INTRODUCTION
The Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical and Post-Biblical Antiquity (DDL), to be issued in four volumes, was a project begun 30 years ago with the collaboration of the distinguished Old Testament scholar Roland K. Harrison (1920–1993), to whom Marvin Wilson and I dedicate this reference work. In the original conception of the project, Harrison, Wilson, and I were to write all the articles for a work entitled Dictionary of Bible Manners and Customs. It subsequently became expedient to engage the research and writing skills of other select scholars of the ancient world.
While there are many excellent Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias, and popular books on biblical backgrounds available, I had noticed a serious deficiency. I noted that while every one of these had an entry on “Abomination,” none (with the exception of the six-volume Anchor BibleDictionary) had an entry on “Abortion.” Why was this the case? It was because these references were keyed to the words which occurred in the Bible.
From my 40 years of teaching the history of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, early Judaism, and early Christianity, I was well aware of the widespread practice of abortion, contraception, and infanticide in these societies and epochs. I therefore proposed a new framework for the DDL, one based on the Human Relations Area Files, an anthropological grid of human society, which would systematically and comparatively survey different aspects of culture, whether they were highlighted in the Bible or not.
The biblical texts were not intended to give us a complete representation of their worlds. In fact, they take for granted what was well known to both the writers and readers, but of which we are not aware. It is as though we hear the vocalization of an operatic libretto, but do not see the scenery and the costumes of the singers. Thanks, however, to extra-biblical texts and archaeology, we are able to recreate much of the background for the Bible.
For example, what did ancient people eat and drink? In the essay on FOOD PRODUCTION, one will learn that before the introduction
French historians of the Annales School have called the longue durée, that is, over the centuries afterthe New Testament era. It is instructive to understand how the Jewish rabbis, in following the traditions of the Pharisees, debated over the application of biblical laws in changing circumstances, and how the Church Fathers also responded to these same developments.
Rather than attempting to cover all possible topics, we have chosen to concentrate on 120 subjects, not because of their prominence in the biblical text but because of their significant roles in the ancient world. For example, ASTROLOGY, DREAMS, MAGIC, and DIVINATION & SORTITION (i.e., the casting of lots) are mentioned sparingly in the biblical texts themselves but they were dominant facets of life in antiquity.
The outline each contributor has followed is to briefly summarize references to his or her subject in: (1) the Old Testament and (2) the New Testament; followed by (3) the Near Eastern world, primarily Mesopotamia and Egypt, with some references to Anatolia and Persia; (4) the Greco-Roman world, from the Minoans and Mycenaeans, Homer, through the Hellenistic era, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire; (5) the Jewish world, including the Old Testament Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Mishnah, and the Talmuds (Babylonian and Jerusalem); and (6) the Christian world, including the church fathers up to Chrysostom and Augustine, as well as the early Byzantine empire to Justinian. Each article closes with a bibliography providing both source material for the article and material for further study. Further, the articles are carefully cross-referenced with other articles in print or planned.
The citations from the Old Testament and the New Testament, unless otherwise marked, are from the New International Version. Citations from the Septuagint (LXX) are taken from A. Pietersma and B. G. Wright, trans., A New English Translation of the Septuagint (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007). Citations from the Tosefta are taken from J. Neusner, The Tosefta (2 vols.; Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2013 repr.). Citations from the Midrashim are from the Soncino Midrash Rabba for Macintosh (Copyright Institute for
Computers in Jewish Life and Davka Corporation, 2008). Citations from the Old Testament Apocrypha are from the Revised Standard Version; those from the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha are from James H. Charlesworth, ed., The Old TestamentPseudepigrapha (2 vols.; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983, 1985). The classical citations (including Philo and Josephus) are from the Loeb Classical Library. References to the Dead Sea Scrolls are from The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation by Michael Wise, Martin Abegg Jr., and Edward Cook (rev. ed., New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005). Citations from the Mishnah are from Herbert Danby, trans., The Mishnah(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933). Citations from the Babylonian Talmud are from The Soncino Talmud (Institute for Computers in Jewish Life and Davka Corporation, 2007); those from the Jerusalem Talmud are from TheJerusalemTalmud, ATranslation and Commentary, ed. Jacob Neusner (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2009). With the exception of citations from Michael W. Holmes, TheApostolicFathers:GreekTextsandEnglishTranslations (3rd. ed.; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), patristic references are from the New Advent, Fathers of the Church (www. NewAdvent.org; 2007; © Kevin Knight). Citations from the Nag Hammadi texts are cited from Marvin Meyer, ed., TheNag Hammadi Scriptures(New York: HarperOne, 2007).
