Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
Tall and thin, this smiting figure pairs an unusual combination of rounded forms on the upper section with flat, geometrically ribbed elements below. The frontal torso shifts into the flat sideways-oriented lower body at the waist, where the juncture is concealed by a double ribbed belt. The figure wears a short kilt edged by two horizontal ribs, with a tab descending between the legs. The attenuated legs end in ball-like feet with the toes indicated by irregular incisions. Two rounded tangs extend from below the feet for attachment. The head is modeled fully in the round and is large in proportion to the rest of the body. The long face, with fleshy nose and sizeable pierced ears jutting from the sides, resembles those found on examples from Byblos and Tyre on the Lebanese coast dating to the early second millennium BCE; however, none of these examples displays the modified Egyptian White Crown or the flat-banded kilt seen here (1). These early pieces hold both arms extended out in front rather than in the smiting posture with the right arm raised. The distinctive rendering of the skirt has no clear parallels among published bronzes (2), although the representation of a tab between the legs occurs on depictions of Syrians in the Late Bronze Age (3). The figure holds a small round bowl in the left hand, which may be compared to seated examples of a rather different style from the Levantine coast and Cyprus (4).
The geographical area of the Levant, comprising the regions of present-day Israel, Lebanon, western Syria, and south-central Turkey, produced an extraordinary number of small copper alloy figurines from the end of the third millennium into the beginning of the first millennium BCE (5). Most of these figurines depict a standing male figure with left foot advancing and right arm raised in a position of smiting (6). Often the hands are pierced with holes to hold weapons or armor. These separate elements are preserved in a few examples, the most spectacular being a warrior holding a spear and shield found in a late thirteenth or early twelfth century BCE building at Enkomi on Cyprus (7). The figurines have a wide distribution, with examples found as far away as Greece, but the majority is concentrated along the Mediterranean coast of the Levant (8).
While the figurines share a common conceptual underpinning, the actual forms and styles of the small copper alloys display a remarkable range of diversity. In general, they appear to move along a spectrum from those that include a high degree of Egyptianizing elements, presumably produced in regions closer to Egypt, to those showing stronger affinities with the Hittite artistic tradition of central Turkey. Such stylistic features are evident in the shape and type of the tall crown, the form of the short skirt or kilt, and the proportions of the body. The basic iconography of the smiting figure is derived from the Egyptian image of Pharaoh defeating his enemies; yet, there is no exact parallel in Egypt, indicating a peculiarly Levantine iconographic conception. The figure most likely represents a deity, sometimes identified as either Baal or Reshep, two West Semitic gods. Although no definitive evidence exists to support these attributions, some examples have horns on their headdresses, which are a Near Eastern attribute of divinity (9). Where archaeological contexts are sufficiently well preserved, the figurines are clearly associated with cultic spaces. The largest group of excavated figurines comes from several locations in the temple complex at Byblos on the Lebanese coast, while another set was excavated in a Late Bronze Age temple complex at Kamid el-Loz in inland Lebanon (10). The precise dating of the figurines remains fraught for several reasons. First, many were hoarded and only buried well after their date of manufacture. Second, there is only poor information available, if there is any at all, on the provenience of a large portion of the figurines in museum collections. Finally, while the overall conception of the figurines unites them as a group, the diversity of individual features and styles often makes stylistic comparisons difficult.
NOTES:
1. O. Negbi, Canaanite Gods in Metal: An Archaeological Study of Ancient Syro-Palestinian Figurines (Tel Aviv, 1976) 9 and 22-24, no. 40, pl. 7 (Tyre, context unknown).
2. While close comparanda for this piece are lacking, a bronze warrior of unknown provenience and probably dating to the Late Bronze Age is one of the closest (ibid., no. 1311). This bronze, said to come from Syria, depicts a figure with a long dagger at the waist and a shield in the left hand. The objects both feature pierced semicircular ears, a modified White Crown, and the rendering of the raised right arm as a somewhat soft, rounded rod of metal with the clenched fist pierced to hold a weapon. The face, kilt, and legs, however, are rendered quite differently on the two works. For a general discussion concerning questions of authenticity, see P. R. S. Moorey and S. Fleming, “Problems in the Study of the Anthropomorphic Metal Statuary from Syro-Palestine Before 330 B.C.,” Levant 16 (1984): 67-90, esp. 68.
3. For example, seen in a representation of a victorious ruler on a set of ivory bed panels excavated in the palace at Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit) and dated to the fourteenth or thirteenth century BCE; see C. F.-A. Schaeffer, “Les fouilles de Ras Shamra-Ugarit: quinzième, seizième et dix-septième campagnes (1951, 1952 et 1953): rapport sommaire,” Syria 31 (1954): 14-67, pl. 10; and M. H. Feldman, “Luxurious Forms: Redefining a Mediterranean ‘International Style,’ c. 1400-1200 B.C.E,” Art Bulletin 84 (2002) fig. 14.
4. Negbi notes that the pierced earlobes that characterize some of these seated figures are associated with Lebanon; see Negbi 1976 (supra 1) 46 and 50-53; see also ibid., no. 1457, fig. 62, pl. 34 (Homs, context unknown).
5. For Levantine copper alloy figurines in general, see Negbi 1976 (supra 1); and Moorey and Fleming 1984 (supra 2) 67-90.
6. For the smiting copper alloy figurines, see H. Seeden, The Standing Armed Figurines in the Levant, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 1.1 (Munich, 1980); D. Collon, “The Smiting God: A Study of a Bronze in the Pomerance Collection in New York,” Levant 4 (1972): 111-34; and ead., “Note on ‘A Bronze in the Pomerance Collection, New York,’” Levant 5 (1973): 133.
7. J.-C. Courtois, J. Lagarce, and E. Lagarce, Enkomi et le bronze récent à Chypre (Nicosia, 1986) pl. 18.4.
8. For distribution maps, see Seeden 1980 (supra 6) pls. 118-19.
9. For a summary of problems relating to the identity of Levantine copper alloy statuettes, see Moorey and Fleming 1984 (supra 2) 78-80.
10. For the Byblos copper alloy statuette hoards, see Seeden 1980 (supra 6) 36-102. For the Kamid el-Loz examples, see H. Kühne, “Die Bronzestatuetten aus dem ‘spätbronzezeitlichen’ Tempel,” in Bericht über die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen in Kamid el-Loz in den Jahren 1968 bis 1970, ed. R. Hachmann, Saarbrücker Beiträge zur Altertumskunde 22 (Bonn, 1980) 63-81. For a general discussion of context for the anthropomorphic statuettes, see Moorey and Fleming 1984 (supra 2) 76-77.
Marian Feldman
