A STEATITE BOWL FROM TEL ZEROR

抄録

There remain the following problems: the usage of the bowl, its historical background and the kind of religion which used it in the ritual. We shall speak on them in the near future. Here, only the folllwing can be stated. The figurative elements of the steatite bowls originated in the tradition of the sacred arts of North Syria and surrounding regions. Especially, they are closely connected with the Hurrian tradition. During the Dark Age in the Early Iron period, a new cult of a war-like goddess was introduced to adapt artistic expressions which were common among natives by that time. This new cult was that of the goddess' protective powers, as expressed in the iconographical designes on the bowls and other similar objects. It was brought to Palestine by Aramaeans and Neo-Hittites who often appeared in the Old Testament.
[To write this article I am indebted to many specialists, abroad and here, as well as my colleagues of the Tel Zeror Expedition. Since the above was written, Mr. S. Onoyama of Kyoto University most kindly drew my attention to the following literature about the bowl from Hasanlu, the Minnaean citadel: R. H. Dyson, Jr., ILN, Vol. 239, Sept. 30, 1961, pp. 534-537; figs. 17/18. This find was well stratified and found from the fallen brickwork around a religious building of the Grey Ware phase (Period IV, 1000-800 B. C.), during which the building was subject to one major alteration and destroyed by fire at last. In this period the site was incessantly threatened by nomadic raids. Thus the vessel was owned by the defending warriors, who used it for the magical rite against the enemy actions in the critical moments of this temple-fort. Among the decorative elements, two human-headed winged bulls reclining on the front of the bowl and rosette patterns are without parallels. The vessel is made of an archaic form of blue glass, often called "Egyptian blue."]