This unusually well-rendered and
harmonious
ceramic sculpture is a votive figure
from the
middle of the first millennium BC, and
represents a Phoenician deity.
Unusually, the
piece has no integral base, and is
superbly
detailed with near-perfect preservation.
It is a
female (?) figure standing in a
strikingly
dynamic pose with the head slightly
bowed
and a half-smile on her lips. Her pose
is
normal, with her left hand on her
abdomen and
her right hand raised in a gesture of
benediction. She is dressed in an
atypical
manner, with a long robe reaching from
her
head to the floor but casually opened in
the
centre to reveal her slightly flexed
legs and
bare torso; the absence of apparent
breasts
leads to ambiguity in sexing, although
it
should be noted that breasts are only
ever
emphasised in Phoenician fertility
statues. Her
stomach is slightly convex but not
seemingly
pregnant. The quality of the drapery is
exquisite, as is the rendering of the
carefully
lidded eyes, the slight smile and the
rounded
curves of the forehead and cheeks. The
general rendering is diagnostically Pre-
Classical – rather austere and linear
composition, with slightly naïve
rendering of
facial features – and reflects the
archaic style
of Greek sculpture that the Phoenicians
inspired and with which this piece is
contemporary. The piece still retains
calcareous accretions (which can be
removed
if required), which attest to its long
interment
in the Mediterranean. 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: this is usual
for
figures designed for shrines.
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.
The significance of individual gods or
figures
cannot be ascertained in most cases. As
with
most societies, any figure with greatly
exaggerated sexual characteristics is
usually
associated with fertility, although most
figures
are likely to represent personages whose
significance has been lost to us.
This sculpture 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 or religious
centre. In
either case, this is an exceptionally
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