outlook: aramaeans outside of syria 349
an end to et-tell as an aramaean city, which continued to flourish (now
as aram-damascus’ city) in the following period.
during stratum V the palace was divided by a wall into two elon-
gated halls. pottery and loom weights indicate weaving activity in the
building, which was perhaps no longer a palace. stratum Vb–a (iron
age iiB) revealed a massive four-entry gate as inner city gate of the 8th
century B.C. the gate complex housed five high places and eight ste-
lae. a decorated stele was found on the stepped high place at the niche
in the northern tower. the iconography of this stele points to parallels
with other aramaean kingdoms of the north in the 9th and 8th centuries
(eṭ-Ṭurra,46 tell el-ashʽari; ʿawas, Gaziantep in southeastern turkey) and
to the armed storm-god with lunar features (fig. Xliii): Bull iconography
is combined with the crescent moon, which forms the bull’s horns. a
circle, divided into four units, at the bull’s side seems to indicate the four
phases of the moon.47 the stele of et-tell is the only one of this type that
has been found in situ as part of an ensemble consisting of a podium and
a rectangular basalt basin with two perforated ritual cups for libations.
the installation of the several high places at the gate points to cultic
rituals at this important place marking the borderline between the city
and the periphery. the gate and parts of the city were finally destroyed
(stratum Va) by tiglath-pileser iii (733/2 B.C.), even if the settlement
was not completely abandoned (stratum iV).48
as already mentioned Bit maacah is often paralleled with Geshur in
the Old testament. the present writer does not consider Bit maacah and
Geshur to be identical. Bit maacah seems to settle a different area than
Geshur. the place-name of abel Bit maacah49 leaves no doubt about
its affiliation with the aramaean chief-/kingdom Bit maacah,50 maybe
even indicating that this was the place of the chief ’s/king’s residence.
46 Wimmer – Janaydeh 2011.
47 arav 2004: 20 and Bernett – keel 1998: 31f.
48 see Greene 2004: 77f.
49 the Chronicles identify abel Bit maacah with abel-mayyim (1 kgs 15: 20 with the
parallel 2 Chr 16: 4). abel Bit maacah is surely not identical with tel Qadi/dan, against
lipiński 2000a: 372f, with arie 2008: 35. a better candidate seems to be tell abil el-Qamḥ,
18 km north of lake hule, a large fortified city with an upper and lower city (unexca-
vated). it has been proposed that abel is already mentioned in egyptian texts of the 2nd
millennium B.C. (e.g., ea 256, but the reading Jabilima is not without doubts). it is also
not beyond doubt, whether tiglath-pileser iii refers to this site in his annals as “uru.
Abil-x1+x2, which is the border of the land Bit Ḫumri” (tadmor 1994: 138f: 6’). all of this
is rejected by Bagg 2007: 1.
50 Na ʾaman 2000: 98/178 and lemaire 2001e: 122f.