Column Base 1

A basalt column base from the entrance to a bit-hilani palace of Bar Rakab at Samal (Zincirli in Turkey).  The palace dates to the eighth century BC.  A pair of these supported the two columns that were at the entrance to the palace.
 

These s sphinxes have the bodies of lions, wings of a bird and the heads of women.  This column base supported a thick (probably) cedar column that in turn supported the roof of the entrance to the palace.

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The two sphinxes of the base may have been carved at the Sculptures' Workshop at Yesemk—13 miles southeast of Zincirli.

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