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Palmyrene Sculptures found at Hatra

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

Wathiq I. Al-Salihi
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Extract

The excavations by the State Organization of Antiquities at a small shrine at Hatra proved to be important in various aspects. The shrine, which is located to the east of the Great Temple, is oriented towards the west. The excavator believes, on architectural and archaeological grounds, that it has two building phases. In the first, the shrine consisted of a broad cella built of ashlar masonry with three entrances on the west side; the middle opening is the widest and is decorated with an arch. The façade with three entrances is also found in shrines V, IX, X. The lintel of the central entrance bears an Aramaic inscription stating that certain persons had constructed the shrine and dedicated it to the worship of GND’, the Arab god of Fortune. The narrow staircase, which led to the roof, is enclosed in the thickness of the southern wall. This architectural feature was not found in the rest of the small shrines, the staircases of which were built along one side wall, but it is common in the larger temples, i.e. Šaḥiru, Šamaš, and the Great Iwans in the Great Temple enclosure.

The floor of the rectangular niche, which had the same function as the cella, is reached by a few marble steps. The excavator has found fragments of a cult statue, an inscribed relief of a priest, and an altar. Like most of the small shrines, in its early phase the shrine had a low bench, made of marble, running along the inside of the broad cella's wall.

Type
Research Article
Information
IRAQ , Volume 49 , 1987 , pp. 53 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 1987

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References

1 Excavations in Iraq 1981–82, Iraq 45 (1983), 211–13Google Scholar.

2 For the city planning of Hatra, see Safar, Fuad and Mustapha, Muhammed Ali, Hatra, the city of the Sun-God (Baghdad, 1974), Plan IGoogle Scholar.

3 Information by courtesy of Mr. Hazim Najafy, the excavator of the shrine. I wish to express my sincere thanks to him for permission to study and publish the material discussed in this article.

4 Iraq 45 (1983), 212 Google Scholar.

5 Safar and Mustapha, op. cit., 230–42.

6 Ibid., 356.

7 Ibid., 362–3.

8 Ibid., 364–5.

9 Discussion with Mr. Najafy.

10 Al-Salihi, Wathiq, Further notes on Hercules Gnd' at Hatra, Sumer 38 (1982), 137–40Google Scholar.

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16 Ibid., 78.

17 Ibid., 76.

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20 Safar and Mustapha, op. cit., 87, 89–91, 208.

21 Ibid., 134, 226–7.

22 Ibid., inscription nos. 207, 413

23 Dio Cassius, 76, 11–13.

24 A. Bellinger, The Excavations al Dura-Europos, Final Report VI, The Coins, no. 172.

25 For the worship of Allat, cf. Al-Salihi, Wathiq, Sumer 32 (1976), 177–9Google Scholar.

26 Judging from the graffiti, the name could be ‘Abdšlm, which is a well known name at Hatra, inscriptions nos. 15, 25, 150, 203.

27 Well-known Hatrene name, inscriptions nos. 152, 221, 232, 237.

28 This name was mentioned as ‘qb (inscriptions. 49, 186, 235); ‘qb’ (inscriptions 19, 223, 224).

29 Malcolm Colledge, The Art of Palmyra (London, 1976), 42–3, Fig. 23Google Scholar.

30 Ibid., 41, Fig. 22.

31 For the discussion of Yarḥibôl, cf. Teixidor, Javier, The Pagan God (Princeton, N.J., 1977), 110–13Google Scholar; Downey, Susan, The Excavations at Dura-Europus, The Stone and Plaster Sculpture, Final Report III, Part I, Fasc. 2 (Los Angeles, 1976), 213–15Google Scholar.

32 Teixidor, op. cit., 112.

33 Colledge, op. cit., 24.

34 Ibid., 45–6, Fig. 36.

35 Downey, op. cit., 213.

36 Ibid., 213–15.

37 Safar and Mustapha, op. cit., 334.

38 Downey, op. cit., 195.

39 Ibid., 195.