Works of Art
Levantine Bronze Idol of a Goddess
Period: End of 3rd – Beginning of 2nd Millenium B.C. (ca. 2200 - 1800 B.C.)
Culture: Levantine, Phoenician
Category: Array
Dimensions: Height: 27.5cm
Price: POR
Provenance:
Acquired on the Swiss Market, 1991.
Condition: The statuette has a missing left arm, but is otherwise in a good state of conservation.
Description
This beautiful Levantine idol from Syria is made in cast bronze with applied bronze details, such as nose, eyes, breasts, hip band, bracelet and necklace. Her body is slender and quite feminine, with marked hips, a tight waist, protuberant sex, small conical breasts and wider shoulders. Her head is shaped as a half moon with two circular eyes in relief and a thin nose. Two perforations on each side of her head indicate that she originally wore earrings made of another material, probably gold. She is also wearing a spiralled hip band, a double bracelet and a wide, tight fitting necklace with a central motif.
This goddess is most likely a representation of Ashrate, the Western Semitic reading of the name known to the Akkadiens and Sumerians as Ishtar, the goddess of love, fertility and war. Figurines / idols in bronze, clay and the much less common ivory, of naked Ashtrate / Ishtar were very popular in the 3rd - 2nd millennium B.C. in Syria and Mesopotamia.
Bibliography
For similar figures / idols, see:
SEEDEN, H., «The Standing Armed Figurines in the Levent», Prähistorische Bronzefunde, Munich, 1980, pl. D. #48A, pl.13, pl.14, #54A, and pl.48.
NEGBI, O., “Canaanites Gods in Metal” , Tel Aviv, 1976, 9, fig.9, no. 27.
MUSCARELLA, O.M., “Bronze and Iron, Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art”, New York, 1988, no.360.