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

ÖNAL M., Uludag C., Koyuncu Y., Adali S. F.

ANTIQUITY, vol.96, no.387, pp.575-591, 2022 (AHCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 96 Issue: 387
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Doi Number: 10.15184/aqy.2022.48
  • Journal Name: ANTIQUITY
  • Journal Indexes: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, FRANCIS, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Periodicals Index Online, L'Année philologique, Anthropological Literature, Art Abstracts, Art Index, Art Source, Artic & Antarctic Regions, ATLA Religion Database, Humanities Abstracts, Index Islamicus, International Bibliography of Art, Linguistic Bibliography, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Religion and Philosophy Collection, DIALNET
  • Page Numbers: pp.575-591
  • Keywords: Turkey, Neo-Assyrian, Aramean, Middle Iron Age, rock relief, inscription
  • Ankara University Affiliated: Yes

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 Babuk 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.