The land of the Hittites

by John Garstang

The Lions are followed on each side by representations of winged sphinxes, the two sculptures, as in the other cases examined, being practically duplicates of one another. The creatures may be supposed to have the body of a lion, though the general pose is stiff, and the position of the front legs even suggests a bird, corresponding to the wings above; the further details of the monster, however, do not bear out this suggestion. The treatment of the head and details of this sculpture again fails to suggest anything distinctively Hittite, but only here and there the survival of Hittite feeling and tradition. Probably this art corresponds to an early phase of Semitic influence, such as was illustrated with more completeness in the excavations of Sinjerli. The first criterion is to be found in the treatment of the hair, which falls all around the back of the head in ringlets, and does not curl backward in a single bunch, in the fashion characteristic of the Hittite figures of Marash, Carchemish, and Bor. The beard is treated in similar fashion, while upon the cheeks it is represented by little coils or concentric circles. The features of the man are also much softer and less pronounced than those with which we are familiar in Hittite works of Asia Minor. The head-dress is a sort of helmet, a close-fitting rounded hat with a knob on the top. The wings of this creature are folded by the side, extending beyond the tail, and the whole of the breast is covered as it were with down. The hindquarters of the animal are strongly delineated, and the treatment here certainly suggests a lion’s body. The tail is held aloft and comes to an end in the shape of a bird’s head, but whether of a swan or goose is not clear. Though we fail to comprehend the full meaning of the symbolism involved in this detail, it is full of interesting suggestions.[691] This feature is found on each sphinx; and there may also be traced, more clearly on the right than on the left, the design of a horn upon the helmet. On the right-hand side the series of sculptures now terminates, the corner having been disarranged at some time. Two or three loose slabs, with traces of sculpture upon them, were found in the neighbourhood, and obviously had completed the decoration of the inner corner. The sculptures seem to represent men, two of them clad in long robes with fringed border, and a third presumably clad in a short tunic. On one of the former, the figure is preserved below the shoulders, and there may be seen the outline of a long dagger, or knife, in its sheath, with a fringed tassel[692] probably in attachment with its handle. Owing to the condition of the stone, it cannot be seen whether this tassel was attached to a girdle or whether it was independent; nor indeed is it clear that it hangs actually from the handle of the dirk. The other stones of this corner are too much weathered and broken for further instructive details to be made out with certainty.

PLATE LXXXI

1. SCULPTURES DECORATING LEFT-HAND FLANKING WALL

2. SCULPTURES ON THE RETURN WALL CONTINUING THE SERIES

Upon the left-hand side, however, the series is complete, and remains in good condition in its original position. Following the sphinx there comes the figure of a man who, from his position, is the most important human being of the series, and must be deemed therefore to be the priest-dynast of the locality. The figure itself faces naturally to our left, following the direction of the leading sculptures, looking, that is, towards the outside of the palace. In the treatment of this sculpture there is revealed an interesting mixture of original Hittite motive with the change brought about, as we suppose, by Semitic infusion. The robe in which he is clad is a survival of the toga so familiar in the sculptures of Asia Minor.[693] The loose folds pass from behind over the right shoulder and are clasped by his left hand. The garment seems to hang quite loosely, and numerous folds in it are shown, following the direction in which it is wrapped around him. The sleeves of the undervest may also be seen, coming to an end as usual at the elbow. His feet are shod with sandals, and there are large bracelets upon his wrists. His hair is dressed in a series of wavy curls, arranged from side to side across the top of the head, and bound by a narrow fillet, which is decorated at intervals with concentric circles. The features of this personage are crudely represented: the eye is shown in full, and exaggerated in size; the nose, in contradistinction to the usual Hittite representations, is small and almost Mongoloid; the lips are heavy. The beard, both upon the cheek and where it hangs freely, is in the style illustrated by the sphinx figure which precedes, but the hair obeys the older convention to a certain extent, being bunched together behind the neck and curling backwards. In his right hand the king-priest holds out something like a cup with a long stem, the precise nature of which is not evident. It can hardly be thought that he is offering to either of the creatures that precede him, inasmuch as they are facing away from him. It seems more likely, from the sculptures which follow, that he is simply refreshing himself with wine. The series is continued, but not upon the same face of the wall; for the stone upon which the priest-king is carved proved to be the corner-stone, marking the return of the inner wall of the wing-tower on that side. On this inner wall two further sculptures are found on two separate slabs. With these the series comes to an end, though it is not clear that the actual corner of the tower is indicated by this discontinuity. Both figures are those of men: both are carved with noticeable skill, and remarkably preserved. They seem to be attendants in the palace or personal servants of the king, for they are clad alike and carry in their hands objects for the king’s use. Their dress is a long robe with a fringe-like band some little way above the hem. Their feet are shod with sandals, the toes of which are slightly upturned. They wear no ornaments, and round their heads there is only a plain fillet ending in a fringed bow. Both stand facing to their right, following their leader, with their right feet advanced, their right arms extended, and the left arms held up by the side of the body. The leader holds up in his right hand what seems to be a fly-whisk, while with his left he holds a pendent object like a piece of leather or ribbon ending in a fringe. This probably explains the representation on the corresponding stone on the opposite side, and it is significant that it seems to have no connection with the dagger, which is suspended from his waist by an attachment passing over the right shoulder. It is interesting to note also that this stone seems to have been carved in situ, for part of the whisk is found upon the corner-stone which precedes it, while the end of the dagger is found in like manner on the stone which follows. The second figure holds aloft a bird carved like a vulture, but from its size and the general nature of the subject it must be taken for a falcon.[694] In his left hand the falconer holds the ‘lure,’ a sling, to which there was generally attached a bell or similar object, to be thrown after the bird to attract it to return. This person also carries a dagger, suspended in like manner by an attachment which passes over the right shoulder, and is connected with the sheath appropriately at two points. The handle of this dagger is peculiar, suggesting a small notch in the metal between the hilt and the blade.

