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Biblical Collection/ HK : Phoenician Votive Figure
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Phoenician Votive Figure - DV.522
Origin: Lebanon
Circa: 600
BC
to 500
BC
Dimensions:
13.5" (34.3cm) high
Collection: Biblical
Style: Phoenician
Medium: Terracotta
Condition: Fine
£8,900.00
Location: Great Britain
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Description |
This attractive ceramic sculpture is a votive
figure from the middle of the first millennium
BC, and represents a deity in the Phoenician
pantheon. It is comparatively compact, and
perfectly proportioned. It depicts a woman
standing upon a rectangular, integral base,
wearing a tunic and a long robe that covers
her body from her feet to the crown of her
head. Her pose is full-square, her legs
together and her stomach and breasts
protruding – perhaps a sign of pregnancy. Her
face is serene and well-modelled, with slight
brows, rounded cheeks and a pursed mouth,
all framed by her scarf (or the end of her robe)
which lies over her hair. The hand position is
unusual – the right hand is raised in what is
generally assumed to be benediction, while
the left is raised towards the neck. This
position is markedly rarer than other forms in
Phoenician shrine figures, especially the left
hand gathering up the train of the robe (as
seen in other pieces in this collection). This
piece combines reflective serenity with a
powerful austerity, which has much in
common with the Archaic Period Greek
statues which the Phoenicians helped to
inspire. The back of the piece is almost
completely plain, implying that it was always
meant to be viewed from the front rather than
in the round, which is appropriate for figures
destined for shrines. The piece retains some
calcareous concretions from its long interment
in the Mediterranean, and has some damage
to the right side of the head (not affecting the
face).
The Phoenicians were one of the most
important civilisations of the ancient world,
and flourished from around 1500 to 300 BC.
Their world was centred on Northern Israel,
Lebanon and Syria, while their sphere of
conquest and influence extended throughout
the Mediterranean and even beyond the Pillars
of Hercules (the Straits of Gibraltar) and into
the Mediterranean-Atlantic. Their power was
due primarily to their mastery of seamanship –
which they developed to a whole new level
during their pre-eminence – and extremely
well-organised administration which was
strengthened by extensive use of the alphabet.
Indeed, it was the Phoenicians who introduced
the alphabet to the Greeks, who in turn
passed it onto the rest of the Western World.
They were essentially Canaanites, to whom
they were identical in sociocultural and
material terms, the only difference being the
massive range over which their cultural
remains and heritage can be found.
Phoenician society was comparatively stable
when compared to the changeable fortunes of
other Eastern Mediterranean cultures,
primarily due to its broad royal, political and
religious foundations. The town of Byblos
became a major hub for trade all over the
Fertile Crescent, followed by Tyre and Sidon;
overseas territories notably included Carthage
(founded 814 BC), but they either took over or
culturally dominated trading ports from Cyprus
to Malta, Spain, Portugal and Sardinia. They
traded in purple dye (“Tyrian Purple”), textiles,
luxury ceramics, silver, tin (with England) and
glass, explored down the west coast of Africa
as far as the Gulf of Guinea, and may even
have circumnavigated Africa in around 600
BC.
Their artistic output is usually on a small scale
– enabling it to be easily transported and
traded – and made of high-value materials
such as glass and precious metal. Phoenician
styles are largely derivative, being informed by
sources as varied as Cyprus, Egypt, Assyria
and Greece, and has been described as an
amalgam of pre-classic models and
perspectives, often with regionalised local
stylistic variants. The use of ceramic figures
seems to have been religious in origin, with
shrine figures (or baetyls) depicting a wide
range of the deities and legendary figures from
Mediterranean mythology. Clay tableaux show
these figures being displayed in niches,
worshipped at a familial or group level, and
they were also sometimes interred with the
dead. Depictions range from the classical-
naturalistic to the schematic or even
grotesque. Specific members of the pantheon
include Baal (or Baal-Hammon, to whom
children were sacrificed), Eshmun (god of
healing and the arts), Melqart (the Phoenician
equivalent of Poseidon/Neptune) Bes (an
Egyptian household god resembling an ugly
dwarf), Tanit (the patron goddess of Carthage)
and Astarte (an indigenous Phoenician
goddess). Various other deities cannot be
specifically identified. It is notable that the
gender bias is very strong towards goddesses.
Hand positions are believed to reflect different
moods or intentions. The significance of
individual gods or figures cannot be
ascertained in most cases. As with most
societies, any figure with greatly exaggerated
sexual characteristics (or if pregnant) is usually
associated with fertility, although most figures
are likely to represent personages whose
significance has been lost to us.
The current piece was recovered from the floor
of the Mediterranean; the manner in which it
and associated pieces were found suggests
that it might have been part of a naval shrine
aboard the doomed vessel, although it is also
possible that it was being taken to a
Phoenician outpost in order to form part of a
shrine for a prosperous household. In either
case, this is an attractive and historically
fascinating piece that would take pride of
place in any collection of the genre.
Moscati, S. (ed.). 1988. The Phoenicians. John
Murray Publishers, London.
- (DV.522)
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