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The book of Exodus relates that God gave Moses instructions..."You shall make the altar...five cubits long and five cubits wide, the altar is to be square, and three cubits high. Make its horns on the four corners, the horns to be of one piece with it." Smaller four-horned pottery altars found in Israel date back to at least as early as the 10th Century B.C. (Dayagi-Mendels, p. 65). Our altar was probably intended as a votive gift to be filled with incense and left burning at a temple or shrine.AA99528. Terracotta pottery four-horned votive altar, Choice, complete and intact, small surface only crack in interior, light encrustations, 14.5cm (5 3/4") tall, 9.3cm (3 5/8") maximum width, c. 1st - 2nd Century A.D.; buff-pinkish-white clay (Munsell color 7.5YR 8/2), four horned altar: W-shaped cut on each of the four sides of the square mouth, a cylindrical column body, square stepped base with 4 legs; ex Archaeological Center (Robert Deutsch, Tel Aviv, Israel), auction 65 (27 Sep 2018), lot 472; ex S.M. Collection (Herzliya Pituah, Israel); very rare;
Kingdom of Judaea, First Temple Period, Pottery Wine Decanter or Beer Jug, 800 - 586 B.C.
This decanter form is the typical of the type unique to the Kingdom of Judaea during the First Temple Period. Historians debate what liquid this type of vessel would have contained. Wine seems likely, and decanter engraved with the word "wine" was recovered in excavations at the biblical Tel Lachish. Some, however, describe this decanter type as a beer jug!AA99540. Kingdom of Judaea, Decanter; Gitin I, p. 362, 3.3.7.2; Lachish V pl. 24, 11 & pl. 49, 6; Tushingham fig. 2, 11, Choice, complete and intact, 23cm (9 1/8") tall, 14cm (5 1/2") diameter, Iron Age IIB - IIC, 800 - 586 B.C.; well shaped, wheel made, pink-orange clay, conical mouth, rounded rim, conical neck, strap handle from the neck to the shoulder, broad sloping shoulder with carinated edge, sack shaped body, ring base; ex Mera Antiq (Yossi Eilon) Tel Aviv, found in Israel;
Kingdom of Israel, Northern (Wide-Mouth) Decanter, First Temple Period, c. 925 - 721 B.C.
This decanter type with a wide-mouth and grooved rim is attributed to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Similar types are attributed to the Kingdom of Judah but those have a narrower mouth. This northern type has been found in strata dated to after the Assyrian destruction. Almost certainly these specimens were made before the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel, but continued to be used, probably as prized possessions, for about another century.AA99539. Kingdom of Israel, decanter, cf. Gitin pl. 3.2.6, 10; Amiran p. 259, photos 255 - 256; Tell Es-Sa'idiyeh fig. 11, 12; James Beth Shan fig. 71, 7, Choice, complete and intact, 22cm (8 5/8") tall, 14 cm (5 1/2") maximum diameter, Iron Age IIB - IIC, 925 - 721 B.C.; well shaped, wheel made, pink-orange clay, thin unburnished slip darkened to purplish gray, wide conical mouth, rounded grooved double rim, splayed conical neck, strap handle from the neck to the shoulder, sloping shoulder with carinated edge, ovoid body, ring base; ex Max Shick;
Roman, Bronze Krater Handle Ornamented with Lions, c. 1st - 3rd Century A.D.
Click here to see the line drawing of Catalogue des bronzes antiques de la Bibliothèque National no. 1446, a nearly identical handle in the Bibliothèque nationale de France published in 1895.AM23903. Roman bronze krater handle; cf. BnF Bronzes 1446, Superb, about as made with the addition of an an attractive green patina, c. 1st - 3rd Century A.D.; 12 cm (4 7/8") tall, on the upper part, which would have been attached atop the rim of the vessel: a lion's head faces inward, its back arching above, between two lions lying in opposite directions, on the lower part: acanthus and scrolls between two snakes with heads upward, ex Griffin Gallery of Ancient Art (Boca Raton FL);
Canaanite, Offering Vessel, Pottery Kernos with Four Pedestalled Bowls, c. 1700 - 900 B.C.
In the typology of ancient Greek pottery, the kernos (plural kernoi) is a cult offering vessel, with a pottery ring or stone tray to which are attached several small vessels for holding offerings. The Greek term is also applied to similar compound vessels from other cultures in the Mediterranean, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and South Asia. Amiran photo 350, is a kernos from Megiddo, dated Iron I, 1200 B.C. – 1000 B.C. It has a similar ring base. but with eight ornate vessels of various shapes attached. Amiran assumed it was used in the First Fruits offering and notes the form originated in the Mycenaean-Minoan world. Pande fig. 12 is simpler kernos with three small bowls on a ring (without the pedestals) from Mycenae, Middle Minoan III levels, 1700 - 1600 B.C. We do not know of another example with pedestalled bowls.AL23895. Canaanite kernos, cf. Pande fig. 12, see Amiran photo 350, Choice, reconstructed, c. 1700 - 900 B.C.; 12.5cm tall, buff clay kernos, four shallow bows, each on an individual column pedestal, joined at the sides, holes in the walls connecting them, the pedestals on a ring base, ex Griffin Gallery of Ancient Art (Boca Raton FL); very rare;
Middle Elamite, Susa, Terracotta Fertility Goddess, c. 1500 - 1000 B.C.
