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Orthostats from the East Wing of the Gatehouse

The basalt orthostat fragments belong to the east wing of the Gatehouse entrance at the top of the Great Staircase. Their full height was around 1.2 meters. The first two reliefs show a four-winged genius and a ruler. The backgrounds of these orthostats have an 8-line Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription (KARKAMIŠ A21b+a), which is written by a "son of Sastura," possibly Astiru II, whose name appears on some of the small fragments that might be restored to the beginning of the inscription on its right side. Several other small inscribed fragments are suspected to be parts of this orthostat group. Another orthostat fragment with an inscription (KARKAMIŠ A26f) on two perpendicular surfaces apparently belongs to a corner block. On its wide face there is the remnant of another male figure. They are dated to the mid-8th century BCE. Larger pieces are in the British Museum, and a few others are in the inventory of the Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara. The whereabouts of some of the small fragments are unknown.


Winged genius and a ruler - J. D. Hawkins, 2000 Copy of the inscription KARKAMIŠ A21b and A20b fragments - J. D. Hawkins, 2000 Frangment of an inscribed corner orthostat (KARKAMIŠ A26f) - J. D. Hawkins, 2000 A possible composition of the orthostat fragments


Literature:
Gilibert, A. Syro-Hittite monumental art and the archaeology of performance, Berlin, 2011. (Carchemish 35–37)
Hawkins, J. D. Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions, Vol 1, Berlin, 2000: 157–63, 169–70 ve levha 48–49, 56. (KARKAMIŠ A21(b+a), A20b frags. 1–13, and A26f)
Hawkins, J. D. Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions, Vol 3, Berlin, 2024: 207–9, 312–13. (KARKAMIŠ A21b+a, A26f)
Orthmann, W. Untersuchungen zur späthethitischen Kunst, Bonn, 1971. (Karkemis Ba/1–2, 7)
Peker, H. Anadolu Hiyeroglif Yazılı Belgeler 1: Geç Hitit Karkamış Krallığı Yazıtları, Bologna, 2022: 87–89.


Image sources:
J. David Hawkins, 2000.