Sam'al

Sam'al (modern Zincirli Höyük, Turkey) was a Syro-Hittite city located in the Anti-Taurus Mountains of modern south-central Turkey.

The city of Sam'al is believed to have developed during the late Hittite era, and became part of the Assyrian Empire after the Hittite Empire fell around 1190 BC. From approximately the tenth century BC to the seventh century BC, it was the capital of the kingdom of Sam'al.

The site was excavated from 1888 to 1902 by a German Oriental Society expedition. They found a heavily fortified teardrop-shaped citadel, which was surrounded by the as yet unexcavated town and a further enormous double fortification wall with three gates and 100 bastions. Among the notable objects found at the site are five giant statues of lions carved from stone, which apparently had guarded the gates of the city, but may have been ritually buried together within the citadel. The German excavations on the citadel recovered large numbers of relief-carved orthostats, along with inscriptions in Aramaic, Phoenician, Luwian, and Akkadian. These are on exhibit in Berlin and Istanbul.

In August 2006, the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago began a new long-term excavation project at the site of Zincirli under the directorship of David Schloen.

References

* Parker, Simon B. (1996). "Appeals for military intervention: stories from Zinjirli and the Bible". "The Biblical Archaeologist" 59(4): 213-224.
* Ussishkin, David (1970). "The Syro-Hittite ritual burial of monuments". "Journal of Near Eastern Studies" 29(2): 124-128.