Sam'al

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Sam'al​
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Basalt - lion sculptures from the inner castle gate in Sam'al / Zincirli from the 8th century BC.. BC ( Pergamon Museum , Berlin )

Sam'al (also Sendschirli , Ja'udi , Bit Gabbar ) was an Aramaic city-state in the former northern Syrian area (today's Zincirli in southeastern Turkey , ten kilometers northeast of İslahiye and 70 kilometers west of Gaziantep ). It was south of Gurgum (Maraş) and east of Hilakku ( Cilicia ).

etymology

The current name Zincirli (Höyük) means "chained (hill)". It is explained by the fact that the outer wall ran like a wreath around the hill.

The name Sam'al can be traced back to the Semitic root שֹמאל sm'l with the meaning "left". Since “north” is on the left when looking to the east, Sam'al can be translated as “north country”.

The name Ja'udi could not yet be explained.

Bit Gabbar , translated “House of Gabbar”, names the place after the founder of the dynasty Gabbaru , whose name is probably related to the root גבר gbr “to be strong” and means “hero / leader”.

topography

Sam'al Castle,
reconstruction drawing
Zincirli Höyük

The city lay on a plain at the foot of the Nurgebirge . It was laid out quite symmetrically and protected by a double, almost circular city wall with a diameter of 720 to 800 meters. Each of the two walls, made of air-dried mud bricks, was over three meters thick, the distance between them was seven meters. The walls had around 100 tower projections for surveillance and three entrances. The housing estate was within the walls.

A citadel with an irregular oval shape lay on a natural hill above the city . There was only one entrance in the outer fortification wall in the south, it was protected by two pincer gates one behind the other. Further courtyards followed, which were separated from each other by transverse walls. On the citadel there were several palaces in the Hilani style from Syria , i.e. with an entrance decorated with wooden columns and a transverse main room. There are also palaces from the Assyrian period (G, J, K, H 1-5) and magazines on the citadel .

The three gates of the city, chamber gates between two high towers, are decorated with basalt plates (orthostats) in relief, typical of the late Hittite period. From the 9th century BC There are three-dimensional lion figures and a sphinx , which probably belonged to the figurative decoration of the gate. About 25 km to the southeast is the sculptor's workshop of Yesemek , which belongs to the dominion of the city and where the sphinx was made.

history

The exact time when Ja'udi was created is not known. What is certain is that the city-state at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC Founded by immigrant Arameans and renamed Ja'udi / Sam'al. The original name of this region has not been preserved, but previously belonged to the Hittite Empire .

Salmānu-ašarēd III. fought according to his report on the Kurkh monolith with allies from Bit Adini , Karkemiš and Unqi ( Amuq ) against Judi. In the late 8th century BC It came under Assyrian rule.

Kilammuwa stele

Kilammuwa stele
(Pergamon Museum)

From the 8th century BC The stele of Kilamuwa (Phoenician inscription) comes from the 4th century BC . Kilammuwa is characterized by Assyrian royal clothing. Its symbols are the horned helmet, the bow, the winged representation of the sun and the crescent moon. The literary style corresponds to the then common customs in Phenicia :

“I am Kilammuwa, the son of Ḫajanu . Gabbar (u) was king over Ja'udi, but he did nothing. Bamach also ruled , he did nothing either. My father Chajanu did nothing either. My brother Sa'ûl did nothing either. But I, Kilammuwa, the son of Chayanu, did something that those who were before me did not. My father's house was under mighty kings. Everyone put out their hand to fight. But I was in the hands of kings like a fire that devours the beard and the hand. And the king of the Danuneans stood over me, but I hired the king of Assyria against him. A virgin was given for a sheep and a man for a garment. I am Kilammuwa, the son of Chajanu, and I have sat on my father's throne. "

- Kilammuwa

Panam-muwa II stele.

