King Kapara (also Gabara) was an Aramean king of Bit Bahiani,[1] one of the Post-Hittite states, centered in Guzana (modern Tell Halaf, in northeastern Syria).[2] He ruled sometime in the 10th or 9th century BCE, according to some estimations ca. 950-875 BCE.[3] He built Bit-hilani, a monumental palace in Post-Hittite style, discovered by Max von Oppenheim in 1911, with a rich decoration of statues and relief orthostats.
| Kapara | |
|---|---|
| King of Bit Bahiani | |
In 894 BC, the Assyrian king Adad-nirari II recorded the site in his archives as a tributary Aramaean city-state. In 808 BC the city and its surrounding area was reduced to a province of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.[citation needed]
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Excavations in Tell Halaf, 1912 -
Excavations in Tell Halaf, 1913 -
A replica of the entrance to the palace of king Kapara at the National Museum of Aleppo -
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An Aramean goddess -
An Aramean god -
A stele depicting two guardian lions
References
edit- ^ Lipiński 2000, p. 121.
- ^ Lipiński 2000, p. 130-132.
- ^ [W. F. Albright, The Date of the Kapara Period at Gozan (Tell Halaf), Anatolian Studies, (1956).]
Sources
edit- Bryce, Trevor R. (2012). The World of The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-150502-7.
- Gzella, Holger (2015). A Cultural History of Aramaic: From the Beginnings to the Advent of Islam. Leiden-Boston: Brill. ISBN 9789004285101.
- Lipiński, Edward (2000). The Aramaeans: Their Ancient History, Culture, Religion. Leuven: Peeters Publishers. ISBN 9789042908598.
- Sader, Hélène (2010). "The Aramaeans of Syria: Some Considerations on their Origin and Material Culture". The Books of Kings: Sources, Composition, Historiography and Reception. Leiden-Boston: Brill. pp. 273–300. ISBN 978-9004177291.
- Younger, Kenneth Lawson (2016). A Political History of the Arameans: From Their Origins to the End of Their Polities. Atlanta: SBL Press. ISBN 9781628370843.