Judean Pillar Figure
Judean pillar figures or figurines were ubiquitous household items in the Iron Age representing the Canaanite great goddess Asherah. Details Scholarly consensus has categorized the figurines as the Canaanite great goddess Asherah. Dissenting from this view, Erin Darby suggests other possible identifications. They show her with some facial detail, protruding breasts, and completely plain cylindrical bodies below. Surely popular, they were often handmade and sometimes crude, but that led to a diversity of style. It also allowed them currency over a longer period of time, unlike the more sophisticated but then-late Revadim Asherah whose examples were mass-produced in the productive milieu leading up to the Bronze collapse. Pillar figures are first found in small numbers around Judah in the 10th century BCE, then grew somewhat in geographic distribution and greatly in attestation. A single archaeological site could reveal them in the hundreds like in Jerusalem, or over a tho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ceramic Judean Pillar-based Figurine Beth Shemesh Iron II 800-586 BCE Penn Museum 02
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, and brick. The earliest ceramics made by humans were pottery objects (''pots,'' ''vessels or vases'') or figurines made from clay, either by itself or mixed with other materials like silicon dioxide, silica, hardened and sintering, sintered in fire. Later, ceramics were Glazing (ceramics), glazed and fired to create smooth, colored surfaces, decreasing porosity through the use of glassy, amorphous ceramic coatings on top of the crystalline ceramic substrates. Ceramics now include domestic, industrial and building products, as well as a wide range of materials developed for use in advanced ceramic engineering, such as in semiconductors. The word "''wikt:ceramic, ceramic''" comes from the Greek language, Greek word (), "of pottery" or "fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Judaean Female Figurines - Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous southern part of the modern States of Palestine and Israel. The name originates from the Hebrew name Yehudah, a son of the biblical patriarch Jacob/Israel, with Yehudah's progeny forming the biblical Israelite tribe of Judah (Yehudah) and later the associated Kingdom of Judah. Related nomenclature continued to be used by the Babylonians, Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman periods as the Babylonian and Persian Yehud, Hasmonean Kingdom of Judea, and consequently Herodian and Roman Judea, respectively. Under Hasmonean, Herodian and Roman rule, the term was applied to an area larger than the historical region of Judea. In 132 AD, the province of Judaea was merged with Galilee into an enlarged province named Syria Palaestina. The term ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ancient Canaanite Teraphim
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history covers all continents inhabited by humans in the period 3000 BCAD 500. The three-age system periodizes ancient history into the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age, with recorded history generally considered to begin with the Bronze Age. The start and end of the three ages varies between world regions. In many regions the Bronze Age is generally considered to begin a few centuries prior to 3000 BC, while the end of the Iron Age varies from the early first millennium BC in some regions to the late first millennium AD in others. During the time period of ancient history, the world population was already exponentially increasing due to the Neolithic Revolution, which was in full progress. While in 10,000 BC, the world population s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Asherah
Asherah (; he, אֲשֵׁרָה, translit=Ăšērā; uga, 𐎀𐎘𐎗𐎚, translit=ʾAṯiratu; akk, 𒀀𒅆𒋥, translit=Aširat; Qatabanian: ') in ancient Semitic religion, is a fertility goddess who appears in a number of ancient sources. She also appears in Hittite writings as ''Ašerdu(s)'' or ''Ašertu(s)'' ( hit, 𒀀𒊺𒅕𒌈, translit=a-še-ir-tu4). Her name is sometimes rendered Athirat in the context of her cult at Ugarit. Significance and roles Asherah is identified as the consort of the Sumerian god Anu, and Ugaritic ʾEl,"Asherah" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, pp. 623–624. the oldest deities of their respective pantheons. This role gave her a similarly high rank in the Ugaritic pantheon. Deuteronomy 12 has Yahweh commanding the destruction of her shrines so as to maintain purity of his worship. The name ''Dione'', which like ''ʾElat'' means "goddess", is clearly associ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kuntillet Ajrud Inscriptions
