52 dagmar kühn
king and possibly the queen. it is striking that according to the hadad
inscription sacrifices were made to the king together with the principal
god hadad rather than the dynastic god. the simultaneous sacrifice to
the king and the principal god hadad goes beyond the scope of family or
dynasty, becoming a “state affair.” the cult of gods and dead kings contin-
ued in old hittite tradition. many parallels have been found in anatolia
and Syria (yazιlιkaya, ebla, tell halaf, and others).96
in addition to the usual sacrifice to gods and dead kings, the represen-
tation of dead kings in public and prominent places must be mentioned.
corroboration for this custom is the colossal statue of a dead king from
Samʾal, found at the exterior wall of building J.97 as d. Bonatz remarks,
“unmissverständlich sicherte der besondere Standort der Statuen der
darin verkörperten persönlichkeit eine allgegenwärtige und dauerhafte
präsenz im anthropogenen raum.”98 the statue’s monumentality as well
as its lion base embodied the divinity of the dead ruler.99 the statue is
similar to several other monuments in northern Syria, which can be classi-
fied as neo-hittite art.100 obviously, the first kings of Samʾal had borrowed
aspects of the royal ideology of the neo-hittite successor states. Kingship
had an eternal, transcendent component expressed by these monumental
statues. the ruling kings were responsible for the cult of the dead kings
(see Kai 214). an orthostat at Samʾal possibly represents the dead king
followed by his heir.101
the tasks of the kings included not only attention to internal and exter-
nal security but also the founding of new villages, the control of the royal
administration, and the encouragement of economic growth.
2.2 Royal Administration and Its Dignitariesin the inscriptions of the aramaean kings, “brothers” (ʾḥ)102 of the kings
are often mentioned. King Kulamuwa of Samʾal reports that his brother
sat on the throne before him (Kai 24: 3–4). Because Kulamuwa gives the
name of his mother, too, he was probably referring to a half-brother who
96 Bonatz 2000a: 151–158.
97 the statue is 2.50 m tall, including its 3.25 m base. For a description and discussion
of the statue, see Bonatz 2000a: 25f.
98 Bonatz 2000a: 154.
99 Bonatz 2000a: 105f.
100 Bonatz 2000a and his contribution in this volume.
101 dion 1997: 242 n. 4 and wartke 2005: 71 fig. 67.
102 For the irregular forms of ʾḥ in Samʾal, see tropper 1993: 85.