Our Ancient Aramean artifacts in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin

The photographs of the museum are from Gabi Gallo .

2020-01-28

We have uploaded pictures from the Pergamon Museum of Berlin where you can visit some day and see the ancient artifacts made by our Arameans ancestors. One of the of the members of ArDO photographed the artifacts because we see it as important for our people to see that we still have artifacts in different museums around the world.

The site of Sam'al (modern Zencirli in Turkey) was excavated in 1888, 1890, 1891, 1894 and 1902 during expeditions led by Felix Ritter von Luschan and Robert Johann Koldewey. Each of the expeditions was supported by the German Orient Committee, except for the fourth (1894), which was financed with monies from the Rudolf-Virchow-Stiftung and private donors.

They found a heavily fortified teardrop-shaped citadel, which was surrounded by the as yet unexcavated town and a further enormous double fortification wall with three gates and 100 bastions. Among the notable objects found at the site are five giant statues of lions carved from stone, which apparently had guarded the gates of the city, but may have been ritually buried together within the citadel. The German excavations on the citadel recovered large numbers of relief-carved orthostats, along with inscriptions in Aramaic, Phoenician, and Akkadian. These are on exhibit in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin, and Istanbul.

In August 2006, the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago began a new long-term excavation project at the site of Zincirli under the directorship of David Schloen. Seven seasons of excavation have been conducted through 2012.

David Schloen, Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago

Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow (13 October 1821 – 5 September 1902) (financed by his Foundation the first excavations)

Felix Ritter von Luschan (11 August 1854 – 7 February 1924)

Robert Johann Koldewey (10 September 1855 – 4 February 1925)