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Relief and inscription of King Taita of Palistin

During the 2003 season of the excavations at the Aleppo citadel, the orthostats of the eastern wall of the cella were uncovered in situ. Among them is a relief of King Taita of Palistin carved on a black basalt slab that stands almost 2 meters tall. The king is shown facing a relief of the Storm God to his right. There is an 11-line incised Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription (ALEPPO 6) that starts on the flat space above the king's head and continues on the limestone slab to the right. The inscription identifies that male figure in the fist person as "King Taita, the Hero, Palistinean King" and instructs the visitors to make offerings to the Storm God of Aleppo.

King Taita and the inscription - J. D. Hawkins, 2011 Drawing of ALEPPO 6 inscription - J. D. Hawkins, 2011


Literature:
Gonnella, J., W. Khayyata, K. Kohlmeyer, Die Zitadelle von Aleppo und der Tempel des Wettergottes: Neue Forschungen und Entdeckungen. Münster: Rhema, 2005: 92–93.
Hawkins, J. D. "The inscriptions of the Aleppo Temple," Anatolian Studies 61, 2011: 35–54 (40–44).
Hawkins, J. D. Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions, Vol 3, Berlin, 2024: 152–54 and plts. 99–100.
Kohlmeyer, K. “The Temple of the Storm God in Aleppo during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages.” NEA 74.4, 2009: 190–202 (198).


Image sources:
J. David Hawkins, 2011.