A FAIENCE HEAD OF A BEARDED MALE FROM TEL ABEL BETH MAACAH: ICONOGRAPHY, TECHNOLOGY AND CONTEXT

N. Yahalom-Mack*, D. V. Ben-Ami, N. Panitz-Cohen, R. A. Mullins, V. Brumfeld, A. Eliyahu-Behar

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A faience head depicting a bearded male was unearthed in a ninth-century BC context at Tel Abel Beth Maacah, located on the modern Israel-Lebanese border. During the Iron Age, the site was at the interface between the kingdoms of Israel and Aram-Damascus and the Phoenician city-states of Tyre and Sidon. The article discusses the object’s iconography, style, composition and manufacturing technology in comparison to other faience heads, as well as its regional and contextual significance. Despite its unique iconography and high quality, we demonstrate its similarity to at least one other head in manufacturing technology and style. It is suggested that it depicts an ideal elite persona, possibly serving as a votive.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)373-398
Number of pages26
JournalOxford Journal of Archaeology
Volume43
Issue number4
DOIs
StateAccepted/In press - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Oxford Journal of Archaeology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of University of Oxford.

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