The Stele of Zakkur (or ''Zakir'') is a royal

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

of King

Zakkur Zakkur (or ''Zakir'') was the ancient king of Hamath and Luhuti (also known as Nuhašše) in Syria. He ruled around 785 BC. Most of the information about him comes from his basalt stele, known as the Stele of Zakkur. History Irhuleni and his son ...

Hamath Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one of ...

and

Luhuti Luhuti, Lukhuti or Lu'ash, was a Syro-Hittite region during the early 1st millennium BC, located in northern Syria, in an area that used to be called Nuhašše. Political situation and capital Luhuti was a region of uncertain political status, ...

(or Lu'aš) in the province

Nuhašše Nuhašše (kurnu-ḫa-áš-še; kurnu-ḫa-šeki), was a region in northwestern Syria that flourished in the 2nd millennium BC. It was east of the Orontes River bordering Aleppo (northwest) and Qatna (south). It was a petty kingdom or federacy of ...

of Syria, who ruled around 785 BC.

Description

The inscription was on the lower part of the original stele. The upper part is now missing; it probably had the statue of king Zakkur sitting on a chair. Only some small parts of the upper part are still preserved such as the feet.

Discovery

The Stele was discovered in 1903 at

Tell Afis Tell Afis is an archaeological site in the Idlib Governorate of northern Syria, lying about fifty kilometers southeast of Aleppo and 11 kilometers north of the ancient site of Ebla.Venturi, F., "La Siria nell’Età delle Trasformazioni: Nuovi Co ...

(mentioned in the Stele as ''Hazrach''), 45 km southeast of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

, in the territory of the ancient kingdom of

Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...

th. It was published in 1907. The long inscription is known as KAI 202; it reads, in part: :''I am Zakkur, king of Hamath and Luash . . . Bar-Hadad, son of Hazael, king of Aram, united against me seventeen kings . . .all these kings laid siege to Hazrach . . . Baalshamayn said to me, "Do not be afraid! . . .I will save you from all hese kings whohave besieged you"''Ivor Poobalan
“The Period of Jeroboam II with Special Reference to Amos,”
JCTS 3 ournal of the Colombo Theological Seminary(2005): 43‒74 (47) // archive.org 'Bar-Hadad' mentioned in the inscription may have been Bar-Hadad III, son of

Hazael Hazael (; ; Old Aramaic 𐤇𐤆𐤀𐤋 ''Ḥzʔl'') was a king of Aram-Damascus mentioned in the Bible. Under his reign, Aram-Damascus became an empire that ruled over large parts of contemporary Syria and Israel-Samaria. While he was likely ...

Deities

Two gods are mentioned in the inscription,

Baalshamin Baalshamin (), also called Baal Shamem () and Baal Shamaim (), was a Northwest Semitic god and a title applied to different gods at different places or times in ancient Middle Eastern inscriptions, especially in Canaan/Phoenicia and Syria. The t ...

and Iluwer. Iluwer was the personal god of king Zakkur, while Baalshamin was the god of the city. It is believed that Iluwer represents the earlier god Mer or Wer going back to 3rd millennium BC. This inscription represents the earliest Aramaean evidence of the god Baalshamin/Ba'alsamayin. Phoenician

Yehimilk inscription The Yehimilk inscription is a Phoenician inscription (KAI 4 or TSSI III 6) published in 1930, currently in the museum of Byblos Castle. It was published in Maurice Dunand's ''Fouilles de Byblos'' (volume I, 1926–1932, numbers 1141, plate X ...

, also mentioning Baalshamin is even earlier. It dates to the 10th century BCE.

Notes

Bibliography

* Pognon, H., Inscriptions sémitiques de la Syrie, de la Mésopotamie, et de la région de Mossoul. Paris: Imprimerie nationale/Gabalda, 1907, 156–178. * Driver, Samuel R., "An Aramaic Inscription from Syria." Expositor 7/5 (1908): 481–90. * Ronzevalle, S., "An Aramaic inscription of Zakir, ruler of Hamath and Laˁš." Al-Mashriq 11 (1908): 302–10. * Halévy, J., "Inscription de Zakir, roi de Hamat, découverte par M. H. Pognon." RevSém 16 (1908): 243–46. * Nöldeke, Theodor, "Aramäische Inschriften." ZA 21 (1908): 375–88. * Montgomery, James A., "Some Gleanings from Pognon's ZKR Inscription." JBL 28 (1909): 57–70. * Barstad, Hans M., "The Prophet Oded and the Zakkur Inscription: A Case of Obscuriore Obscurum?" in: Exum, J. Cheryl, Williamson, Hugh G. M. (eds.), "Reading from Right to Left. Essays on the Hebrew Bible in Honour of David J.A. Clines," JSOT.S vol. 373. Sheffield 2003, 25–37. * Sader, H., "Prophecy in Syria: Zakkur of Hamath and Luʿash," in: Rollston, Christopher A. (ed.), "Enemies and Friends of the State: Ancient Prophecy in Context," University Park/PA 2018, 115–134.

External links

The Aramaic Inscription of Zakar, King of Hamath
*
picture
of the stele online. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zakkur, stele 9th-century BC steles 8th-century BC steles 1903 archaeological discoveries Ancient Near East steles Syro-Hittite states Zakur Syrian art Archaeological discoveries in Syria Near Eastern and Middle Eastern antiquities in the Louvre Phoenician inscriptions KAI inscriptions Phoenician steles