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Stele with double-headed eagle

The basalt stele was found during the excavations in 1936 as reused in the threshold of a later period building. It is about 2.85 m high, 0.40 m thick, and 0.90 m wide at the bottom section. The reliefs on the highly abraded front face show a double-headed eagle in the center, a dining scene with two male figures above, and the symbols of sun and moon at the top. Riis & Buhl suggest that the heads of the double-headed bird are actually in the shape of lions. The stele is dated to around 900 BCE.


Stele with double-headed eagle - H. Ingolt, 1942


Literature:
Fugmann, E. Hama II.1 - L'architecture des périodes pré-hellénistiques, Copenhagen, 1958. (181, 184)
Ingolt, H. "The Danish Excavations at Hama on the Orontes," AJA 46, 1942: 469–476.
Orthmann, W. Untersuchungen zur späthethitischen Kunst, Bonn, 1971 (Hama B/4).
Riis, P. J. and M.-L. Buhl. Hama II.2 - Les objets de la période dite syro-hittite (âge du fer), Copenhagen, 1990. (56–59; No. 48)
(List of Abbreviations)


Image sources:
Harald Ingolt, 1942.