Susa was settled about 4000 B.C. and has yielded striking pottery finds from that prehistoric period. A rich production followed of objects for daily use, ritual, and luxury living, finely carved in various materials or fashioned of clay. Monumental sculpture was made in stone or bronze, and dramatic friezes were composed of brilliantly glazed bricks. Among the discoveries are tiny, intricately carved cylinder seals and splendid jewelry. Clay balls marked with symbols offer fascinating testimony to the very beginnings of writing; clay tablets from later periods bearing inscriptions in cuneiform record political history, literature, business transactions, and mathematical calculations.AT23899. cf. Harper Susa fig. 133, Superb, complete and intact, c. 1500 - 1000 B.C.; Elamite Terracotta Fertility Goddess; mold made, beige clay, 15.3 cm (6") tall, standing facing holding bare breasts in cupped hands, nude but for herringbone shoulder straps crossing between the breasts, earrings, torque necklaces, and bead belly chains, navel and the pubic triangle indicated, blank reverse; ex Griffin Gallery of Ancient Art (Boca Raton FL);
Byzantine Empire, Levante or Alexandria, c. 5th - 6th Century A.D., Jewish Menorah Lead Token
The purpose of Byzantine era lead tokens is unknown. Many appear closely related to seals differing only by the absence of a cord or channel for attachment to a container or document. Many late Roman and early Byzantine seals have a figural type on one side and a legend in two lines in Latin or Greek on the other side. Seals with a menorah are known, usually with a blank globular reverse, but some also have a name on the other side.JD98657. Lead token, personal token of Rodanos(?); Roma e-sale 53 (7 Feb 2019), lot 504 (same dies), VF, highlighting earthen deposit desert patina, weight 3.077 g, maximum diameter 14.1 mm, die axis 180o, c. 5th - 6th century A.D.; obverse Menorah of seven branches, flanked by lulav on left and etrog on right; reverse POΔA/NOY in two lines across field, palm frond above; ex CNG e-auction 435 (2 Jan 2019), lot 401; extremely rare;
Egyptian, Tel-el-Armarna Period, Broad Necklace Petal Bead, 1379 - 1362 B.C.
This is a very well made and most unusual bead with extremely rare faience colors produced in the Tel-el-Armarna period. It was originally part of a grand necklace of faience beads. Called a broad collar necklace, it was a more durable version of elaborate perishable floral collars that were worn by banquet guests. This bead represents a single date flower petal. Click here to see a magnificent broad collar necklace in the The Met Fifth Avenue, Gallery 121.AS96345. Egyptian, Tel-el-Armarna, bright yellow and bright glossy red faience fig flower petal bead, grey faience loops at each end, 19.4mm long, Superb, 1353 - 1336 B.C.; from Alex G. Malloy with his certificate of authenticity; of great rarity; Canaanite, Tell El Yahudiyeh Ware, Piriform Juglet, c. 1750 - 1550 B.C.
Vessels of this type are called Tell el-Yahudiyeh Ware, named for the site in Egypt were they were first identified by Flinders Petrie. Despite the name, it is now believed that the earliest and most specimens, mostly juglets, were made by Canaanites in what is now Israel and Jordan. They were likely used for perfumed oils. Tell el-Yahudiyeh Ware is covered with a very dark grey-brown, almost black, burnished slip. The decoration is incised and pricked, and the resulting lines and holes are filled with white chalk to contrast with the vessel's surface. The specimens in Kaplan with the form, size, and decoration, most similar to our juglet were found at Jericho, Beth Shemesh, and Amman.AA99531. Canaanite juglet; cf. Kaplan, piriform type 3, figs. 74a (form) & fig. 75a (decoration); Amiran pl. 36, 9 (different decoration), Choice, complete and intact, finely made, with elegant style, tiny chips in the rim and base; 15cm (6") tall, 10cm (4") maximum diameter; dark grey (Munsell color 5YR 4/1) slip, reverse everted rim, grooved strap handle from rim to the shoulder, narrow neck, inscribed decoration on shoulder - a band defined by two horizontal lines connected by dotted (pricked) vertical lines, piriform body, small ring base; ex Mera Antiq (Yossi Eilon, Tel Aviv), found in Israel;
Roman Judaea - Syria Palestina, Galilee, Kefar Hananya Ware, Kedera Cooking Pot, 1st - Early 5th Century A.D.
"The pots from Kefar Sihin and Kefar Hananya do not usually break." -- Rabbi Yossi, Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 120b
Kefar Hananya was best known for production of cooking pots characterized by red-brown clay, distinctive ribbing or wheel-ridging on the body of the vessel and two handles for placing and removing the pot from the fire. Production of these cooking pots at Kefar Hananya began around 50 CE and extended to at least 430 CE. Wide-mouthed pots, most of which did not have handles (lifsa), were common in the first century BCE but began to be surpassed by the smaller-mouthed, handled cooking pot (kedera) in the first century CE.AA99541. Judaean, kedera cooking pot, Adan-Bayewitz type 4E2 (simple rim variant), Crook fig. 4, Choice, complete and intact, two small rim chips; 14.0cm tall, 20.5cm diameter, predominantly reddish brown (Munsell color 2.5YR 5/8), some grayed areas, few white chalk grits, thin walls as typical, probably 4th century A.D.; simple rim, cylindrical neck, two strap handles from rim to shoulder, globular body with greatest diameter near the middle, wheel-ridged body and shoulder; base slightly pointed, ex Archaeological Center (Robert Deutsch, Tel Aviv, Israel, 16 Apr 2015), with photocopy of Israel Antiquities Authority export approval certificate;
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