There remains to be mentioned one striking sculptured object, placed as we have mentioned in the middle of the portico between the wing-towers, and clearly defined as the base of an architectural column to support the doorway. The design, in brief, suggests that the weight of the drum was borne upon the backs of two sphinxes standing side by side. All round the top edge the pedestal is decorated with a design of numerous fingers placed side by side, the nails upwards; a similar object was found, as we have seen, at Sinjerli, upon which this detail also was clear. The rest of the sculpture is more simple, but equally striking, not merely from the nature of the design, but from the beautiful quality of its execution. The body of each sphinx seems to be that of an elongated lion. Two paws are seen in front, three from the side and two from behind, so that we have a new convention illustrated, which seems to be peculiar to Hittite art. It recalls that of Assyrian art, but nevertheless differs essentially. In both cases such animals are represented with five legs, in order to give a realistic effect to each of the three points of view. But in Assyrian art the front leg on the remote side would have been repeated in the side view; whereas here it is the hind leg which is duplicated. The human portrait upon this animal is remarkable, recalling to a striking degree the head of the sphinx at Eyuk, and to a certain extent the portrait statue of the Egyptian queen Nefret, to which we have alluded.[695] It seems without doubt to represent a female. The face is full, the lips are firm and somewhat severe, the eyes are hollowed as for the reception of inlaid precious stones. The hair hangs in two ringlets on either side, between which the ear can be seen. Upon the head there is placed a close-fitting wig, or head-dress of that character, made, as we may suspect, of plaited hair or of fine ropework, the strands of which run from front to back. It ends with the shoulders in a triple border, and is decorated on either side of the head with horn-like emblems.[696]

As in the case of the sphinx upon the flanking wall, the breast of this creature is covered with down as though partaking of the scheme completed by the wings, which as in the former case are folded by the side. These cover the upper half of the body only, below which the belly and hindquarters of the animal may be seen, strongly though somewhat conventionally delineated. As in the former cases of lion sculptures there is copious hair under the belly, which in this instance recurs also behind the forepaws and on the hinderquarters. The tail descends between the hind legs, curling forward towards the ground, where with a short backward curl its bushy end may be traced. The two sphinxes are similar in all respects to one another, but the head of one was found to have been broken away. The whole composition of this sculpture is so complex that it may be readily believed that it was not designed from an architectural point of view alone, as the mere support for a plain column. The excavators indeed found reason to believe that in some secondary use of the site, after the upper walling of this palace had been destroyed, the flat top of this pedestal had served as an altar or its equivalent, and by the side of it they found numerous burnt bones and cinders. It is clear, however, that in its original inception the palace doorway must have required a column to help the broad span between the wing-towers, which amounted to more than twenty-three feet. We are inclined to believe that possibly such a column, in conformity with the general design of the building, may have been in the form of a great statue, similar for example to that of Panammu found at Gerdschein near to Sinjerli,[697] and more particularly to the round column-figure found at Palanga.[698] This conclusion is, however, merely hypothetical, based purely on the elaborate nature of the pedestal, and on the rounded nature of the statues in question. It would however, be well accordant with the phase of oriental art to which the sculptures pertain.

PLATE LXXXII