Luxury Goods in Ancient Israel: Questions of Consumption and Production (original) (raw)
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Houses of Ivory: The Consumption of Ivories in the Iron Age Levant
Altorientalische Forschungen, 2015
Study of Levantine ivories has focused overwhelmingly on stylistic classification in pursuit of attribution to specific locations of production. This focus has had the effect of overlooking a consideration of the uses of ivories in the Levant as a whole. Starting from ivories found in predominately Levantine cultural contexts at Zincirli, Ḥamāh and Tall Ḥalaf, this paper examines the range of genres and forms of ivory objects consumed by Iron Age Levantine communities. As parts of furnishings, containers, toiletry items, andmilitary gear, ivory played a central role in the display of elite Iron Age Levantine identities, both in life and death.
Study of Levantine ivories has focused overwhelmingly on stylistic classification in pursuit of attribution to specific locations of production. This focus has had the effect of overlooking a consideration of the uses of ivories in the Levant as a whole. Starting from ivories found in predominately Levantine cultural contexts at Zincirli, Ḥamāh and Tall Ḥalaf, this paper examines the range of genres and forms of ivory objects consumed by Iron Age Levantine communities. As parts of furnishings, containers, toiletry items, and military gear, ivory played a central role in the display of elite Iron Age Levantine identities, both in life and death.
Since the time of their discovery, archaeologists and art historians accepted the Samaria ivories to be of Phoenician origin. Considered alien and idiosyncratic artifacts in Samaria, the ivories were deemed unrepresentative of local material culture. As a result, other Iron Age ivories subsequently discovered in the Levant were also regarded as Phoenician. This article aims to shed light on the thinking behind the ethnic labeling of these ivories, and its lingering, detrimental implications that prevent finds from being viewed as indigenous material culture. A brief review of relevant archaeological finds from both old and recent excavations at the sites of Jerusalem, Rǝḥov, and Hazor will show that there is in fact substantial evidence to anchor Iron Age ivories within the southern Levant. In the process, new suggestions regarding continuity from the Bronze to the Iron Age will be made by addressing the use of different raw materials and the repertoire of images depicted on inlays.
There are striking similarities in overall style, detail, and subject matter between certain of the early first millennium ivory carvings attributed to North Syrian manufacture and the reliefs from Tell Halaf (ancient Guzana), a site located in the Habur River basin. Ivories of North Syrian type have actually been found in fragments at Tell Halaf itself, as well as at various other sites: Nimrod, Hama, Zincirli, and Hasanlu, to name the most well known. These parallels led Helene Kantor to argue in 1956 that in fact the ivories, and possibly other minor arts, must have served as the models for the stone reliefs of what was essentially a provincial and culturally backward local center. I Such a scenario reverses the usual direction of influence from one medium to another -a direction generally understood as moving from the so-called major arts to socalled minor arts, with scale often determining what is considered "major."2 Nevertheless, I believe a number of factors can be adduced in support of the original hypothesis, and I should like to offer these brief notes as a tribute to the extraordinarily sensitive visual observations and historical perceptions of Helene Kantor, whose work on many aspects of the art of the early first miUennium B.C. laid the foundations for much of my own. t. H. J. Kantor. "Syro-Palestinian Ivories," JNES 15 (1956): 173. following a suggestion made by P. J. Rils, Hama. Fouilles el recherches de la Fondasio« Carlsberg 193/-1938.//. 3: Les Cimit;eres a cremaslon (Copenhagen. 1948), pp. 198f. 2. See, for example, the study of M.-Th. Barrelet, "Etude de glyptique akkadienne,' Orientalia 39 (1970): 213-51, in which she suggests lbat seal engravers of palace and temple workshops would have had direct access to the major monuments of the times. and that specifically cult statuary and reliefs provided the stimulus for certain imagery on Akkadian seals (cf. p. 217). 3. Cf. synopsis in B. Hrouda, "Halaf, Tell." RIA 4 (Berlin, 1972-75), p. 54; cf. also M. von Oppenheim, Tell HaJaf, eine M.u K"ltIU ina iiltesten Mesopotamien (Leipzig, 1931), a popular. narrative account of the excavations and the history of the site; and lbe official excavation reports, Tell Ha/of. vols. I-IV (Berlin, 1943-1962). hrnal campaign seasons were
‘Atiqot 106, 2022
This preliminary report presents an assemblage of ivory items found in the precincts of the City of David National Park in Jerusalem. Such prestigious ivory items have only been found in prominent cities, such as Late Bronze Age Megiddo and Iron Age Samaria, where they originated in buildings recognized as part of palatial complexes. These items are the first of their kind to be found in Jerusalem, revealing the wealth of Jerusalem’s elite on the eve of the city’s destruction in 586 BCE. The findings shed light on the cultural and economic role of the city’s elite in the “global” network that connected royal courts and their agents across the ancient Near East.
