Tuesday, May 17, 2022

More on the Neo-Assyrian Aramean gods relief

PARIETAL PETROGLYPHS UPDATE: Unique Assyrian Relief With Aramaic Text Found Beneath Turkish House. First came the robbers, then the cops, then the archaeologists: This is the only Assyrian relief ever found underground, and with Aramaic names for the gods (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).
Within that artificial cavern carved into the bedrock, artists began – but apparently did not finish – a wall relief almost 4 meters in length. Time-worn but unmistakably Assyrian in style, the panel shows a procession of eight major gods, the archaeologists say.

Moreover, the first three gods are accompanied by inscriptions. The gods are Syro-Anatolian but their names are Aramaic, in style and in writing. This is the only Neo-Assyrian relief found to date that has Aramaic text, the archaeologists say and as said is the only Neo-Assyrian relief ever to be discovered underground, though one was found in a cave at the source of the Tigris, the team philologist Dr. Selim Ferruh Adali qualifies.

This article has more details that I have seen in others, especially about the engraved divine images and the accompanying Aramaic inscriptions.

Background here.

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