Votive Stela
29-107-949
Location: On Display in the Eastern Mediterranean Gallery
From: Israel | Beth Shean
Curatorial Section: Near Eastern
Object Number | 29-107-949 |
Current Location | Eastern Mediterranean Gallery - On Display |
Provenience | Israel | Beth Shean |
Archaeology Area | Room 1072, Amenophis III Temple, Level VII |
Date Made | 1314–1200 BCE |
Section | Near Eastern |
Materials | Limestone |
Iconography | Goddess |
Description | The stela represents the goddess Ashtaroth with two horns, wearing conical crown and two plumes. Cord hangs from one horn at her back. Holds in her right hand the Ankh sign, in her elft a lotus sceptre and wears a long garment. Facing her, a woman in long garment with lotus over her head offers a lotus with her left hand, her right hand hanging in front of her. Above are two vertical incised lines, perhaps for painted inscription. Rowe: "One of the deities of the temple of Amenophis III was undoubtedly the goddess "Ashtoreth of the Two Horns" for in the inner sanctuarly we found a stela depicting her. This stela is of limestone, and was dedicated by a woman, who wears a long flowing garment, has a lotus on her head, and offers a similar flower to the goddess. On the head of the goddess is the conical crown common to Syrian deities, with two horns below, and a streamer attached to the back. Ashtoreth is dressed in a long flowing garment and holds a septre in her left hand and the ankh sign of life in her right hand. At the top of the stela are traces of a single line of painted hieroglphys, of which nothing can be made out. No doubt the the god of the temple was still Mekal, as in the time of Thothmes III." |
Height | 37.2 cm |
Width | 17 cm |
Depth | 9.7 cm |
Credit Line | Expedition to Beth Shean (Beisan); Clarence Fisher, 1921-1928 |
Other Number | 25-11-534 - Field No SF |
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