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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 August 2014
In the Spring of 1978, the State Organization for Antiquities and Heritage excavated a small shrine, called by the excavators Shrine XII, for its layout and plan are similar to eleven shrines uncovered, at different times, at Hatra since 1951.
The shrine, situated to the south of the Great Temple, is oriented towards the east, like most of the temples and shrines at Hatra. It consisted (Fig. 1) of a broad sacred room flanked by votive rooms, and a cella. The layout of the shrine resembles that of Shrine VI and the second building phase of Shrine VIII. The main entrance is approached by six limestone steps, and a second entrance is through the southern room. This shrine is roofed by three parallel vaults and two arches supported by two pillar-like buttresses, on one side, and by the eastern wall of the broad room on the other.
The floors of the shrine are paved with greenish-coloured marble slabs, and there is a small round basin in the middle of the broad room. In front of the shrine is a spacious courtyard, from which the roof of the shrine is approached by a staircase which is built on the outside in the north-eastern corner.
1 My thanks go to Dr. Mo‘ayyed Sa‘eed, President of the State Organization for Antiquities and Heritage, for his permission to study the sculptures uncovered in the Shrine. I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Zuhair Rajeb for drawing the plans of the shrine, and to Mr. M. Subhi, head of the expedition at Hatra in 1978.
2 For the situation of the Great Temple, see Safar, Fuad and Mustapha, Mohammed Ali, Hatra, City of the Sun (Baghdad, 1974), 10Google Scholar.
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4 Ibid., 358.
5 Ibid., 360–1.
6 The sculptor's name was recorded as such in inscriptions nos. [221, 237].
7 Brnšra qlp' was mentioned in inscription no. [289].
8 The date is calculated according to the Seleucid calendar.
9 A well-known name at Hatra, recorded in numerous inscriptions such as nos. [10, 147, 152, 156, 161, 187, 204–6, 291].
10 This name is recorded in two other inscriptions, nos. [68, 259].
11 [’dz’] was recorded in inscription no. [214] as indicating a shrine, small temple or sanctuary.
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16 Nabium- Kudurri-Uṣur.
17 Nabium-Na'id.
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33 Inscription no. [212].
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