VISUAL REPRESENTATI ONS ISRAEL Amrit a stele of the god Shadrapa on a lion in Egyptian against anthropomorphic and theriomorphic cult statu- ian royal inscription from Nimrud mentions "the gods style was found. ary; more extensive catalogues also mention stelae, in whom they trusted" (i.e., divine images) among the are known from several Aramean representations barely sculpted or nonfigurative standing stones, and sa- spoil taken from Samaria in 7zo øcn. Hebrew inscrip- sites. Tell Halaf (Guzana): deities on animals, large bird, cred trees and may even include votive statuary (cf. tions from Kuntillet Ajrud in norrhern Sinai, dated winged sun; Ain scorpion, and bull-men supporting Deut. 5.8; 4.r6-ry1. Only Deut. 4.r5-r8 provides a rea- around 8oo rcr,, feature blessing formulas: "by YH!(H Tash (Khadatu): ivories Dara: mountain-gods; Arslan son: Israel only heard YHIøH on Mounr Sinai but did of Samaria [or of Teman] and his Asherah." According (Egyptian such as a god on a lotus); Zincirli: stele motifs not see any deÊnite shape (tëmîtnâ). Other rexrs may to some scholars, this should refer to the worship of a of god Hadad with horns, ü/eâther-god with ax and conceive of a divine Gestab, which might have been pair of divine statues; other scholars take "his Asherah" of thunderbolt, and goddess Kubaba. A rare example known to Moses (Num, rz.8; Exod. 33.rr vs. 3j.zo; to refer to â nonanthropomorphic cultic symbol, possi- wall painting occurs at Deir Alla in Jordan depicting a Deut. 34.ro) but was never revealed to all of Israel. A bly in the shape of a stylized tree (but nore the reference winged sphinx. Later Aramean deities are known from few texts requirç the destruction of non-Israelite sanctu- to women weaving garments for "[the] Asherah" in z (Lord Palmyra, including the gods Baal-Shamem of aries together with their images, sacred stones and trees, Kings 4.7). Asherah is generally thought to have pro- Heaven) and Yarhibol (a sun-god). At Hatra the god and other ritual paraphernalia (Deut. 7.5; rz.z-3; cf. vided the figurative model for the so-called dea nutrix a crescent, and sun. Maran appears with horns, Mic. 5.rz-r4 [= 5.rr-r3 Hebrew]; r Macc. rj.47l. pillar figurines of the 8th and 7th centuries thar repre- Philistine religion is known from the early Ashdoda Iconoclasm is reported for the so-called cult re- sent a well-dressed lady supporting or offering her figurines (from Ashdod): a throne/seat in the form of a forms of the Judean kings Hezekiah (z Kings r8.4) and breasts. Such small inexpensive statuary was mainly mother-goddess and im- woman perhaps representing a Josiah (z Kings z3). Yet, biblical texts offer numerous used in traditional Judahite family religion to provide ported from Mycenae. Seals contain important scenes, examples of iconolatry practiced by Israelites (e.g., blessing for the house and grave. It disappears from the comes from Ashkelon and a bull figurine in a shrine Judg. r7-r8; Exod. 3z; Ezek. r6.r7-x9; z3.4rl. Best Judahite and Samarian archeological record from the (r55o ncn). (Many other bull figurines are known from known among Israelite cultic images are the bull calves Persian period onward. other sites.) said to have been erected at Bethel and Dan by KingJe- So far only one clearly Yahwistic sanctuary of An Edomite shrine at Qitmit contained the head of a roboam I (r Kings rz.z6-321. These are regarded by preexilic times has been fully excavated: a small shrine (consort three horns, and from goddess of Qaus) with Deuteronomist historiographers as an expression of the that was part of the Judahite fortress of Arad, which cult stands of clay. En Hazeva come anthropomorphic northern kingdom's basic sin against YHWH's covenant controlled the southern Judahite hills during the 8th and might represent the god Stone sculptures from Ammon with Israel (z Kings ro.z9; Deut. 9.rz; Ps. ro6.t9-zo). 7th centuries nce. A standing stone painted red (proba- from Milcom. A Late Bronze Age warrior-god comes The golden calf episode in Exod. 3z (cf. Deut. 9) is re- bly representing blood, i.e., life) seems to have been the Sihan, and male and female deities are shown on a stele lated to the Bethel tradition. In both instances the peo- only visual representation of the main deity worshiped from Balua in Jordan. ple who produced the bull-calf statues perceived them as there, most probably YHWH. A similar installation in Nabatean religious iconography is a mixture of the visual representations of YH\ü(/H, the god of Israel. This Ahab's "temple of the Baal" at Samaria was considered stelae cult (betyl), sometimes aniconic and later anthro- interpretation concurs with a well-established Bronze abominable by Deuteronomistic writers and is said to first Head of a deity from an Edomite shrine, Horvat Qitmit, pomorphic forms, as known from Petra. Dushara and Iron Age tradition of storm-god iconograph¡ which have been purged byJehu (z Kings ro.z6-27), Itzltaq Beit-Aliel) half of 6th century BcE. Courtesy (Qaus) is shown flanked by bulls with thunderbolt. His may have subsisted in Israel until at least the 8th century Origins, formation, and deuelopment of biblicøl consort Allat is shown as a betyl with a face. BcE but was rejected by the biblical writers. In Hos. 8.4- aniconism. Some authors follow the main lines of the nrsr.: Izak Cornelius, The Iconography of the Canaanite 6; ro.5-6; and t7.2, YH!