Gerçin

Gerçin Höyük is a rocky hill about 7 km northeast of Zincirli Höyük. It is suspected that Gerçin Hill was a cemetery for the royal family of the Sam'al kingdom, but so far it has not been officially excavated. Lastest land surveys of the site have been conducted in 2022-2023 by Timur Demir of Gaziantep Üniversity. Other than the items shown below, Felix von Luschan, who worked in Zincirli in 1888-1902, reported finding three smaller statues in Gerçin, although all were heavily damaged and missing heads and legs. These fragments are probably in the inventory of the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.

Hadad Statue and Inscription of Panamuwa I
The statue was found in 1890 by Felix von Luschan and the German team. Carved of basalt stone, it stands about 3.54 meters tall and has a width of 1.13 meters around the shoulders and 0.92 meters at the bottom. On the front side of the lower half of the statue, there is a 34-line inscription written with the Aramaic alphabet in the Sam'alian dialect. The horned hat and the inscription indicate that this is a statue of Hadad, the version of the Storm-God in this region and time period. It is written in the first person by King Panamuwa I of Sam'al, who describes how he raised this statue of Hadad in the royal necropolis and built a temple. He asks his successors to remember him, make offerings, and help his soul live eternally with the gods. The Hadad statue dates to around 750 BCE and is currently on display in the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin.

Panamuwa II Statue and Inscription
The cylindrical basalt block is the lower half of a statue that represents King Panamuwa II. The surviving piece is about 1.90 meters high and 0.88 meters wide. The complete statue was probably similar to the Hadad statue or the statue of a king found in Zincirli. It was found in 1888 by the German expedition in Tahtalı Pınar, a few kilometers north of Zincirli towards Gerçin, from where it may actually have originated. On the front side of the statue is a 23-line inscription written with Aramaic script in Sam'alian dialect. It is a dedication by King Barrakib to his father Panamuwa II in the year of the latter's death (ca. 732 BCE). The inscription provides information about the life and accomplishments of Panamuwa II, during whose reign Sam'al was a vassal of Assyria, and states that the king had died in Damascus while campaigning alongside the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III. The statue is in the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin, but apparently not on display.

Chariot-shaped statue base
The basalt rectangular block with wheel reliefs on two sides and a shield relief on its back is reportedly found in 1983 in Gerçin. The measurements of the present bock is 1.23 m in height, 1.09 m in width and 1.29 m in length and there is a 0.31x0.35 m wide 0.19 m deep rectangular mortise hole at the top. It shows great similarity to the base of the Storm God statue found in Çineköy. Thus, it is likely that the block is the base of a deity statue and represents the rear section of a chariot that was pulled by a pair of animals. A similar date in the 8th century BCE seems plausible. It is in the inventory of the Gaziantep Archaeology Museum.

Storm-god Stele
A large basalt block displays a typical Storm-God figure with raised arms holding an axe and a trident-shaped thunder symbol. Although the past literature usually refers to the find spot as Gözlü Höyük, the museum records indicate that the stele originates from Gerçin Höyük. The block is 1.4 m in height, 1 m in width, and has a depth of 67 cm. Although the beard of the god and decorated edges of the kilt display Assyrian influence, most other features of the relief are in Neo-Hittite style. Yet, the head piece of the god also has an Egyptian style rearing cobra (uraeus) in front in addition to the horns. The axe of the god extending into the frame of the block is a unique feature. It has been found near the Gözlühöyük village, located to the southeast of Nurdağı town in the Gaziantep province. Stylistically dated to the second half of the 8th century BCE.

Funerary Stele
Another find from Gözlühöyük is a fragmented basalt stele that displays a typical dining scene like several examples from Maraş. Husband, wife, and the partially visible child are depicted around a table. However, the lotus plant in the middle as well as those in the hands of the couple is drawn very much in Egyptian style. Like that of the Storm-God above, the man's headpiece has an Egyptian-style uraeus on it. It has been dated to around 800-725 BCE. Both of the steles are on display in the Gaziantep Archaeology Museum.


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