My deepest gratitude is first of all to Marvin R. Wilson, who has carefully examined all the essays and provided innumerable edits and corrections. I thank Graham Harrison for allowing us to update and expand his late father’s excellent entries. I wish to express my appreciation to all of the contributors, many of whom were my history PhD students at Miami University. My thanks go also to my wife, Kimi, who spent countless hours photocopying pages from books and journals. I am also grateful to Sue Cameron, who has checked the biblical and apocryphal references for me.
Marvin and I express our profound thanks to Allan Emery, senior editor at Hendrickson, for spending much of the final two years before his retirement overseeing the first volume of this project, and also to Carl Nellis for his work on that volume. We are also deeply grateful to Jonathan Kline, our new editor at Hendrickson, for his
painstaking and meticulous supervision of the work on Volumes 2 and 3, and to Hannah Brown for her assistance with all three volumes. Our appreciation also goes to John F. Kutsko, who assisted with some of the research in the earliest stages of this dictionary project. Special thanks are also due to Foy D. Scalf, Chief Archivist of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, for supplying us with the sources of many Near Eastern quotations.
For their assistance in providing some of the photographs for this dictionary, we are grateful to Rami Arav (University of Nebraska at Omaha), Michal Artzy (University of Haifa), Kathryn Bard (Boston University), Rozenn Baileul LeSeuer (University of Chicago), Foy Scalf, Kiersten Neumann, and Michelle Farley (Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago), Thomas E. Levy (University of California at San Diego), Daniel Master (Wheaton College), Amihai Mazar (Hebrew University), Eilat Mazar (Hebrew University), Foy Scalf (University of Chicago), Steven L. Tuck (Miami University), and Alain Zivie (Centre national de la recherche scientifique).
Finally, our profound gratitude goes to Andrew Pottorf for his valuable assistance with this project. A very gifted young scholar with unusual talent for writing and editing, Andrew is currently pursuing his doctorate in the department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. The authors of this dictionary and the editors at Hendrickson Publishers appreciate Andrew’s superb scholarship, dedicated work ethic, and great flexibility.
Edwin M. Yamauchi April 2016
IVORY
Ivory, which is derived from tusks, is a valuable and exotic raw material that has been used for millennia to manufacture a wide variety of practical and ornamental objects. Ivory’s aesthetic attributes include its rich color and fine grain; it is also durable and is easily carved and polished. In most periods of history, only the wealthy could afford to purchase ivory products. Like other exotic imports, ivories bestowed prestige on their owners. In their work with ivory, ancient artists used a variety of techniques and borrowed motifs from regional and international styles.
In this essay, the word ivory refers primarily to the material derived from the tusks of elephants and hippopotami, though other kinds of mammals (including the wild boar) also have tusks that were fashioned into ivory objects. The tusk is an elongated and curved tooth and consists of dentin (calcified tissue) and enamel. Ivory comes from two species of elephants, the Asian or Indian elephant (Elephas maximus) and the African elephant (Loxodonta africana). In antiquity, elephants lived not only in Africa and India but also roamed in parts of Western Asia; they survived in Syria until the early part of the first millennium BC. Hippopotamus ivory was especially important in the Near East during the second millennium BC.
A. THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Hebrew term shen literally means “tooth” but it is also the word for “ivory”; in the Bible this word has the latter meaning in thirteen verses occurring in seven different books. In the parallel verses 1 Kgs 10:22 and 2 Chr 9:21, the biblical historians refer to ivory by using the term shenhabbim, a combination of the more common term shenand habbim, which is perhaps derived from the plural of abw, the Egyptian word for elephant. It is possible that shenhabbim refers only to the raw material (cf. the reference to qarnotshen, “ivory tusks,” as payment in Ezek 27:15).