The Kuntillet Ajrud inscriptions are a series of inscriptions found at Kuntillet Ajrud in the Sinai Peninsula. Many are religious in nature, invoking Yahweh, El and Baal, and two include the phrases "Yahweh of Samaria and his Asherah" (or "Yahweh protect and his Asherah") and "Yahweh of Teman and his Asherah." The inscriptions were discovered during excavations in 1975–1976, during the Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula, but were not published in full until 2012. Interpretation The inscriptions found refer not only to Yahweh but to ʾEl and Baʿal, and two include the phrases "Yahweh of Samaria and his Asherah" and "Yahweh of Teman and his Asherah." The references to Samaria (capital of the kingdom of Israel) and Teman (in Edom) suggest that Yahweh had a temple in Samaria, while raising questions about the relationship between Yahweh and Kaus, the national god of Edom. The 'asherah' in question is most likely a cultic object, although the relationship of this o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Revadim Asherah
The Revadim Asherah is an artifact from Revadim representing a genre of Asherah figurines. Like the inscriptions found at Khirbet el-Qom and Kuntillet Ajrud, these findings revealed Asherah's prominence in Canaanite and Hebrew religion. Depiction The figure is the Great Mother, portrayed displaying her vulva and feeding twins. Tadmor emphasizes that the figure represents a deity, not a wetnurse. This distinction wouldn't have made sense to the Ugaritians, who called her the ''mšnqt .ʔilm ''or "wetnurse of the gods." In Revadim, she has features such as long locks that are reminiscent of snakes directed towards the infants she cradles, jewelry adorning her wrists and neck, where hangs a large crescent pendant. Her hands open the vulva, and above is a ridge suggesting pubic hair. On each of her legs is a tall and sparse tree accompanied by ibices. The crowded symbolism of the Revadim Asherah stands in contrast to related Judean pillar figurines. Whereas the pillar figure ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Achaemenid
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest empire in history, spanning a total of from the Balkans and Egypt in the west to Central Asia and the Indus Valley in the east. Around the 7th century BC, the region of Persis in the southwestern portion of the Iranian plateau was settled by the Persians. From Persis, Cyrus rose and defeated the Median Empire as well as Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire, marking the formal establishment of a new imperial polity under the Achaemenid dynasty. In the modern era, the Achaemenid Empire has been recognized for its imposition of a successful model of centralized, bureaucratic administration; its multicultural policy; building complex infrastructure, such as road systems and an organized postal system; the use of official languages across ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Euphrates Syrian Pillar Figurines
The Euphrates Syrian Pillar Figurines (EU_SPF's) are anthropomorphic clay figurines dating from the late Iron Age period (mid 8th-7th centuries BCE) and produced in the Middle Euphrates region. These figurines are part of a greater coroplastic production mainly composed of handmade horse-rider figurines, i.e. the Euphrates Handmade Syrian Horses and Riders (EU_HSHR's). Other names in literature The actual nomenclature adopted for this class of figurines has been recently proposed in a doctoral research. Their current name recalls both their geographic origin and the shape of their bodies, which are hollow, tubular, and sometimes twice grooved at the base. However, one may find their appearance in literature with different nomenclatures: * ''Baked Clay Handmade Freestanding Figurines or Syrian Terracottas – Free-standing handmodelled'' * ''Nordyrische Pfeilerfigurinen (NPF)'' * ''Standing or Pillar figurines'' Technical characteristics Modelling The clay figurines are c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Israel Antiquities Authority
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, he, רשות העתיקות ; ar, داﺌرة الآثار, before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservation, and promotes research. The Director-General is Mr. Eli Escusido, and its offices are housed in the Rockefeller Museum. The Israel Antiquities Authority plans to move into a new building for the National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem, next to the Israel Museum. History The Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums (IDAM) of the Ministry of Education was founded on July 26, 1948, after the establishment of the State of Israel. It took over the functions of the Department of Antiquities of the British Mandate in Israel and Palestine. Originally, its activities were based on the British Mandate Department of Antiquities ordinances. IDAM was the statutory ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Figurines
A figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cla ... is a small statuette that represents a human, deity or animal. Figurine or Figurines may also refer to: * Figurine (band), American electronica band * Figurines (band), Danish indie rock band *'' The Figurine'', a 2009 thriller film produced and directed by Kunle Afolayan {{disambig ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |