Pictures & images of the ancient Hittite monumental relief orthostat sculpture artefacts from the Pergamon Museum, Berlin.
The Hittites were a Bronze Age civilisation that ruled large parts of Mesopotamia from 1680-1180 BC and rivalled Egypt in its power. After the collapse of the Hittite civilisation the Hittites disappeared from the archaeological record until rediscovered in the 18th century. When the Hittite Empire collapsed small independent principalities formed in...
more »Pictures & images of the ancient Hittite monumental relief orthostat sculpture artefacts from the Pergamon Museum, Berlin.
The Hittites were a Bronze Age civilisation that ruled large parts of Mesopotamia from 1680-1180 BC and rivalled Egypt in its power. After the collapse of the Hittite civilisation the Hittites disappeared from the archaeological record until rediscovered in the 18th century. When the Hittite Empire collapsed small independent principalities formed in Syria and Anatolian Turkey known as Neo Hittites or Syro-Hittites.
Tell Halaf is one of the Syro Hittite Principalities. Situated in north east of Syria near the Turkish border town of Ceylanpınar, Tell Halaf is in the fertile valley of the Khabur River. Its ruins were discovered in 1899 by Baron Von Oppenheim a German diplomat who was surveying the area to build the Bagdad Railway. From 1911 to 1913 Von Oppenheim got permission from the ruling Ottoman Empire to excavate Tell Halaf. The resultant finds revealed the Syro Hittite stone orthostats that are exhibited in the The Vorderasiatisches Museum (Near East Museum) which is in the south wing of the Pergamon Museum, Berlin.
Sam’al, Known in Hittite as Yadiya, was a Hittite and Aramaean city located at Zincirli Höyük in the Anti-Taurus Mountains of modern Turkey's Gaziantep Province. Sam'al was excavated between 1888 and 1902 by the German Oriental Society led by Felix Von Luschan and Robert Koldewey. The excavations on the citadel recovered large numbers of relief-carved Syro Hittite orthostats which were returned to the Pergamon museum.
The Syro Hittite orthostats in the Pergamon Museum are typical of the Neo Hittite style orthostats found at the old Hittite cities all over Anatolia and Northern Syria. Made between 100-800BC these late Bronze age artworks depict mythical animals and gods from the vast pantheon of Hittite Gods. The on going translation of clay cuneiform tablets from the Old Hittite Kingdom capital of Hattusa, in Northern Anatolia, have revealed that the Hittites had a God for nearly everything. Every animal had a God version as did inanimate objects and certain places had specific Gods associated with them. When the Hittites conquered new territory they took on the local Gods of the peoples they subjugated. The Hittites venerated a vast pantheon of deities and the art they produced to venerate the Gods reveals how creative Hittite artists imagination was.
The Pergamon Syro Hittite Orthostats reveal a religious world full of wonderful deities and animals that are half animal and half God. The simplicity of the bas relief sculptures creates indexing images of 2D characters. The Orthostats were used as wall decorations in the Temples, Gateways and Palaces of the Syro Hittite cities.
Download pictures and images of Neo Hittite Orthostats at the Pergamon Museum or buy as Photo art prints
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![The Kilamuwa Stela a stele of King Kilamuwa, from the Kingdom of Sam'al. The stele is a 16-line text in Phoenician. King Kilamuwa is shown standing on the upper left and addressing four Canaanite god-insignias with his right arm and finger. His left hand is draped at his left side holding a wilted lotus flower, a symbol of a king's death. He is dressed in king's regalia with hat, and his figure stands at the beginning of the first nine lines of the text.. Basalt 9th-century BC. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Pergamon Museum, Berlin. The text reads "I am Kilamuwa, the son of King Haya'. King Gabar reigned over Ya'diya-(Sam'al) but achieved nothing.<br />
Then came Bamah, and he achieved nothing.<br />
My own father, Haya', did nothing with his reign.<br />
My brother, Sha'il, also did nothing.<br />
It was I, Kilamuwa...who managed to do what none of my ancestors had.<br />
My father's kingdom was beset by powerful, predatory kings, all holding out their hands, demanding to be fed.<br />
But I raged amongst them like a fire, burning their beards and consuming their outstretched hands.<br />
Only the Danunian kings overmastered me; I had to call on the King of Assyria to assist me...<br />
I, Kilamuwa, the son of Haya', ascended my father's throne.<br />
Under their previous kings, the [people] had howled like dogs.<br />
But I was a father, a mother and a brother to them.<br />
I gave gold, silver and cattle to men who had never so much as seen the face of a sheep before.<br />
Those who had never even seen linen all their lives I clothed in byssus-cloth from head to foot.<br />
I took the [people] by the hand and in their souls they looked to me just as the orphan looks to his mother."<br />
"Whoever of my sons comes after me and interferes with this inscription, may he be dishonoured among the people...<br />
And if anyone should damage this inscription,<br />
Let Gabar's god Ba'al-Samad destroy his head,<br />
And let Bamah's god Ba'al Hamon destroy his head..."<br />
Together with Reχub-ʾEl, the Lord of the Palace](https://ssl.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000tqhOZf893rY/t/200/I0000tqhOZf893rY.jpg)
![Hittite relief sculptures of Gods at the Yazilikaya Sancutary [ i.e written riock ], Hattusa, Turkey. The largest known Hittite sanctuary. 12th - 13th century BC made in the reign of Tudhaliya 1V . Plastercast at the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Pergamon Museum, Berlin.](https://ssl.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I00005GY3fY0q9j8/t/200/I00005GY3fY0q9j8.jpg)
![Hittite relief sculptures of Gods at the Yazilikaya Sancutary [ i.e written riock ], Hattusa, Turkey. The largest known Hittite sanctuary. 12th - 13th century BC made in the reign of Tudhaliya 1V . Plastercast at the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Pergamon Museum, Berlin.](https://ssl.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000Wu6p6iGDcPo/t/200/I0000Wu6p6iGDcPo.jpg)
![Hittite relief sculptures of Gods at the Yazilikaya Sancutary [ i.e written riock ], Hattusa, Turkey. The largest known Hittite sanctuary. 12th - 13th century BC made in the reign of Tudhaliya 1V . Plastercast at the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Pergamon Museum, Berlin.](https://ssl.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000LaEmd7Am_SM/t/200/I0000LaEmd7Am_SM.jpg)