The Bible does not mention elephants. Some scholars identify the “behemoth” of Job 40:15–24 as a hippopotamus; if this interpretation is correct, this is the only biblical reference to this beast. It is impossible to say how much the Bible’s writers knew about these animals. It appears that the Syrian variety of elephant was extinct by the eighth century BC, but hippopotami survived in swampy areas of Palestine beyond this time. The biblical writers knew about ivory but made no distinction between the tusks of elephants and hippos.
First Kings 10:18–20 (cf. 2 Chr 9:17) contains the Bible’s first reference to ivory. This verse describes “a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold,” which had no equal in its day: “nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom.” This could refer, in part, to the throne’s size and grandeur, which included steps and lions built into each armrest. The use of certain animals, like lions, as symbols of power was quite common in the decorative arts of the ancient Near East (including ivories), and the use of gold or ivory in royal furniture in ancient Israel has numerous parallels.
One of the finest carvings from the famous Megiddo ivories (described below) is an incised plaque that dates to several centuries before Solomon and that portrays sphinxes on an elaborate throne with a seated official. The Megiddo collection also boasts a tiny, three-dimensional throne made out of ivory. This throne includes winged sphinxes and remnants of a seated figure. Another interesting ivory statuette comes from Tel Rehov, near Beth Shean. It depicts a small figure sitting on a miniature throne and dates to the ninth century BC. Among the “Samaria ivories,” which constitute one of the most famous of all ivory hoards from the ancient world, is a broken plaque that portrays a figure seated on a throne, though this is less elaborate than Solomon’s royal seat. The Sennacherib Prism records tribute sent to Assyria by King Hezekiah (in 701 BC), which included couches and chairs inlaid with ivory, along with elephant hides.
First Kings 10:22–29 also discusses the topic of international exchange by naming Solomon’s trading partners and listing items that he imported and received as gifts. First Kings 10:22 and its
sphinxes, lions, a lion and a bull in combat, lotus flowers, palm fronds, and a well-known piece referred to as the “woman at the window.” Many of these ivories display Egyptian motifs, as was typical for the Phoenician style, given the close economic ties between these two regions. The last item in this list of examples— the “woman at the window”—refers to a decorated ivory plaque that has numerous parallels in other collections from Syria and Mesopotamia. In such plaques, which were used as furniture decorations, a woman wearing an Egyptian-style wig stands behind an elaborate balustrade at a triple-recessed “Tyrian” window. Scholars often identify this female as a sacred prostitute associated with the cult of Astarte (biblical Asherah), though this is not certain. Almost all commentators have used the plaque to illuminate the scene in 2 Kgs 9:30, where Jezebel watches for Jehu.
The prophecies of Amos date to the middle of the eighth century BC. His allusions to ivories fit perfectly in an era when the use of ivory was widespread. In Amos 3:15, Yahweh promises to punish Israel, saying: “I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed and the mansions will be demolished.” Amos denounces the luxurious lifestyle of the wealthy inhabitants of Jerusalem and Samaria: “You lie on beds adorned with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves” (Amos 6:4). The survival of thousands of ivory artifacts illustrates the callous lifestyle condemned by Amos.
References to ivory also appear in parts of the book of Ezekiel that probably date to the early sixth century BC. Ezekiel 27:6 says that the Phoenician shipbuilders carved oars from oaks from Bashan and that they created the ship of Tyre’s deck from Cypriot pine. Along with these and other named components, the craftsmen created a masterpiece by including ivory inlay in the decking. Ezekiel 27:12–23 lists more than three dozen luxury items on which Tyre’s exchange network depended. Ivory in particular played an important role as a means of exchange, which sometimes included bartering. Ezekiel 27:15 indicates that “ivory tusks” or ivory horns (Heb. qarnot shen) and “ebony” (Heb. hobenim), a precious wood, were included in
Tyre’s maritime trade. Based on the Septuagint, the NIV reports that these raw materials came from Rhodes and “many coastlands,” i.e., islands of the Aegean. Place names other than “Rhodes” have also been proposed for this context; if these alternative place names are correct, they would indicate that ivory and ebony entered the Mediterranean trade network in Arabia or Western Asia and moved in a westerly direction from there, instead of moving from the Aegean back to Tyre.
