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Funerary Stele of Tarhuntiwasti

The basalt funerary stele of Tarhuntiwasti, wife of Azini. It was first noted in the 1880s and was reportedly found in the vineyard of Dr. Kevork Efendi in Maraş (see the bottom image below). It is about 1.23 meters high and 0.87 meter wide. Top section of the stele has a 2-line Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription which states that stele was erected for Tarhuntiwasti. The scene shows two women in a dining scene. Since no info is given about a second woman, presumably both are representations of Tarhuntiwasti. Dates to the 9th century BCE and is currently in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.


B. Bilgin, 2006 J. D. Hawkins, 2000 J. H. Haynes, 1884


Literature:
Bonatz, D. Syro-hethitische Grabdenkmal, Mainz, 2000. (C 33)
Hawkins, J. D. Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions, Vol 1, Berlin, 2000: 273–74 and plt. 124. (MARAŞ 2)
Hawkins, J. D. Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions, Vol 3, Berlin, 2024: 228, 324. (MARAŞ 2)
Orthmann, W. Untersuchungen zur späthethitischen Kunst, Bonn, 1971. (Maraş B/7)


Image sources:
Bora Bilgin, 2006
J. David Hawkins, 2000.
John Henry Haynes, 1884, Photographs of Asia Minor (#4776), Cornell University.