Fig. 100.—North-east corner or Principal Citadel, from the north.
Fig. 101.—The basalt lion in the Principal Citadel.
Fig. 102.—The Shamash-resh-ussur stela.
Close to the lion but deeper down was found a fine large stela of white limestone, which the “governor of the lands of Sukhi and of the lands of Maër” caused to be made in his honour (Fig. [102]). His name was Shamashresh-ussur, and his lands lay in the neighbourhood of the Khabur, on the Euphrates. He caused himself to be represented in the midst of the gods worshipped by him, and the name of each figure is inscribed close to it. In his left hand he holds the club with the rounded stone head, the same that is in use here to-day and called “Hattre.” When the club has the same shaped head in asphalt instead of stone it is called “Mugwar.” His right hand, which is clenched in votive fashion, is raised to the statue of Adad the weather god, who stands before him, with a long beard and long hair, and with shafts of lightning in his hand, and a feather crown on his head. His girdle is wound twice round his body, and then tucked in slanting, exactly as the town Arabs of to-day wear their girdles. Next to Adad stands the somewhat smaller statue of Ishtar. She is raising the right hand in greeting, and is leaning on the bow with her left, upon which her star Venus is resting. The arrangement of her hair differs from that of a man, as one lock hangs long in front of the ear. The third statue is largely broken away. The three great shields worn by the figures in front of the lower part of the body are remarkable, but they are found on representations of other divinities. They hang one above another, and are held in place from behind by ornamented bands. We must suppose them to be gold plates, and they do not occur on the dress of human beings. The statues stand on pedestals, which are decorated with a pattern representing mountains, rows of semicircular peaks which form the same scheme of decoration that the cotton-printer in Persia to-day uses to express mountains on his so-called “Perde” hangings. Other divinities beside these three are introduced by means of their emblems: Marduk by the shafted triangle on a pedestal, Nabu by his writing-stick, Shamash by the winged disc of the sun, which, however, is half broken away, and Sin by the new moon. The relief is worked in the flat level manner characteristic of the Assyrian provincial style of the seventh century B.C.
On the stone face surrounding this sunk relief there is a Neo-Babylonian inscription of many columns, which is thus epitomised by Weissbach: “It begins with a sudden invasion of neighbouring foes (the Tu’mânu people) who were some of them killed, and some overthrown (col. 2, 17–26). Restoration of the fallen canal of Suḫi and inauguration of the same by a trial voyage (2, 27–37). The planting of date palms and setting up of his throne in Ribaniš (2, 38–44). Founding and laying out of the town Gabbari-KAK. Malediction (col. 3). With this the inscription originally ended. The governor, however, continued his works of peace, the planting of palms and introducing of bees (?), and described these further in the 4th and 5th columns.” The stela was inserted in a plinth with the aid of a tenon at the base, as was always done with stelae. This one does not appear to have arrived in Babylon by peaceful methods. As a rule a prince would not have allowed any addition to be made to his inscription.
The ancient Hittite stela which was found to the east of the lion (Figs. [103], [104]) must also be regarded as booty. On the front of the somewhat coarse-grained block of dolerite there stands the weather god (Teshup?), with the rays of lightning in his left hand, the axe in his right hand, and a sword in his girdle. He wears a short-sleeved garment, peaked shoes, and a remarkable cap with a knob at the top and horns or double rims at the sides, as well as bracelets and an anklet on the right foot. The lips are shaven, and a long lock of hair falls down on his shoulder. The rounded back of the stela contains a long, well-preserved inscription of Hittite hieroglyphs,—a script which is still undeciphered. There is a similar representation on the east side of the outer citadel gateway of Sendjirli, and no doubt our stela comes from the same region of Northern Syria. The style of its relief is between that of the citadel gateway and of the town gate of Sendjirli, and it may therefore be ascribed to the tenth century B.C. (see F. v. Luschan, Ausgrabungen von Sendschirli, iii.).
Figs. 103, 104.—The Hittite stela.
Obverse. Reverse.