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This leaf-shaped ivory relief from Samaria depicts Horus as a child sitting on a lotus flower. The lotus was a symbol of regeneration, and because, in Egyptian belief, each pharaoh was considered an…
Places:
Samaria, Land of Israel
(Samaria, Israel)
Date:
Iron Age IIA–IIB, 9th–8th Century BCE
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This small sculpture of a pomegranate with a bird (most likely a dove) sitting on top is from the City of David in Jerusalem. The sculpture was probably mounted on a piece of furniture (fragments of…
Places:
City of David, Land of Israel
(Jerusalem, Israel)
Date:
Iron Age II, 9th–8th Century BCE
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This ritual scene was carved twice on a cylindrical ivory box from Hazor, about 2.7 inches high and 2.2 inches in diameter (7 × 6 cm). A kneeling man raises his hands in prayer toward a stylized tree…
Places:
Hazor, Land of Israel
(Tel Hazor, Israel)
Date:
Iron Age IIB, 8th Century BCE
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This is the earliest known Jewish coin. It may have been minted in Philistia for the province of Yehud, before Yehud began to mint its own coins. The front depicts the head of a gorgon, a Greek…
Places:
Yehud, Land of Israel
(Southern Israel, Israel)
Date:
Persian Period, Early 4th Century BCE
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On the front is a lily, commonly found on Yehud coins. On the back is a bird that most ornithologists consider to be a falcon; there is no consensus on its symbolism. With wings spread, this falcon…
Places:
Yehud, Land of Israel
(Southern Israel, Israel)
Date:
Persian Period, 4th Century BCE
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Many of the seal impressions, with the inscription lamelekh “(Belonging, or pertaining) to the king,” followed by the name of a city, feature a two-winged figure, probably a winged sun disk…
Places:
Tel ‘Erani, Land of Israel
(Tel ‘Erani, Israel)
Date:
Iron Age IIB–IIC, Late 8th–7th Century BCE
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This and the next several ivories come from the approximately twelve thousand ivory pieces and fragments that were found in the royal compound in the city of Samaria, capital of the Northern Kingdom…
Places:
Samaria, Land of Israel
(Samaria, Israel)
Date:
Iron Age IIA–IIB, 9th–8th Century BCE
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The lotus image on this ivory from Samaria was originally an Egyptian symbol of the life-giving power of the god Ra—experienced through the fragrance of the flower—and of the afterlife.
Places:
Samaria, Land of Israel
(Samaria, Israel)
Date:
Iron Age IIA–IIB, 9th–8th Century BCE
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Engraved tridacna (clam) shells like this one from Arad seem to have been used as cosmetic containers in the Near East and Mediterranean worlds in the late seventh and early sixth centuries BCE. This…
Places:
Arad, Land of Israel
(Tel ‘Arad, Israel)
Date:
Iron Age IIC, Second Half of 7th–Early 6th Century BCE
Subjects:
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This is a Judean imitation of a popular Athenian coin type. On the front is the head of Athena, distinguished by her helmet. On the back is an owl, the symbol of Athena. To the left of the owl is a…
Places:
Yehud, Land of Israel
(Southern Israel, Israel)
Date:
Persian Period, 4th Century BCE