Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
Based on its slender proportions and the White Crown of Egypt that it wears, this smiting figurine belongs to the highly Egyptianizing group of copper alloy figurines associated with the coasts of Lebanon and Syria. The delicate features of the face and arms provide serenity to what is most likely a divine image. The excised eyes may have originally been inlaid, and the pierced raised right hand originally held a weapon that was fashioned separately. The left hand, extended out in front with palm open, may have supported a shield. The well-rounded modeling of the body transitions smoothly at the waist from the frontal upper torso to the sideways orientation of the legs. Short tangs below each foot served for attachment to a base. Comparable examples have been excavated in Late Bronze Age levels at Megiddo in Israel, Byblos and Kamid el-Loz in Lebanon, and Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit) and Minet el-Beida (the port city of Ugarit) in Syria (1). On several of these figurines, gold leaf was added over the face, crown, or body.
The geographical area of the Levant, comprising the regions of present-day Israel, Lebanon, western Syria, and south-central Turkey, produced an extraordinary number of small copper alloy figurines from the end of the third millennium into the beginning of the first millennium BCE (2). Most of these figurines depict a standing male figure with left foot advancing and right arm raised in a position of smiting (3). Often the hands are pierced with holes to hold weapons or armor. These separate elements are preserved in a few examples, the most spectacular being a warrior holding a spear and shield found in a late thirteenth or early twelfth century BCE building at Enkomi on Cyprus (4). The figurines have a wide distribution, with examples found as far away as Greece, but the majority is concentrated along the Mediterranean coast of the Levant (5).
While the figurines share a common conceptual underpinning, the actual forms and styles of the small copper alloys display a remarkable range of diversity. In general, they appear to move along a spectrum from those that include a high degree of Egyptianizing elements, presumably produced in regions closer to Egypt, to those showing stronger affinities with the Hittite artistic tradition of central Turkey. Such stylistic features are evident in the shape and type of the tall crown, the form of the short skirt or kilt, and the proportions of the body. The basic iconography of the smiting figure is derived from the Egyptian image of Pharaoh defeating his enemies; yet, there is no exact parallel in Egypt, indicating a peculiarly Levantine iconographic conception. The figure most likely represents a deity, sometimes identified as either Baal or Reshep, two West Semitic gods. Although no definitive evidence exists to support these attributions, some examples have horns on their headdresses, which are a Near Eastern attribute of divinity (6). Where archaeological contexts are sufficiently well preserved, the figurines are clearly associated with cultic spaces. The largest group of excavated figurines comes from several locations in the temple complex at Byblos on the Lebanese coast, while another set was excavated in a Late Bronze Age temple complex at Kamid el-Loz in inland Lebanon (7). The precise dating of the figurines remains fraught for several reasons. First, many were hoarded and only buried well after their date of manufacture. Second, there is only poor information available, if there is any at all, on the provenience of a large portion of the figurines in museum collections. Finally, while the overall conception of the figurines unites them as a group, the diversity of individual features and styles often makes stylistic comparisons difficult.
NOTES:
1. O. Negbi, Canaanite Gods in Metal: An Archaeological Study of Ancient Syro-Palestinian Figurines (Tel Aviv, 1976) nos. 1318 (Minet el-Beida), 1326 (Ras Shamra), and 1360 (Megiddo), figs. 45, 47, 128, and 132, pls. 22 and 24; H. Seeden, The Standing Armed Figurines in the Levant, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 1.1 (Munich, 1980) nos. 1667 (Byblos), 1698 (Ras Shamra), 1701 (Ras Shamra), and 1730 (Kamid el-Loz); and R. Hachmann, Bericht über die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen in Kamid el-Loz in den Jahren 1968 bis 1970, Saarbrücker Beiträge zur Altertumskunde 22 (Bonn, 1980) pl. 19.2.
2. For Levantine copper alloy figurines in general, see Negbi 1976 (supra 1); and P. R. S. Moorey and S. Fleming, “Problems in the Study of the Anthropomorphic Metal Statuary from Syro-Palestine Before 330 B.C.,” Levant 16 (1984): 67-90.
3. For the smiting copper alloy figurines, see Seeden 1980 (supra 1); D. Collon, “The Smiting God: A Study of a Bronze in the Pomerance Collection in New York,” Levant 4 (1972): 111-34; and ead., “Note on ‘A Bronze in the Pomerance Collection, New York,’” Levant 5 (1973): 133.
4. J.-C. Courtois, J. Lagarce, and E. Lagarce, Enkomi et le bronze récent à Chypre (Nicosia, 1986) pl. 18.4.
5. For distribution maps, see Seeden 1980 (supra 1) pls. 118-19.
6. For a summary of problems relating to the identity of Levantine copper alloy statuettes, see Moorey and Fleming 1984 (supra 2) 78-80.
7. For the Byblos copper alloy statuette hoards, see Seeden 1980 (supra 1) 36-102. For the Kamid el-Loz examples, see H. Kühne, “Die Bronzestatuetten aus dem ‘spätbronzezeitlichen’ Tempel,” in Bericht über die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen in Kamid el-Loz in den Jahren 1968 bis 1970, ed. R. Hachmann, Saarbrücker Beiträge zur Altertumskunde 22 (Bonn, 1980) 63-81. For a general discussion of context for the anthropomorphic statuettes, see Moorey and Fleming 1984 (supra 2) 76-77.
Marian Feldman
