Reproducing divine images in Hellenized Mesopotamia. The case of Nabu of Hierapolis at Hatra

This article sets out to establish the cultural and cultic relationship between Hatra in northern Mesopotamia and Hierapolis in the north of Syria. Starting point is the reproduction of the cult statue of Nabu from Hierapolis that was found in Hatra. Nabu’s statue in Hierapolis bears testimony to the spread and local interpretation of the Mesopotamian god. The increased visibility of cult statues from the Hellenistic period onwards, partly explainsthe difusion of reproductionsthroughout the region. The copy that was found in Hatra, shows that the Hierapolitan god and his cult were adapted to the religious situation of his new home. As such, the statue not only testifes to the close cultural and religious connection between both cities, but also illustrates the dynamics of millennia-old traditions in hellenized Mesopotamia. The present study of the statue’s origin and its local reinterpretation shows that Nabu’s cult in Hatra was by no means a straightforward continuation of the god’s traditional cult centres in Borsippa and Babylon.