aro 2003: 307–310. On the
portal lions in hamath, see below, 2.4. a detailed discussion of the stylistic development
of lion representations is provided by akurgal 1949: 39–76.
47 Orthmann 1971: Zincirli B/11 and B/24. the lions are paralleled by two bulls in the
upper passage of the same gate (Orthmann 1971: Zincirli B/26 and B/30).
48 Orthmann 1971: Zincirli c/1–3 (= pl. v). For stylistic reasons, Orthmann favors dat-
ing these portal lions to the phase represented by the oldest Zincirli I group (Orthmann
1971: 70).
49 On the find, see von Luschan 1902: 230–236 fig. 137, pl. 48 and Gilibert 2011: 99–103.
On the reconstruction of the original constellation in gate e (inner citadel gate), see
Koldewey 1898: 127–130 fig. 37 and Gilibert 2011: 104–106 fig. 52.
50 Orthmann 1971: 70: Zincirli c/4–5 (= pl. vI).