Studia Palmyreńskie (12.2013)

Palmyrenes in Hatra: eyidence for cultural RELATIONS IN THE Fertile Crescent

The Palmyrene origin of this sculpture is beyond doubt and follows from the characteristic
yellow limestone, the Palmyrene script and the personal names in the inscription on the plinth.
The iconography and style of the figures likewise deviate from the sculptures from Hatra. The
dedicant is identified as Obaihan, freedman of Addai (al-Salihi 1987, and the corrected reading of
Aggoula 1988:194). Whereas Addai is common in both cities, Obaihan is well attested in Palmyra
and only this once in Hatra.7 The expression br hry, 'freedman', is common in Palmyrene inscrip-
tions, but there are no parallels known from Hatrene texts.8 The relief has several iconographic
peculiarities that are without parallel in Hatra, but were common in Palmyra. Allat was wor-
shipped in Palmyra and Hatra, and in both cities the goddess was simultaneously represented in
multiple and in some cases strikingly different ways.9 The iconography of the goddess in this
relief, however, tallies with representations from Palmyra and deviates from the iconography of
the goddess in Hatra, where Allat is normally represented wearing a high conical headdress
[Fig. 4],10 The olive branch that Obaihan holds in his right hand is also unaccounted for in repre-
sentations from Hatra, whereas it is a common motif in Palmyra.11

The style of the relief differs from the Hatra carvings and tallies with the style of several early
Palmyrene sculptures. Stylistically, the relief is similar to two reliefs from the tempie of Nebo in
Palmyra: a votive relief that pictures three generations of priests of Nebo [Fig. 5] and the famous
relief that pictures the enthroned goddess with dog and Tyche.12 Of special notę is the similar treat-
ment of the drapery and the eyes, as well as the double linę on the neck, the awkward pose of the
hand holding a branch and the smali feet. The thick lock of hair that falls over the goddess' shoul-
der is also typical of early Palmyrene sculptures.13 These stylistic parallels suggest that the relief
from Tempie XIII was fabricated in Palmyra around AD 50-100. If the relief was dedicated in the
tempie shortly after its fabrication in the second half of the lst century, it follows that Tempie XIII
is one of the oldest shrines in the city. So far. Tempie VIII, dated to AD 98, and Tempie XIV, dated
to AD 101, are the oldest datable shrines. Unfortunately, Tempie XIII itself yielded nothing in eon-
firmation of such an early datę; all the dated inscriptions are from the last years of the city's exis~
tence.14 If the shrine was indeed founded around the end of the lst or the beginning of the 2nd
century, it follows that it was located in the necropolis, outside the old city walls.15

7 The personal name ’dy is rather common in Palmyra and Hatra: Stark 1971: 65, and Abbadi 1983: 74.

8 DNWSI401. Aggoula prefers to read br hdy’dy as a personal name (son of Haday’aday), because in the reading br hyry,
the dedicant would fail to have a patronym. Although this was unusual, it may have been due to the fact that he was
a freedman. Since hdy’dy is not attested as a personal name, whereas the expression br hyry is common, I prefer the
latter option, as does Vattioni 1994: 85.

9 Starcky 1981a; 1981b. Notę that the most recent finds from Hatra have not been included. On this, see hwernizzi 1989.
On the iconography of the goddess in Palmyra and other places in the Near East (Hatra not included), see now Fried-
land 2008.

10 In Palmyra as well as Hatra, Allat is represented in the guise of Greek Athena, as well as in everyday womens dress;
a long, sleeved tunic and mantle with a veil covering the head. For the iconography of Allat, see Starcky 1981a. The ma-
teriał from Hatra has to be complemented with recent finds, mainly from the tempie of Allat: al-Salihi 1985: Figs 39-43.

11 Compare, for example, the branch in the hand of Tyche in the so-called relief of the goddess with dog (Bounni 2004:
88, No. 31).

12 Priests: Bounni 2004: 88-89, No. 32, Fig. 108 (=Tanabe 1986: PI. 173). Goddess with dog: Bounni 2004: 88, No. 31;
Charles-Gaffiot et alii (eds) 2001: 274, 347, No. 166 (=Tanabe 1986: Pis 123-126). Another striking parallel is provided
by a fragmentary relief found in the tempie of Allat in Palmyra: Tanabe 1986: PI. 144.

13 Sabeh 1953: PI. I; Bounni 2004: 85, No. 23 (probably beginning of the Common Era, because it was madę of yellow
limestone); the goddess Allat on a smali altar from the Tempie of Baalshamin, dated to the end of the lst century:
Colledge 1976: Figs 48-49; a lst century gravestone of a woman: Colledge 1976: Fig. 68.

14 To datę, the architectural history of this shrine has not been published extensively. It seems certain, however, that there
were three building phases. The first to be constructed was an oblong ante-cella with a cella at its back wali. In the
second stage, an oblong chamber was built in front of the ante-cella. A courtyard in front of the tempie appeared in
this or a later phase. In the last phase, many smali rooms were built along the walls of this court.

15 The city walls that are still standing were built around AD 140. Before that time, the walled city was much smaller;
part of the rampart was excavated by a Polish mission in 1990. The east wali probably followed the wadi in the city:
Gawlikowski 1994:162-178, with Fig. 17.

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Studia Palmyreńskie XII