- Sam'al
Sam'al (modern Zincirli Höyük,
Turkey ) was aSyro-Hittite city located in theAnti-Taurus Mountains of modern south-centralTurkey .The city of Sam'al is believed to have developed during the late Hittite era, and became part of the
Assyrian Empire after the Hittite Empire fell around 1190 BC. From approximately the tenth century BC to the seventh century BC, it was the capital of the kingdom of Sam'al.The site was excavated from 1888 to 1902 by a
German Oriental Society expedition. They found a heavily fortified teardrop-shapedcitadel , which was surrounded by the as yet unexcavated town and a further enormous double fortification wall with three gates and 100 bastions. Among the notable objects found at the site are five giant statues of lions carved from stone, which apparently had guarded the gates of the city, but may have been ritually buried together within the citadel. The German excavations on the citadel recovered large numbers of relief-carved orthostats, along with inscriptions inAramaic , Phoenician,Luwian , and Akkadian. These are on exhibit inBerlin andIstanbul .In
August 2006 , theOriental Institute of theUniversity of Chicago began a new long-term excavation project at the site of Zincirli under the directorship of David Schloen.References
* Parker, Simon B. (1996). "Appeals for military intervention: stories from Zinjirli and the Bible". "
The Biblical Archaeologist " 59(4): 213-224.
* Ussishkin, David (1970). "The Syro-Hittite ritual burial of monuments". "Journal of Near Eastern Studies " 29(2): 124-128.
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