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Hunu Lion

The portal lion was found in 1958 in Hunu village (today Arıtaş) of the Afşin township of Kahramanmaraş province and transferred to the Maraş Museum in 1961. It is about 1.30 m high, 1.60 m long, and 0.44 m wide. Lion's face is damaged, and the back half appears to have been left unfinished. The left side is flat with no details. Although the Hunu village sits on top of an ancient mound, it is uncertain whether the lion originated from the site since no other Neo-Hittite period remains have been observed. A date in the 11th to 10th century BCE has been suggested. The lion is on display in the Kahramanmaraş Museum.


Click on the pictures for larger images.

Hunu lion - B. Bilgin, 2015 Hunu lion - F. Manuelli, 2019 Hunu lion - F. Manuelli, 2019 Hunu lion - Di Filippo & Manuelli, 2021 (drawing R. Zahler)


Literature:
Di Filippo, F. & Manuelli, F. "Hic sunt leones. Iconographic analysis and computational modelling for the study of the Iron Age free-standing lions of the Elbistan plain (south-eastern Anatolia). Asia Anteriore Antica. JANEC 3, 2021: 43–72.
Dumankaya O. & Topaloğlu, Y. "Kahramanmaraş Afşin ve Elbistan İlçeleri 2016 Yılı Yüzey Araştırması, AST 35-2, 2017 : 285–310 (291).
Kökten, I. K. "Anadolu Maraş vilayetinde tarihten dip tarihe gidiş," Türk Arkeoloji Dergisi X/1, 1960: 42–52 (43 and plt. XV).
(List of Abbreviations)


Image sources:
Bora Bilgin, 2015.
Federico Manuelli, 2019.
Francesca Di Filippo & Federico Manuelli, 2021.