Ivory as a material has a unique and fascinating appeal by virtue of its rich warm colour and sheen. Since very early times, ivory has been synonymous with luxury, as witnessed in the Old Testament reference to Ahab's " house of ivory ", the epitome of luxurious living; in Amos' imprecation against the rich " that lie upon beds of ivory "; and in Ezekiel's lament for Tyre, perfect in beauty, where the very benches are made of ivory.' In addition, we are told that Solomon's royal throne was made of ivory, commissioned from Phoenician craftsmen who excelled in this art.2 Finally, the identification of ivory with luxury and hence corruption is clear in the Homeric allusion to the " Gate of Ivory ", through which dreams pass that mislead.3 The discovery of actual ivory objects more-or-less contemporary with the literary references during excavations of the Assyrian palaces at Nimrud in the mid-nineteenth century thus engendered great excitement.4 The pieces were not only beautiful in themselves; they also brought the ancient traditions to life. The esteem in which the ivories were held in their own time is clearly reflected in the many references by Assyrian kings to objects and tusks taken in booty or received as tribute, as well as in the care with which such transactions were represented on royal reliefs.5 Since the early excavations at Nimrud, a number of other sites in the Near East, such as Hasanlu, Khorsabad, Tell Halaf, Arslan Tash, Zincirli, Tell Tainat, Hama, and particularly Samaria, seat of Ahab and capital of ancient Israel,
Excerpts of book review: This important book provides a set of new research directions and interpretations for the study of ancient art for the Iron Age Near East and Eastern Mediterranean. Communities of Style explores spheres of production, elite consumption, and the repurposing and displacement of portable artworks between 1200–600 BC. Although the Levant is acknowledged as a core region of production, most of the discussions and case studies within this book deal with metalwork and ivories discovered outside of the Levant. Feldman spans regional and theoretical boundaries in this volume, and the result is a refreshing balance of detailed observations from context-specific case studies as well as new insights into intercultural connections.... ....A question to consider in evaluating this book is “Which Communities?” Feldman argues that artistic styles point to communities that are not necessarily tied by blood or land (p. 40), but does not explore the potential for social differentiation at the level of vertical status, which could have given a stronger rationale for moving away from a culture-driven perspective. The book’s focus on luxury arts limits the analysis to the role of these products within highly circumscribed, often royal or high-elite settings (at least until their collapse). The potential role of artworks within a framework of elite emulation and social mobility is not explicitly discussed. How widely distributed or accessible were certain luxury arts to individuals outside the high-elite sphere? Were there variations in quality, valuation, or choice of materials (i.e., a “high and low” distinction) that might help understand the reception of luxury art by non-elites?
Images across media. Comparative remarks on some Levantine ivories and metal bowls
Ivories, Rock Reliefs and Merv. FS Georgina Herrmann, 2022
Ivory carvings and bronze vessels are generally considered as two rather different categories of objects. They not only differ in their use, but considerably more so in their material, and hence working and production. However, they share a large number of iconographic and stylistic details – and the largest collections of both derive from the same place: Nimrud. Numerous cross-references in motifs can be found between the two categories of objects and within the different stylistic groups. This indicates a use not as mere decorative patterns, but a deliberate choice of iconography. Moreover, a comparison calls for a new look at the interactions between craftsmen, not only between wood- and ivory-carving, but also metalsmiths and other crafts. This contribution adds to the suggestion that such interaction allows for mutual support in date and place of origin, hotly debated issues in particular for the Levantine craftwork during the Early Iron Age.