Erzin Stele

The basalt stele was found in 1987 by O. Günay in his field at the Yurtlak locality, which lies a few km west of Erzin in Hatay province. The stele is broken in half in the middle. It has a tenon extension at the bottom that indicates it had been erected on a base. Along with the tenon, it is 0.96 m in height, 0.46 m in width, and 0.16 m in thickness. The highly abraded relief on the front face depicts the Storm-god in a typical pose standing on a bull with a double-headed axe in the right hand and a lightning symbol on the left. Different from the usual depictions, in his left hand he also holds a snake by the neck. The body of the snake circles around the god with its tail curling upwards on the left. The scene is likely a depiction of the Storm-god's fight with a serpent, a motif known from both Anatolian and Syrian myths. Above the Storm-god is a partly damaged winged sun disc symbol. The stele has been dated to sometime between the 9th and 8th centuries BCE. It is on display in Hatay Museum.


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