Aleppo

Prior to Hittite occupation Aleppo (Halab, Halep) was the center of the Yamhad Kingdom (19th–16th centuries BCE) and later part of the Mitanni Empire (16th–15th centuries BCE). Althout it was once devastated by Hittite king Mursili I in the 16th century, the city permanently came under Hittite rule in the 15th century BCE. In the 14th century BCE, after his Syrian campaign, Suppiluliuma I installed his son Telipinu as the 'high-priest' of the Storm-God of Aleppo and de-facto ruler of the city. The Storm-God of Aleppo was one of the major deities of the Hittites (For a depiction of this god in Anatolia, see İmamkulu). Telipinu was succeeded by his son Talmi-Sharruma. During the Empire period, the city was overshadowed by Karkamis, which was the main administrative center of the Hittites in Syria. But Aleppo maintained its importance as the center of the Storm-God cult in Syria. After the collapse of the Hittite Empire, Aleppo survived as a Neo-Hittite city-state beyond 1200 BCE. In the 11th century city was under the rule of the kingdom of Falastin (written Palastin/Walastin) centered at Tell Tayinat. The city came under Assyrian rule in the 9th century BCE.

Excavations at the Aleppo Citadel in 1996-2010 by a Syro-German team under Kay Kohlmeyer revealed remains of a Storm-god temple, which went through several construction phases that included the Hittite Empire period and Neo-Hittite period. The latter was in the 11th to 10th century BCE which included the reign of king Taita I of Falastin. Due to later period buildings, only the inner walls of the temple have been unearthed and out walls remain buried. Numerous othostats and sculpture that were found decorating the inner walls and the entrance of the cella. These included several repurposed Empire period pieces, such as most of the orthastats of the eastern wall of the cella. Almost all orthostats and statues are preserved in situ within the Citadel of Aleppo, other than a few that were found earlier in secondary use and had been moved to the Aleppo Museum.

A dedicatory inscription of Talmi-Sharruma (ALEPPO 1) is the only monumental inscription from the Empire period. A large stele of Storm-god (BABYLON 1) and a couple of inscribed stone bowls (BABYLON 2 & 3), which were excavated in Babylon at the palace complex of Nabuchadnezzar II in 1899 (last row of pictures below), were apparently carried away from Aleppo as trophies. The stele is currently in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.


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Aleppo Citadel - Temple of the Storm God

Empire period orthostats and sculpture reused in the Neo-Hittite period temple


Orthostats of the Neo-Hittite period temple