statue

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Object Type
Museum number: 125007
Description: Basalt semi column bearing relief of the goddess Kubaba; cult statue from temple on citadel; holds a mirror and wears massive necklace; wearing long dress with patterns on sleeves; on the curved back Kamanas, King of Carchemish records the building of her temple and precinct and the dedication of her statue.
Authority
Cultures/periods
Production date: 760 BC (about); 848BC-717BC (total rule of Astiruwas dynasty)
Excavator/field collector
Findspot: Excavated/Findspot: Carchemish, Citadel North-west slope
Materials
Dimensions: Height: 162.50 centimetres; Weight: 1048 kilograms; Width: 102.50 centimetres
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments: A surface find at Carchemish; a sketch of this statue was first published by A. Drummond in 1754 but the inscription was first noted in the 19th century when the stone was moved and copied by George Smith, with later copies made by subsequent travellers to the site. It was also recorded by Captain (later Major) F.W. Butler, 9th Regiment, in the ruins of Jerabis, on 24 August 1877 and brought from the site that year. It was registered in the British Museum in 1881. See drawing in ANE Library, Butler, "Hieroglyphics discovered at Hierapolis". The top of the statue was discovered in 2015 by the joint Turkish-Italian Expedition to Carchemish. This large fragment depicts the head of the goddess Kubaba on one side, and the top two lines of the inscription on the other. This fragment was brought into the Kahramanmarash Museum in June 2015. See Marchetti and Peker "A stele of Kubaba from Afshin".
Bibliographic references: Rylands W H 1882a / The inscribed stones from Jerabis, Hamath, Aleppo etc. (pp.436-37, pl.III) (J.III); Hogarth D G 1914a / Carchemish: report on the excavations at Djerabis on behalf of the British Museum, Part I, Introductory (preface, figs.2 & 3); Woolley & Barnett 1952a / Carchemish: Report on the excavations at Jerablus on behalf of the British Museum, Part III, The excavatiuons in the inner town and the Hittite inscriptions (pl.A312, pl.B62a); Hawkins 2000 / Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions (p 140-143); Marchetti & Peker 2015a / A Stele of Kubaba from Afshin: A King of Karkemish in the Region of Malatya (p4)
Location: Not on display
Subjects
Associated names: Named in inscription: Kubaba; Named in inscription: Kamanis
Acquisition date: 1881
Department: Middle East
BM/Big number: 125007
Registration number: 1881,1210.1
Additional IDs: Miscellaneous number: J.III (Jerabis siglum); Miscellaneous number: SOC.9 (Semitic Old Collection registration number)

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