Sfynx with human head. Relief from Sakçegözü. Neo-Hittite sculpture in Aramean style, 8th century BC.

Sakçegözü: The ruins of the Late Hittite city state are located about 50 km west of Gaziantep. The site was first discovered in 1883. The original name of the city is not known. The ruins of a palace structure covers a large area. The orhostats and statues date from 8th century BC.

The Arameans: were a Northwest Semitic people who originated in what is now modern Syria (Biblical Aram) during the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Large groups migrated to Mesopotamia, where they intermingled with the native Akkadian (Assyrian and Babylonian) population. A large proportion of Syriac Christians in modern Syria still espouse an Aramean identity to this day.
The Arameans never had a unified nation; they were divided into small independent kingdoms across parts of the Near East, particularly in what is now modern Syria. After the Bronze Age collapse, their political influence was confined to a number of Syro-Hittite states, which were entirely absorbed into the Neo-Assyrian Empire by the 8th century BC. By contrast, the Aramaic language came to be the lingua franca of the entire Fertile Crescent, by Late Antiquity developing into the literary languages such as Syriac and Mandaic.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen
Sources: ‘Anadolu Uygarlıkları’ (Anatolian Civilisations) - Prof.Dr. Ekrem Akurgal ; Wikipedia
& Website of ‘hittitemonuments.com’ .