Psalm 45, a royal wedding song, describes the appearance of bride and groom as they prepare for this special occasion. The author uses rich language to describe the majesty and beauty of this couple. In Ps 45:8, the psalmist invites readers to engage their senses and appreciate the fragrance of myrrh, aloes, and cassia. The wedding includes music from stringed instruments, whose sounds come from “palaces adorned with ivory” (lit., “palaces of ivory”).
Song of Songs 5:14 contains the woman’s description of her lover’s anatomy. She compares his body to a statue made of “polished ivory decorated with lapis lazuli.” Ivory was appealing because of its smoothness and sheen, and ivories were frequently inlaid with semiprecious stones. In Song 7:1–5, the lover in turn praises the anatomical features of his beloved, comparing her neck, in the first line of vs. 4, to an “ivory tower.”
B. THE NEW TESTAMENT
The single reference to ivory in the NT (Rev 18:12) uses the Greek term elephantinos, “made of ivory,” which is derived from the word elephas, “elephant” or “ivory.” Rome (which is referred to in Rev 18 as Babylon) and its empire had an insatiable appetite for luxury products. Rev 18:11–13 lists twenty-eight commodities and finished products that Rome obtained from all over the world. Not all of the items named in Rev 18 were “luxury products” in the technical sense, but they all required transport from distant points and involved middlemen. In Rev 18:3, 7, 9, the terms “luxury” and “luxuries” appear three times, and this repetition sets the tone for the entire chapter. Verse 12 refers to a broad category of products,
tribute from Musri (i.e., Egypt). Literary references indicate that between the eleventh and ninth centuries BC Assyrian kings hunted Syrian elephants for their tusks and for display in zoos.
The great age of ivory carving fell between the ninth and seventh centuries BC (Iron Age II). During this time, the production of—and demand for—ivories reached new heights; many collections and individual pieces from this era have become well known. Most ivories that date to this period and that have been found in Mesopotamia originated in conquered cities and kingdoms to the west.
Several key sites in Mesopotamia illustrate the remarkable quality of ivory work during its heyday. The “Nimrud ivories” are the most famous representatives of this artistic genre. Extensive excavation at Nimrud (biblical Calah, situated near Mosul in northern Iraq), one of the Neo-Assyrian capitals, has unearthed carved ivories and fragments numbering in the thousands. These ivories, which date from the ninth to the seventh centuries BC, came from a variety of locations at the site, including the Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC). Many ivories were stripped of valuable decorations and thrown down wells as the city was looted, probably in 612 BC. A. H. Layard led the pioneering excavations at Nimrud in 1845, and Max Mallowan resumed work there from 1949 to 1963 under the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, now the British Institute for the Study of Iraq (BISI). In 1963, David Oates and Mallowan discovered a huge cache of Nimrud’s ivories in “Fort Shalmaneser.”
Most of the ivory artifacts found at Nimrud arrived there as gifts, tribute, or booty. The Nimrud objects bear images from many cultural traditions, and all of the classic styles (Phoenician, Syrian, and Assyrian) are represented among them. A large percentage of these ivories were used as furniture inlay or veneer; others served a vast array of practical or ornamental purposes. (In this collection, even a horse blinker was considered a work of art!) They provide further illustration of the kinds of decorations that appeared in palaces and homes of the wealthy. Although some of the Nimrud ivories served specific purposes just mentioned, many were found in heaps, instead of contexts that would indicate that they were used for their original intended purposes. Thus, some of the pieces had
appeal as objets d’art, but others carried only the intrinsic value assigned to ivory as a raw material. It is possible that ivories were stockpiled like this when they went out of fashion.
Among Nimrud’s most famous ivories are a fine example of the “woman at the window” motif, a spoon decorated with intricately carved lions, and two panels depicting a lion attacking a boy in a lotus thicket. The latter still have remnants of lapis lazuli and carnelian inlay, gold foil, and paint. Plaques portray many subjects: for example, the young Horus, two enthroned female figures, a lion with a sun disc on its head, and a cow suckling its calf. The Nimrud collection includes vast numbers of human figurines and heads, animals, sphinxes, and other mythological creatures.