øH disconnects himself from biblical texts, considering that Israelite religion was al- Astarte (standing, warrior, equestrian), Anat (seated, God.s Resbef and Baal: The Late Bronze and lron Age I Pe- bull statuary at Bethel. Further iconolatrous features in ways aniconic in essence; they regard conflicting evi- (Göttingen, Keel and standing, and warrior), Qedeshet (naked, holding riods (c r joo-rooo ¡cl 1994l'. Othmar both Israel and Judah include the Asherah (as a cult ob- dence as traces of non-Israelite, that is, "pagan," idola- and Images of God in flowers and serpents, sometimes on lions), and Resheph Christoph Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, ject: r Kings r5'r7; t633; z Kings zt.7; 23.4, 6-7), try that persisted in Israel and Judah until at least the (menacing, with shield). Resheph also occurs on seal Ancient Israel (Minneapolis, 1998), chaps. z-3. Ora Negbi, the Nehushtan serpent said to have been made by Moses Persian period. Other scholars assume a dichotomy be- amulets on the back of horned animals as "lord of the Canaanite Gods in Metal (Tel Aviv, t976].. I.c. (z Kings r8.5; cf. Num. zr.9), and the image of jealousy tween an essentially aniconic state religion and animals." From Ugarit there are plaques of the (Ezek 8.3). The tabernacle (Exod z5-26; 75-4o) and iconolatrous popular religion. But terra-cotta figurines Qedeshet-type in metal and in clay from Palestine' A Israel Solomon's temple in Jerusalem (r Kings 6-9), while lav- are attested even in royal palaces, and iconolatry was goddess on horseback (Astarte as war-goddess) was ishly decorated, are said not to have housed an image not restricted to cheap terra-cotta. A third group of found on a gold foil from Lachish, as well as graffiti of a The ban on visual representations of YH\üIH or arty of the deity. According to r Kings 8.6-9, YFISØH was scholars thinks that much of what the Bible depicts god with spear (Baal as serpent slayer). Beisan stelae other deity is one of the most distinctive features of bib- represented in the holy of holies of the preexilic temple as heterodox deviations actually reflects prâctices thât show Anat and the seated god Mekal. At Hazor a high lical religion. Greek and Latin authors from the early in Jerusalem by the ark, a mobile chest containing holy once were an integral part of Israelite religion. Some of place with stelae (one with hands worshiping the heav- Hellenistic period onward consider Jewish worship to stones and protected by winged, human-headed these scholars favor a basically evolutionary view ac- enly powers) and a stone statue of a god standing on a be aniconic. Biblical tradition relates this image ban to sphinxes (the cherubim). However, Ezek. 8 hints again cording to which sacred images became gradually sus- bull were found. divine revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai. Historians at the coexistence of several cults, some of them clearly pect from the 8th century onward until the essentially Several Phoenician deities have been identified on im- of religion have suggested various hypotheses to explain iconolatrous, in the late preexilic temple precinct. Some aniconic worship of the postexilic period. However, ages. Baal-Melqart, chief god of Tyre, is shown with it, none of which is entirely convincing. exilic or postexilic prophetic texts mock artisans who biblical evidence such as Ezekiel's visionary description prohibition does not con- battle-ax over his shoulder on a stele (8oo nce) found Biblical texts. The biblical produce idols, considering them to be actual gods (Isa. of idolatrous cults performed in late preexilic Jerusalem production and near Aleppo. His consort Astarte is shown seated as a cern visual art in generâl, but only the 4o.r8-zo; 4r.6-7; 44.9-zo; +6. S-8; Jer. ro. r-8). Ex- (Ezek. 8) or Jeremiah's debate with recently exiled images. Major references include bronze figurine. Baal-Hammon of Carthage sits on a worship of cult-related plicitly non-Israelite idolatry is a regular topic of biblical Judeans over the legitimacy of worshiping the Queen of (the cherub throne, and stelae show the Tanit symbol.