Tag Archives: ancient Near East

(Striking Gods & Other Objects) Canaanite Temple Remains (Lachish)

Posted on February 18, 2020 by

Sharing and saving for students these images from this article in Ha’aretz of diminutive temple remains, including two tough little striking gods. They were dug up in central Israel at Lachish, an important Canaanite town-city circa 1800 B.C.E.. From the … Continue reading →

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(Diminutive) Ancient Judahite Art (Tel Motza Temple)

Posted on February 4, 2020 by

Not gods or god-like are these diminutive little figures from the Tel Motza temple site in the Judean Hills, in close proximity to Jerusalem. One can only speculate if similar figures were on hand at the Jerusalem temple site during … Continue reading →

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The Priestly Blessing is Weird and Most Impressive (Hertz Pentateuch)

Posted on August 2, 2019 by

As I continue to scroll through the Hertz Pentateuch in search of wayward things and other points of interest that tell us something about the HP and its time and place, I found this odd and unexpected thing. It’s his … Continue reading →

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(About Death) Thinking (Canaanite Figurine)

Posted on November 24, 2016 by

What’s on this Canaanite fellow’s mind? The main body of the decorative figurine is formed out of the neck of a Bronze Age pottery jug, to which the arms, legs, and head were added. He’s almost 4,000 years old, uncovered at … Continue reading →

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Watching Block Statue (Ancient Egypt Middle Kingdom)

Posted on February 1, 2016 by

In the Christian west, devotion tends to be identified with the erect figure of the orant who extends his or arms towards the heavens in an act of supplication. Compare in contrast this fellow from ancient Egypt, Middle Kinddom. With its … Continue reading →

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Fishing & Duck Hunt (Ancient Egypt Middle Kingdom)

Posted on January 30, 2016 by

Another little vignette of daily life in Middle Kingdom ancient Egypt. Again, to get a good sense of the liveliness of this scene, you need to zoom into the action on this smart model sporting boat. Unlike so much ancient … Continue reading →

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Life and Death at Work in Ancient Egypt (Middle Kingdom)

Posted on January 28, 2016 by

No god-like king with his calm and arrogant gaze presides over the busy and buzzing little scene of daily life at work in this Middle Kingdom ancient Egyptian slaughter house. A bird’s eye view gives a good sense of the whole, … Continue reading →

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Kings (Ancient Egypt, Middle Kingdom)

Posted on January 27, 2016 by

Art historians going back to Winckelmann in the 18th C. typically held up Greek art over Egyptian art. Greek art represented the apex of humanism, in contrast to Egyptian art, which was hieratic and static. Recently on view at the … Continue reading →

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Body Viscus Goes Inside Canopic Jars (Ancient Egypt, Middle Kingdom)

Posted on January 26, 2016 by

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, these canopic jars “were made to contain the four internal organs removed during the mummification process (stomach, liver, intestines, lungs). Earlier examples had flat or domed lids, but human-headed lids were introduced by … Continue reading →

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(In A Box) Dead Wannabe Pharaoh (Middle Kingdom)

Posted on January 21, 2016 by

Such a sad thing, this dead guy stuck in a box for the rest of time with nothing to do. He’s not stretched flat on his back, in state, as it were. What accentuates the presentation of this figure’s vulnerability … Continue reading →

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