Khorsabad (ancient Dur-Sharrukin, “Fort Sargon”), which was built by Sargon II (721–705 BC), succeeded Nimrud as the capital of Assyria in 707 BC. Khorsabad was excavated in the 1840s by PaulÉmile Botta and in the 1920s by a team from the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. The latter discovered, in the royal residence and the Nabu temple, a collection that has come to be known as the “Khorsabad ivories.” This collection includes decorative pieces carved with floral designs and small pieces of furniture. A group of nine plaques with the “woman at the window” motif were among ivories recovered from the Nabu temple. It seems likely that the Khorsabad ivories were decorative components of furniture used in the temple, furniture that originated in the west and that possibly included booty taken from Samaria in 722 BC, when that city and the northern kingdom of Israel fell.
Persia
Between 1957 and 1974, a team from the University of Pennsylvania excavated at Hasanlu, a site located in northwestern Iran. The discovery of the “Hasanlu ivories” has contributed much to the study of ivory carving. Because the town came to a violent end ca. 800 BC, we have a firm date for a group of almost three hundred ivories, from a level known as Hasanlu IVB. The Hasanlu ivories include a lion bowl, pieces of plaques, decorated pyxides (round
aspect of daily life on ivory, and the inventory is enormous. Despite Egypt’s relative proximity to sources of ivory and its ability to export the material, written sources and tomb paintings indicate that other ancient kingdoms sent ivory to Egypt as well; Egyptians appear to have been motivated to import ivory since its high cost gave it a special kind of value as an esteemed, honorific gift in any context.
Ivory objects have been found in Egypt that date to the Badarian period, during the second half of the fifth millennium BC. Subjects include human beings and animals, including a miniature, but rotund, ivory hippopotamus. Ivory objects begin to appear relatively often at Chalcolithic and Predynastic sites, including two ceremonial knives with ivory handles and chert blades from Gebel al-Arak and Abu Zeidan (ca. 3300 BC). On the handle of the knife from Gebel alArak are carved animals and human figures that appears to be nonEgyptian; this artifact probably reflects early contact with Western Asia or Mesopotamia. The ivory handle of the Abu Zeidan knife includes narrow registers of intricately carved animals.
Flinders Petrie worked at the 1st Dynasty necropolis at Abydos, where he recovered numerous ivory objects, including seals, animal figurines, and gaming pieces. Ivory tablets from Abydos contain administrative records, and a small ivory label belonging to King Den depicts early warfare with the east. Harkhuf, an official of the 6th Dynasty, made expeditions to Cush and returned with three hundred donkeys loaded with incense, ebony, panther skins, and elephant tusks.
The rise of the kingdom of Kerma, located between the third and fourth cataracts of the Nile River, around 1750 BC temporarily blocked the direct import of ivory through the Nile Valley from central Africa to Egypt (see Yamauchi 2004, 67–73). Hatshepsut’s famous expedition to Punt (15th c. BC), an area now identified with the coast of southern Sudan and northern Eritrea, returned through the eastern desert with incense, ebony, and ivory.
Egyptian records mention large-scale elephant hunts in Syria conducted in the fifteenth century BC by Tuthmosis I and Tuthmosis III. The Amarna letters (14th c. BC) refer to ivory and ivories as high-status diplomatic gifts; Pharaoh Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV)
sent hundreds of ivory objects to the king of Babylonia, though such wealth in ivory is not yet reflected in excavations there. Akhenaten’s name appears on a horse-blinker from a workshop at el-Amarna.
The tomb of Tutankhamun (d. 1323 BC) contained an incredible collection of ivory objects, items that demonstrate a sophisticated level of ivory-working skills. Craftsmen made generous use of ivory to decorate this pharaoh’s furniture, including his chairs, beds, chests, and game boxes. One beautiful box, finished with a delicate herringbone parquet pattern, required the placement of forty-five thousand slivers of ivory and ebony! Other famous ivory objects found in Tutankahmun’s tomb include carved boomerangs (used for hunting), a cosmetic box with a swivel lid, fans, a scribal palette, a bracelet carved with running animals, and a headrest that depicts the god Shu between two crouching lions.
