Statue burial and ritual depostion

Bacchuber(2018) statue burial at Zincirli?

• Burial and mutilation of statues was a way of reconciling tensions between old and new political regimes.

Bacchuber (2018) - On Kulamuwa

• Kulamuwa wanted to distance himself from his ancestors' anti-Assyrian ideology while remaining respectful to local tradition.

• The ritual deposition was a metaphorical killing of the earlier political order

Statue burial pit at Zincirli → Bacchuber (2018)

• Five portal lions; large amounts of carbonised reeds in the burial pit , intact ceramics; a royal statue approximately 3m high in a tomb-like chamber, found with blows against the face and missing hands, feet, and staff.

Interpretation of Lion pit

• The contemporaneity with Kulamuwa's reign and the end of the 'first building period' links the burial directly to a political transition.

Kulamuwa Orthostat

• A monumental stone carving with a relief of Kulamuwa and a 16-line Phoenician inscription. Depicts Kulamuwa in Assyrian dress, posture, and regalia, interacting with divine symbols — but with non-Assyrian stylistic elements

How does the orthostat support’s Bacchuber’s interpretation?

• Hybrid identity mirrors the political balancing act: accommodating Assyrian dominance while preserving local tradition.

• Kulamuwa's inscription also states his ancestors 'achieved nothing', motivating statue mutilation.

statue burial?

• Osborne (2014) interpretation of Arslantepe statue burial?

Osborne (2014) interpretation of Arslantepe statue burial?

• .Being rolled onto its back before burial suggests human-like treatment. Osborne argues both the Arslantepe and Zincirli burials should be understood as animate, living forces and symbols of the king.

• Burial is likely tied to conquest

Trends in Statue burial in the Assyrian empire

1. Statues were targets of deliberate violence before deposition

2. They were deposited in public/prominent spaces

3. Deposition coincided with political transitions.