society, institutions, law, and economy 49
in the inscriptions of Bar-rakkab of Samʾal rakkabʾel appears to have
already held the same important position as the god hadad had.78
Great accomplishments constituted an important factor for the king’s
legitimacy. the first well-known king from Samʾal, Kulamuwa, boasts of
achievements that no one had attained before him (Kai 24: 4). the same is
true for King Kapara of Guzana. Kapara repeats in all his building inscrip-
tions that he had “done what his father and grandfather had not done.” it
becomes clear that this phrase was a fixed expression.79 the formula was
probably taken from Late hittite tradition,80 but it also shows that the
first kings were still aware of a time before the institution of real kingship.
they were the first aramaeans to establish monumental buildings to add
to their royal prestige. the formula is absent in later royal inscriptions.
Bar-rakkab of Samʾal only says that he had “made a better palace than his
father and ancestors had built before” (Kai 216: 16–20).
under the rule of Bar-rakkab of Samʾal, new aspects of royal ideology
can be observed. his inscriptions reveal an absolute loyalty to the assy-
rian Great King. neither hadad nor the other principal gods had enthroned
Bar-rakkab as king, but rather the god of his dynasty, rakkabʾel, and the
assyrian king, his “Lord” (mrʾ, Kai 216: 6), who seems to have occupied
the same position as the gods.81 Bar-rakkab called himself “servant” (ʿbd,
Kai 216: 3) of the assyrian Great King. King Bar-rakkab had clearly given
up older Luwian traditions as well and adopted ideological aspects of the
assyrian kingship instead. he was the first king of this dynasty who did
not bear a Luwian name.
the adoption of assyrian royal ideology by aramaean kings becomes
especially evident after the loss of aramaean independence. the repre-
sentations of some aramaean kings show that their royal wardrobe was
strongly influenced by assyrian style.82
78 nevertheless, the various symbols of the gods on the stelae that bore the royal
inscriptions must also be taken into consideration.
79 Sader 1987: 11–14 and orthmann 2002: 19f.
80 orthmann 2002: 20 n. 12 hints at the southern anatolian stele from Çiftlik of the 9th
century B.c., which has similar wording.
81 Beyond the inscriptions that concern his kingship is the short inscription (Kai 218)
on the orthostat, which shows the scribe in front of Bar-rakkab, who sits on his throne.
this inscription calls the god Baʿal of harran, who is the moon-god Sin, “Lord” of Bar-
rakkab.
82 the wardrobe was not copied exactly, but the aramaeans borrowed stylistic ele-
ments from the assyrians.