BABesch 76 (2001) The Bronze Statuette of a Mouse from Kedesh and its Significance Sonia Mucznik and Asher Ovadiah A statuette of a mouse in moulded bronze1 was A similar event occurred in the Old Testament in found in the temple at Kedesh,2 Upper Galilee, in connection with the Ark of the God of Israel: ... five the course of the first season of the archaeological golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to excavations.3 the number of the lords of the Phillistines: for one The mouse appears with its forepaws stretched for- plague was on you all, and on your lords... and wards, its weight on the hind paws; its raised head, images of your mice that mar the land...8 This coin- wide-open eyes, pricked ears, and slightly open mouth cidence between the Biblical and the Greek worlds suggest that all its senses are alert and that it is ready is noteworthy and quite amazing, closing a cultural for action. Its long tail is rolled up over its right hind cycle. The Philistines, who belonged to one of the thigh. The fur on its body and head is represented by Sea Peoples, had reached the eastern Mediterranean, regular small incised marks, but the tail is smooth and either from the Aegean islands or from Crete. Upon rounded; the underside of the paws are flat (Figs. 1-5). their arrival in the region they brought with them Although it was not found in situ, the statuette was cultural elements of the pre-Hellenic tradition, prob- discovered within the temple area, and thus belongs to ably including the mice of Apollo Smintheus. It the same period of the temple (2nd-4th centuries CE). should be pointed out that the offering they bestowed, The ‘mouse-god’ (Smintheus - Σµινθες) is a title according to the Bible, to the God of Israel: five that was given to Apollo,4 as the god who had saved golden emerods and five golden mice, suggests their a local community from a plague of field mice.5 On cultural connections with the pre-Hellenic world in the other hand, it was by his own curse that the god general, and the region of Troas in particular. The had sent the mice into the fields to destroy the crops interesting point is the similar functions of the mice (ν ρσ η, πλει τς Μυσας, Κρνς τις ερες mentioned in the Bible and those of Apollo Smintheus ν τ κεθι Απλλωνς. ττ#ω $ργισθε&ς ' referred to in the Greek literary sources. θε)ς *πεµψεν α-τ τς /γρς µας, 0τινες Literary sources, archaeological evidence and numis- τς καρπς λυµανντ).6 In the place where matic data associate the mouse or rat with Apollo, the event had occurred, the priest built a temple dedi- as his attribute, and testify to the cult of Apollo cated to the god Smintheus as, according to the local Smintheus having been practised in Troas, in Asia dialect, mice are called sminthi (1 γενµ2νυ ' Minor. It seems that the mouse was a mantic sym- Κρνις ερ)ν δρσατ τ#4 θε#4, Σµινθ2α α-τ)ν bol and connected with the founding of the Trojan πρσαγρεσας, πειδ5 κατ6 τ5ν γ78ριν state of Chryse (later known as Hamaxitos),9 where α-τ4ν δι9λεκτν µες σµνθι καλνται).7 the Temple of Apollo Smintheus was erected, and 1 The measurements are: L - 6.9 cm; H - 3 cm; w - 2.4 cm; weight - 120 grs. 2 The statuette was found on the 6th of August 1981 in area A, square I-14. 3 See Ovadiah et al. 1984, 146-172; Ovadiah et al. 1985, 353-360; Ovadiah et al. 1987, 168-173; Ovadiah et al. 1993, 60-63; Ovadiah et al. 1993a, 209-230. 4 Sminthos (Σµνθς) means mouse; see Scholia Graeca, 1969, A39 (p. 20):Σµινθε: πθετν ’Απλλωνς; Σµνθς γ6ρ…; LIMC II.1, 231. 5 See Roscher IV, 1965, s.v. ‘Smintheus’, cols. 1083-1087; s.v. ‘Skamandros’, col. 984; Roscher I.1, 1965, s.v. ‘Apollon’, cols. 462- 463. For Smintheus, see also Cook II.1, 1925, 250 (n.2), 255; DAGR I.1, 1962, 317. For festivals named ‘Sminthia’ (Σµνθια), celebrated in honour of the god Smintheus, see DAGR IV. 2, 1963, 1365. 6 Hill 1916, 136; Farnell IV, 1971, 448. 7 Hill 1916, 136-137; Farnell IV, 1971, 448. 8 I Sam. 6: 4-5. Our thanks are due to Mr. Matti Fischer, who drew our attention to this matter. 9 LIMC II.1, 231-232. Fig. 1. 133 Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Figs. 1-5. The bronze mouse from Kedesh (photos: authors). 