By the Egyptian Late Period (after about 700 BC), there was a decline in the use of ivory across the Near East and the Mediterranean, though the Hellenistic and Roman periods witnessed increased demand and Egypt’s role as an exporter of ivory remained steady. Because of Egypt’s extensive trade network, Egyptian ivory workers influenced this craft throughout the Near East and the Aegean.
Anatolia
The artists of Anatolia did not use ivory as extensively as their counterparts in other regions of the ancient Near East, but they developed some distinctive features in their work with this raw material, both before and after the Hittite Empire (ca. 1400–1200 BC). One of the earliest pieces of distinctive, pre-Hittite ivory work in Anatolia comes from the site of the famous Old Assyrian trading colony at Kültepe (ancient Kanesh), which is located in eastern Turkey. Beginning around 1900 BC, this site played an important role in trade relations between northern Mesopotamia and the Anatolian interior. One interesting ivory statue from Kültepe, which dates to the eighteenth century BC, depicts a seated nude female; the design
draws attention to this figure’s breasts and pubic region. She was probably viewed as a fertility goddess.
In the 1930s, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York acquired a collection of ivories known as the “Pratt ivories.” They were originally considered to have come from Syria, but the 1965 excavation at Acemhüyük, a site in central Turkey, recovered a small number of very similar artifacts and demonstrated that the true provenance of this collection was Anatolia, and perhaps even Acemhüyük itself. The Pratt ivories and those found at Acemhüyük, all of which date to the nineteenth and eighteenth centuries BC, include figures of animals, human beings, and mythological creatures. Two seated sphinxes originally served as supports for furniture, a reflection of Egyptian influence.
Gordium, the capital of ancient Phrygia, is located about sixty miles southwest of Ankara. As part of his study of the kingdom of Midas, Rodney Young of the University of Pennsylvania excavated part of the site of Gordium and some of the nearby tumuli (mounded tombs) between 1950 and 1973. The Gordium tumuli have become famous because they contained remnants of wooden furniture, but the site also yielded a number of ivories. Ivory artifacts from Gordium come from various periods and include plaques, stamp seals, and ivory tools for textile production. A fascinating ivory plaque excavated in one of ancient Gordium’s large buildings depicts a mounted warrior with shield and helmet.
Keith DeVries has made a compelling case that a well-known ivory sculpture housed in the Delphi Museum should be identified as a piece of King Midas’s throne. The Phrygian monarch gave his throne as a gift to the Delphic sanctuary, where it was stored in the Corinthian treasury. Three centuries later, Herodotus reported that he saw it there. In 1939, an ivory statue of a man and a lion (called the “lion tamer”) turned up in debris near the Corinthian treasury. A radiocarbon date indicates that the figure comes from the time of Midas (ca. 700 BC). Pierre Amandry has raised the intriguing possibility that the famous gold-and-ivory heads on display in the Delphi Museum were also sent from Sardis as gifts to the famous sanctuary.
certain Minoan traits. Other ivory specimens from Ugarit include a figurine of a musician, a duck-shaped cosmetic box, and a flask hollowed out of an elephant’s tusk. The last item measures sixty centimeters in length and is decorated with a sculpted relief of a naked woman flanked by standing sphinxes.
Because it was one of the major cities of ancient Syria, many scholars assume that Damascus, a capital of the Aramaeans, must have been a center of ivory production, but the limited excavations there have not yet found significant pieces. The Assyrians recorded that Damascus sent tribute of inlaid furniture to Shalmaneser III.
The important collection of ivories (consisting of more than two hundred pieces) from Arslan Tash (ancient Hadatu), located in North Syria (east of Carchemish), raises the issue of Damascus as a possible center for ivory production. A large number of ivory plaques from the eighth century BC comprise the heart of the Arslan Tash collection, which was excavated in 1928 by François ThureauDangin. Like the Samaria ivories, some of the ivories from Arslan Tash were marked with letters (in Aramaic) that were fitters’ marks to guide those who assembled the furniture. Many pieces from this collection still have remnants of the glass inlay and gold leaf that made them more colorful. Recent scientific studies have identified traces of red and blue pigments on some of the Arslan Tash ivories. Among the ivory artifacts recovered at Arslan Tash was a fragmentary inscription on a bed that reads “for our lord Hazael.” A Hazael who was king of Aram-Damascus ca. 841–798 BC is well known from the Hebrew Bible (e.g., 2 Kgs 8:7–15). If this is the same Hazael mentioned on the Arslan Tash ivory bed inscription, it dates this artifact nicely and suggests that it might represent booty taken by the Assyrians from Damascus.
