art 239
were the first to commemorate the names and images of non-royals as
well. as such, they are the most clearly visible and archaeologically trace-
able evidence of subjects who acted outside the world of the royal élite.
the monuments were also the means by which these subjects became
inscribed in social memory.158
In brief, we can describe the main characteristics of the funerary stelae
as follows: the male and female dead are presented either alone or in
pairs (in the latter case, they are most often husband and wife). the visual
focus is on the table and emphasizes the food and drink near the cup in
the seated figure’s hand (e.g., pls. XvII, XIX). this type of scene points
to an essential memorial act: providing food for the dead. On the stelae,
the attributes that the dead hold in their hands often symbolize the sig-
nificance of the repast as renewal. the ear of corn and the grapes allude
to the generative power of bread, beer, and wine, which is confirmed by
their numerous citations in offering lists. the distaff and spindle carried
by women might be symbols of constant rotation in the sense of regular
regeneration, but they are also the personal attributes of the women. some
of the objects that appear in the scenes or that are held by the figures
may also have been intended to communicate the status or occupation
of those depicted, such as writing implements, balances, musical instru-
ments, spindles, distaffs, mirrors, horses, falcons, staffs, and folded cloths.
the funeral service was performed by the members of the deceased
person’s family, mainly the son or legal heir of the pater familias. sev-
eral stelae depict this figure standing in front of the table and waving a
fan—and thus attending to the offerings (e.g., pl. XvII). It may be argued
that this figure can be firmly identified as a descendant or even the heir
of the deceased. this interpretation is confirmed by other scenes that
clearly depict a family group involved in the ritual. the iconography and
the inscriptions of the funerary monuments thus emphasize the immedi-
ate family’s integrity and continuity—whether by indicating the relation-
ship of the person who had the monument erected to the deceased or by
showing the heir embracing his or her mother or serving the deceased as
a fan bearer.
In studies of “aramaean art” the question inevitably arises as to whether
there are special characteristics distinguishing the funerary monuments
in the aramaean territories from those in the Luwian territories.
158 see Bonatz 2000b.