238 dominik bonatz
words, as in the case of the statues, the figures face the viewer with out-
stretched forearms and the staff symbolizing royalty.151 On one stele of this
type from Maraş, which bears a hieroglyphic Luwian inscription, there is
a strong resemblance to the representation of a ruler on a stele with no
inscription from tell aḥmar (til Barsib).152 In the case of these two works,
the phenotypic resemblances also span large geographic areas.
Despite its rudimentary execution, the stele (or orthostat?) from tell
es-salihiye near Damascus, which is much farther to the south, differs only
slightly from this type of representation.153 It portrays a bearded figure
holding a long staff in his outstretched left hand (though only the shaft
is clearly visible). his right fist is clenched around a disproportionately
large, wilted, clover-like blossom at chest height. Flowers often appear as
royal symbols in the images on orthostats and stelae in samʾal.154 Depend-
ing on whether they are drawn vertically or portrayed as wilted blossoms,
they signify a flourishing reign or have sepulchral connotations.155 Gall-
ing asserted that this stele from tell es-salihiye shows a strong aramaean
influence, but he assumed it was a divine representation. his view is rela-
tivized by the other possible comparisons discussed here.156 the image
generally reflects the conventions governing the representation of rulers
throughout the syro-hittite region in the early 1st millennium B.c.
3.3 Funerary Monumentsthe widespread diffusion of funerary monuments across the territories
of Gurgum, Kummuḫ, Melid, Que, samʾal, carchemish, Bit adini, Bit
agusi, and Bit Baḫiani attests to the existence of another coherent group
of monumental sculptures on Luwian and aramaean territories between
the 10th and 8th centuries B.c.157 they fit into the tradition of the royal
syro-anatolian death and ancestor cult, which was accompanied by the
erection of ancestral images in the 2nd millennium B.c. however, these
monuments must be seen as a new expression of personality since they
151 see also Bonatz 2000a: 32.
152 see also Bonatz 2000a: c1 and c2.
153 contenau 1924: 210f pl. LIII; Galling 1953: 183–185; Börker-Klähn 1982: 225 n. 249
(drawing).
154 Orthmann 1971: 292. see, in particular, the Kulamuwa stele (Zincirli K/1), the orthos-
tats of Bar-rakkab (Zincirli F/1a, K/1, K/11), and the stelae Zincirli J/2 and K/2. concerning
the latter, see also section 3.3.
155 Bonatz 2000a: 100–102.
156 Galling 1953: 185.
157 For a comprehensive study of these monuments, see Bonatz 2000a.