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An Assyrianised rock wall panel with figures at Başbük in south-eastern Turkey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2022

Mehmet Önal ,
Celal Uludağ ,
Yusuf Koyuncu  and
Selim Ferruh Adalı
Mehmet Önal
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Sciences and Literature, University of Harran, Turkey
Celal Uludağ
Affiliation:
Şanlıurfa Museum, Turkey
Yusuf Koyuncu
Affiliation:
Şanlıurfa Museum, Turkey
Selim Ferruh Adalı*
Affiliation:
Department of History, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Social Sciences University of Ankara, Turkey
*
*Author for correspondence ✉ selimferruh.adali@asbu.edu.tr
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Abstract

The Neo-Assyrian Empire of the early first millennium BC ruled over the ancient Near East. South-eastern Anatolia was controlled through vassal city-states and provincial structures. Assyrian governors and local elites expressed their power through elements of Assyrian courtly style. Here, the authors report a rare processional panel recently discovered at Başbük in south-eastern Turkey. Incised on the rock wall of a subterranean complex, the panel features eight deities, three with associated Aramaic inscriptions. The iconographic details and Syro-Anatolian religious themes illustrate the adaptation of Neo-Assyrian art in a provincial context. The panel, which appears to have been left unfinished, is the earliest-known regional attestation of Atargatis, the principal goddess of Syria c. 300 BC–AD 200.

Keywords

TurkeyNeo-AssyrianArameanMiddle Iron Agerock reliefinscription
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 96 , Issue 387 , June 2022 , pp. 575 - 591
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd.

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