134 Fig. 6. The bronze mouse in the Munich Prähistorische Staatssammlung (after 200 Jahre Philipp von Zabern). its remains were found and are still visible.10 E στρα, Fτι ν τ> ρσ>η Σµινθ2ως στ&ν ερ)ν Apparently, the mouse was a sacred animal in the κα& µς Aπκειται τ#4 πδ& τ B9νυ, Σκπα Smintheion, associated with Apollo, and part of the *ργν τ Παρυ, ...16 cult of Apollo Smintheus.11 A mouse or rat placed at the foot of the cult statue, In the Iliad I.37 and 39, the city of Chryse12 and the as the attribute of Apollo Smintheus, figures on one god Smintheus,13 identified with Apollo, to whom a of the coins of Alexandria Troas.17 Some scholars temple was erected, are mentioned: Σµινθε, ε< πτ2 consider that Scopas made both the cult image τι 7αρεντ’ π& νη)ν *ρεψα,...(Smintheus, if ever (Apollo’s statue) as well as the mouse, and that this it pleased your heart that I built your temple, ...).14 statuary group was reproduced on coins of Chryse. The statue of Apollo Smintheus by Scopas of Paros Others argue that only the mouse was by Scopas and was, according to Strabo, to be found in the temple that it was added to an older image.18 at Chryse, in Troas, and the mouse was placed at the A similar bronze statuette of a mouse, now in the foot of the statue: ν δ= τ> ρσ>η τατ>η κα& τ) Munich Prähistorische Staatssammlung, dated to the τ Σµινθ2ως ’Απλλωνς στιν ερ)ν κα& τ) σµ?λν τ) τ5ν τυµτητα τ $νµατς 10 The temple of Apollo Smintheus at Chryse (Hamaxitos) in σ4@ν, ' µς, Aπκειται τ#4 πδ& τ B9νυ. Troas has been dated to the end of the third century or 200 BCE; Σκπα δ’ στ&ν *ργα τ Παρυ; συνικεισι see Weber 1966,100-114; Akurgal 1978, 29. δ= κα& τ5ν στραν ε<τε µθν ττ#ω τ#4 τπ#ω 11 Farnell IV, 1971, 448-449. τ5ν περ& τ4ν µυ4ν 12 On the city of Chryse, see Scholia Graeca, 1969, A37d (pp. (In this Chrysa is also the tem- 19-20); Eustathius, 54-56, 60; see also Farnell IV, 1971, 448. ple of Sminthian Apollo, and the symbol which pre- 13 See above, n. 4. serves the etymology of the name (Sminthian means 14 Iliad I. 37,39, trans. R. Lattimore, 1951, Chicago and London. ‘Mouse-god’) I mean the mouse, lies beneath the 15 Strabo, 13.1.48 (VI, pp.92-95) (cf. also Strabo, 13.1.63 (VI, pp. 22-125), 13.1.64 (VI, pp.126-127); Pollitt 1990, 97. Some foot of the cult image (xoanon). These are the works scholars tend to identify on stylistic grounds the statue by Scopas of Scopas of Paros; and also the history, or myth, on the coins of Alexandria Troas (Wroth 1964, xvii, Pls.IV.8, about the mice is associated with this place).15 V.15, VI.2,5), while others reject this identification because of Eustathius, Bishop of Thessalonike, in the 12th cen- the absence of the mouse, and the inclusion of the raven (Richter 1970, Fig. 695). tury CE, mentions a temple of Smintheus at Chryse, 16 Eustathius, 56. and a mouse lying at the foot of the cult image 17 Grace 1932, Fig. 4 on 229; LIMC II.2: 378b. (xoanon), the work of Scopas from Paros: Dησ& γ6ρ 18 Richter 1970, 211. 135 Fig. 7. second half of the first century CE, was found in the basis with Baalshamin, the great deity of the Syro- Roman fortress of Oberstimm (Landkreis Pfaffenhofen) Phoenician region, and the supreme divinity of the (Fig. 6).19 The only difference is that the one in Temple at Kedesh. If, in any case, the statuette of Munich is holding a fruit between its front paws.20 the mouse indicates the worship of Apollo Smintheus The form of this mouse may evoke a connection with at Kedesh, this would be an exceptional phenomenon, Apollo Smintheus in Germany during the Roman beyond the limits of Troas in Asia Minor, making it period, appearing beyond the limits of Troas, the only existing example in the Syro-Phoenician although it may also merely have served as the handle region. of a decorative dish, pot or other vessel. There are in fact several other examples in the Greek Three reliefs carved on a coffer and two modillions world in which in the temple of the main divinity of one of the cornices of the portico entablature of the temple at Kedesh include a basin on a tripod, a cithara, and a crescent with a star. These sculptural 19 Its length is 5.2 cm; it was published in a calendar of ‘200 elements are almost impossible to see and identify, Jahre Philipp von Zabern’, Mainz-am-Rhein, 1985. 20 Similar statuettes of bronze mice are displayed in the Archae- due to their location, high above eye level (about ological Museum at Çanakkale, Turkey, which were inspected 8m), and the small size of the reliefs (approximately by us in the course of two visits (June 1990 and July 2001), but 10x15 cm).