A detailed report on the stele of Panam-muwa II , which his son Bar-Rakib had made (Phoenician-Aramaic), shows the course of events during this period:

"This stele was set up by Bar-Rakib for his father Panam-muwa II .... My father was the son of Bar-Sur .... The gods saved the house of Panam-muwa II from being exterminated ... At the time of Panam-muwa I, the god Adad stood on his throne and caused him to be killed by rebellion .... 70 members of the house were also killed. The rest of the relatives were sent to prisons .... There were more devastated than inhabited places. The sword should be drawn all the way against my house. My father Panam-muwa and I were supposed to be killed .... So Panam-muwa II became a sword himself in Ja'udi land .... My father brought Tiglat-Pileser III to the king . Presents, which made my father King of Ja'udi .... Tiglat-Pileser III. killed Azariah the stone of destruction of my father's house. In gratitude he gave him treasures from the gods of Ja'udi. "

- Bar rakib

The background was the campaign of Tiglat-Pileser III. against a coalition led by Azariah . After the victory by Tiglat-Pileser III. the city-states Sumura , Arqa , Usnu and Siannu were subordinated to the province of Hama , but without losing their independence.

City walls at the northeast gate
Excavations in the southern citadel

List of city kings

A number of Aramaic inscriptions give the names of the city's rulers.

Excavation history

Sam'al was excavated in five stages between 1888 and 1902. By Carl Humann , Otto Puchstein , Felix von Luschan and Robert Koldewey a particularly good imaginable in its dimensions seat of government of the early was Iron Age exposed. Since 2006, a team from the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago under the direction of David Schloen has been digging in Zincirli.

See also

literature

  • Walter Andrae : The small finds from Sendschirli. Excavations in Sendschirli V. de Gruyter, Berlin 1943.
  • Thomas Friedrich: The excavations of Sendschirli and the bit hillani. In: Contributions to Assyriology and Semitic Linguistics. Vol. 1-10. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1889-1913 / 27, pp. 227 ff.
  • Benno Landsberger : Sam'al . Turkish Historical Society's printing house, Ankara 1948.
  • Felix von Luschan , Robert Koldewey , Carl Humann : Excavations in Sendschirli I-III. Orient-Comité, Berlin 1893 ff.
  • Felix von Luschan, Jacoby: Excavations in Sendschirli IV . Orient-Comite, Berlin 1911.
  • Herbert Niehr : Burial and ancestor cult in the royal houses of Sam'al (Zincirli) and Guzāna (Tell Ḥalāf) in northern Syria. In: Journal of the German Palestine Association 122 . 2006, pp. 111-139.
  • Winfried Orthmann : The old Orient. Propylaea art history 18. Propylaea, Frankfurt 1985, ISBN 3-549-05666-4 .
  • Josef Tropper : The inscriptions by Zincirli. New edition and comparative grammar of the Phoenician, Sam'ali and Aramaic text corpus. Ugarit, Münster 1993, ISBN 3-927120-14-6 .
  • Ralf-B. Wartke : Sam'al. An Aramaic city-state from the 10th to the 8th centuries. v. And the history of its exploration. Zabern, Mainz 2005, ISBN 3-8053-2918-0

Web links

Commons : Sam'al  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Gesenius , 16th ed. 1915, p. 787
  2. ↑ Gesenius , 16th ed. 1915, p. 128
  3. ^ Siegfried Kreuzer:  Kilamuwa. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (Eds.): The Scientific Biblical Lexicon on the Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff.
  4. ↑ Erich Ebeling : Gabbaru . In: Dietz-Otto Edzard et al: Reallexikon der Assyriologie and Near Eastern Archeology , Vol. 3: Fabel - Gyges and addendum . de Gruyter, Berlin 1971, ISBN 3-11-003705-X , p. 129.
  5. ↑ The full text is in TUAT 1 Old Series, p. 639 f. to read. See also the web link to the text.
  6. ↑ TUAT 1 old series, p. 630 ff.
  7. ↑ The full text can be found in the TUAT 1 old series, p. 630 ff.
  8. ↑ The named Azari-yahu / Asari-yahu / Asrj-jhw was in the inscriptions of Tiglat-Pileser III. as the reason for the cry for help 739 BC Called BC. See the report in the TUAT 1 Old Series, p. 630 ff.
  9. ↑ Bruno Meissner, Erich Ebeling, Ernst Weidner, Wolfram v. Soden: Real Lexicon of Assyriology . P. 537
  10. ↑ a b Sur is another name for Tire