Excavations at Kamid el-Loz (ancient Kumidi), in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, have recovered an important deposit of ivories that date to the destruction of Kumidi’s palace and temple in the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries BC (a date corroborated by the fact that a group of Amarna tablets came from this same level). These ivory artifacts include figurines, funerary masks, gaming boxes and
gaming pieces, a cosmetic container, and a handle shaped like an acrobat.
The earliest evidence for the use of ivory in Palestine comes from the Chalcolithic village of Shiqmim (which is located to the southwest of Beersheba and which dates to 4500–3600 BC), where excavations recovered a decorated ivory vial, an ivory handle, an ivory hair pin, and other small ivories. An unusual cache of artifacts came from a cave at Nahal Mishmar near the Dead Sea. This cave, which also dates to the Chalcolithic period, contained over four hundred objects, most of which were made out of copper, but which also included five pieces of hippopotamus ivory and one piece of elephant ivory. These small ivory objects have an unusual shape and were probably used as tops for ceremonial standards.
A group of ivory bulls’ heads that possibly date to the Early Bronze Age were found at the sites of Ai (et-Tell), Jericho, and Beth Yerah (Khirbet Kerak). Such pieces could have served as furniture decorations or they might have had a ritual use. The site of Ai also yielded an ivory knife handle dated to this same period.
The site of Pella, in the northern Jordan Valley, yielded remains of a beautiful box that was inlaid with ivory. This Egyptian-style box, one of two from this site, dates to Middle Bronze IIC, ca. 1650–1550 BC. The ivory decorations on the lid of the box consist of two facing lions standing on their hind legs, with cobras at their feet. The sides of the box are lined with ivory djedpillars and papyrus stalks. From Tell es-Sa‘idiyeh comes an ivory cosmetic bowl in the shape of a fish that dates to the Late Bronze Age.
The “Megiddo ivories,” whose 382 pieces probably date to Late Bronze II (ca. 1300–1200 BC), came from Stratum VIIA, the final level of Late Bronze occupation at this famous crossroads. This important collection—which was excavated in the 1930s and whose pieces are housed at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago and in the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem—contains ivories from a number of international traditions (e.g., Egyptian, Canaanite, Mycenaean, and Hittite).
Along with other evidence from Megiddo, two Egyptian inscriptions suggest that the city was destroyed after 1150 BC. The manner of
deposition of the ivory artifacts found at this site suggests that they were stored away in a palace cellar; that is, they were not being used for their original intended purposes at the time of the city’s destruction. It may be that the ivories represent a ritual or votive offering.
The Megiddo cache includes items used for personal adornment (e.g., combs, cosmetic boxes, and small vessels), boxes, handles for various implements, furniture panels and plaques, and gaming boards. Several of the Megiddo pieces merit special attention. A furniture plaque that depicts a reclining griffin points to a Mycenaean background. The so-called “game of 58 holes” is perhaps the best preserved of the Megiddo gaming boards; the pieces that players moved during the game were found next to the board. An incised furniture panel portrays a charioteer and fellow warriors leading captives, who are naked and tied to each other. Their placement indicates that these prisoners will pass in front of a seated official, who sits at the other end of the panel. A plaque with distinctive Hittite subject matter presents a detailed picture of a special political or religious event. Other fine specimens from this collection portray a winged sphinx, an “awards ceremony” and a feast, and an image of Bes.
A collection of ivories from Lachish, which dates to ca. 1200 BC, is contemporary with the latest items of the Megiddo hoard. The Lachish ivories came from a destruction layer in the so-called “Fosse Temple” and include some interesting pieces. One clever design is a bottle in the shape of a woman (for perfume?); this flask has a hand-shaped spoon attached to the woman’s head, which also acted as a stopper for the bottle. Other noteworthy artifacts are a round ivory box carved with reliefs of lions and bulls in combat, and two lids for cosmetic containers, each incised with floral designs.
