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Hercules-Nergal at Hatra

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

Wathiq Al-Salihi
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Extract

A fragment of a sculptured miniature column was found in Shrine 10 situated to the west of the Great Temple at Hatra. This shrine has been assigned to Nergal on epigraphical and iconographical grounds. The fragment comprises the upper part of the column with a rectangular capital (measuring 8.7 × 7.7 cm.) surmounted by a hollow incense receptacle (diameter 6 cm., height 3 cm.). The fragment is carved with low reliefs on four sides. On one side is a relief of a male figure (Plate XXXIII a), the legs of which, below the knees, are missing. He stands to the front with the head slightly turned to the left. His head is dominated by a mass of hair drawn to the back as indicated by very shallow incisions (Plate XXXIII b). An eagle with completely spread wings stands over the head. The figure wears an oval-shaped beard, the end of which is broken off. The features of the face are summarily and crudely indicated. Over his shoulders, he wears a chlamys fastened on the right shoulder with a brooch. The folds of his garment are visible on the shoulders and on the upper right arm. The rest of the body is left uncovered. A small rectangular object protrudes from his chest, but its purpose is not known to me. The right arm is raised to shoulder level, and with his hand he grasps a double axe, its upper end chipped off. He wears a plain bracelet on his right wrist. His left arm bends at the elbow and he holds in his hand a thick rope or a leash connected to an animal, of which the top part of the head is missing. The animal, carved frontally, could very well be a dog. The carving of the body of the figure is successful, for it shows some understanding of modelling, even though the figure is rather small to show further details. The muscles of the abdomen slightly bulge, indicating the movement of the right arm.

Type
Research Article
Information
IRAQ , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , Autumn 1971 , pp. 113 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 1971

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References

1 Al-Salihi, Wathiq I., The Sculptures of Divinities from Hatra (Doctoral dissertation, Princeton University, Princeton N.J., 1969), Plan IGoogle Scholar; Hatra (Baghdad, 1971), plan IGoogle Scholar. Shrine 5 is located to the north-west of the Great Temple.

2 Nergal is originally a Sumerian god of the underworld, ruler of the realm of the dead, and of war. His cult was especially venerated in the old city of Kutha in the Sumerian and Babylonian periods. He was also worshipped by the Assyrians. He was widely worshipped throughout Mesopotamia, and had temples in Larsa, Isin, and Assur.

3 Many Aramaic inscriptions were found mentioning the name of Nergal. Cf. Safar, Fuad, “Inscriptions of Hatra,” Sumer 11 (1955), 3–14Google Scholar, and Caquet, A., “Nouvelles inscriptions arameennes de Hatra (IV)”, Syria 32 (1955), 261–272CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4 A lid of a cult bank with a relief of three dogs and an Aramaic inscription reading “Servant of Nergal” was found. The three dogs recall Cerberus, who was associated with Hades, the Greek god of the Lower World. Also a small statuette of a dog with an Aramaic inscription on its base was found in this shrine. The inscription reads “the three fierce dogs belong to servant…” (Safar op. cit., 12).

5 Iraq Museum 58115 (Ht4-132). Its present height is 14.4 cm., diameter 6 cm.; greyish alabaster.

6 The eagle with spread wings may represent the god Shamash, who is considered the head of Hatra's pantheon, as shown by the obverse of the coins of Hatra. Cf. Walker, John, “Coins of Hatra”, Numismatic Chronicle 18 (1958), 167–172, Pl. XIVGoogle Scholar.

7 Iraq Museum 58129. White alabaster, measuring 13 × 8.5 × 6.8 cm. found on the floor level of Shrine 10.

8 F. Safar, op. cit., inscription no. 71, p. 11. Professor Safar hesitated, then, to make the connection of Hercules with the inscription.

9 A. Caquot, op. cit., 269, concurred with Safar's reading of the inscription.

10 For the sculptures at Hatra, see Al-Salihi, Wathiq I., The Sculptures of Divinities from Hatra, Doctoral dissertation, Princeton, N.J. 1969, 63–100, figs. 26–64Google Scholar Also Downey, Susan, The Excavations at Dura-Europos, Final Report III. The Heracles Sculpture, New Haven, 1969, 83–94Google Scholar.

11 S. Downey, op. cit., 37–41.

12 Seyrig, H., “Héraclès-Nergal”, Syria 24 (1944), 77–79Google Scholar.

13 Seyrig, H., “La réligion Palmyrénienne d'après un livre récent”, Syria, 16 (1935), 394CrossRefGoogle Scholar

14 Seyrig, H., “Héraclès-Nergal”, 62–80Google Scholar.

15 Ibid.

16 Ibid.

17 Ibid.

18 Comte du Mesnil du Buisson, Les tessères et les monnaies de Palmyre, Paris, 1942, 291–296Google Scholar.

19 S. Downey, op. cit., 6–9.

20 Masson, M. E., Pugachenkova, G.A., , Trudy, IV, Moscow, 1958, 96–98Google Scholar.

21 Geizer, H., “Zur armenischen Götterlehre” Berichte der Königlich Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Vol. 41 Leipzig, (1896), 104–107Google Scholar.

22 Al-Salihi, Wathiq, “Hatra, Aspects of Hatran Religion”, Sumer 26 (1970) (in press)Google Scholar.