The discovery in 1979 of an anthropoid statue at Tell Fekherye (the site of Sikan, the sacred precinct of ancient Gozan) with an extensive bilingual inscription in Akkadian and Aramaic has renewed speculation about the extent of the Aramaic-Assyrian symbiosis in the earlier Neo-Assyrian period. First edited by A. Abou Assaf, it has recently been re-edited in a monograph by the latter together with Pierre Bordreuil and Alan R. Millard.
A date of around the 9th century for the statue is favoured by the Editors. This date seems reasonable on most grounds, though some adjustment up or down may prove necessary. Arguments based on Aramaic palaeography may be used to push the date higher. On the other hand, strong topical similarities with the Mati-ilu treaty (mid-8th century) may be sufficient grounds to lower the date (cf. comments to ll. 32, 34, 37). Abou Assaf first dated the statue to the 9th century mainly on art historical grounds. The Edition seeks to pinpoint this by identifying Sassu-nuri, the father of Adad-id'i, the statue's donor (l. 12), with the Assyrian eponym of 866.