Fieldwork at the Philistine city of Ekron (modern Tel Miqne) has produced a large collection of ivories, which date to two periods. Until recently, few of the ivories that had been recovered from ancient Syria-Palestine represented the carving tastes and traditions of Iron Age I, since a decline in ivory work seems to have accompanied the general social and economic upheavals of this
period. This gap has begun to be filled by recent work at Tel Miqne, which includes many ivory artifacts from Iron I deposits, as well as ivories from Ashdod (Stratum XII) (see Ben-Shlomo 2006). These nicely carved pieces, which display many standard Egyptian motifs, point to the cultural adaptation of the Philistines.
In one ivory carving from Ekron, a female supports her left breast with her left hand, a stance that links this figurine with the fertility cult. An elaborate pyxis lid, which dates to the very end of the twelfth century BC, depicts a griffin, a lion, and two bulls in combat —a popular theme for ancient ivory carvers. An iron knife with an ivory handle also dates to this period.
Excavators at Ekron also recovered a number of ivories in this site’s major destruction layer, which dates to the very end of the seventh century BC. Examples include a fragmentary elephant tusk with a carved portrait of an Egyptian princess and an ivory cylinder seal with a Horus insignia. These high-value items come, along with many kinds of cult objects, from Temple Complex 650. Artifacts from the temple also include a decorated hippopotamus tooth, which was probably part of a ceremonial staff. The ivories from Ekron and Ashdod, along with the additional presence of raw ivory and unfinished items at both sites, raise the possibility that these were centers of ivory production.
Excavations at the site of the important city of Hazor have recovered ivories from various periods: for example, an Egyptianstyle figurine head from Late Bronze I, a cosmetic spoon from the eighth century BC, and a pyxis, also from the eighth century, that depicts a tree of life scene.
During his excavations at Sarepta (biblical Zarephath), James B. Pritchard of the University of Pennsylvania discovered a number of brief inscriptions written in Phoenician script. One of these was a thirty-two-letter text that dates to the seventh or sixth century BC. This text was inscribed on an ivory plaque, dedicated to Tanit/Ashtart. The artistic “sign of Tanit” was found near this inscription on a piece of glass. Votive items in this shrine included figurines, ivories, amulets, and a cult mask.
The latest round of scientific tests and legal proceedings related to the highly publicized “ivory pomegranate” from Jerusalem seem to indicate that this item contains a forged inscription and that it does not date to the time of Solomon’s temple. Detailed examination of this tiny artifact suggests that it was fashioned from hippopotamus bone, not ivory.
D. THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD
Greece
The earliest ivory pieces used in the Aegean world, which come from the island of Crete, were seals, pendants, and other small objects made from hippopotamus ivory. Ivory was used for the production of such small items for the entire Minoan Period. By the middle of the second millennium BC, the artists of Knossos and other Minoan cities acquired hippopotamus and elephant tusks in such quantity that they developed a distinctive artistic tradition. A storeroom in the Minoan palace at Zakros contained a stack of ivory tusks and copper ingots, evidence of commercial activity.
All modern studies of the Minoan use of ivory mention the statue of a goddess holding two snakes, and the figurines of acrobats (or “bull leapers”) are equally famous. The snake goddess, which is chryselephantine (i.e., made out of ivory and gold), has at least one parallel, an early statue of a male, perhaps a god, that is made of the same materials. This statue, which is also from the Minoan period and which comes from Palaikastro, in eastern Crete, reflects artists’ ambition to embellish ivory pieces. As this statue and other pieces of ivory sculpture demonstrate, the Minoans learned to join ivory pieces with dowels and mortises, just as artists in the Near East attached decorative plaques to furniture. As the treasures in the Herakleion Museum make clear, the ivory workers at Knossos and elsewhere (e.g., Phaistos, Gournia, and Mallia) used ivory to make seals, combs, jewelry, mirror handles, small vessels and figurines, pyxides, inlay work, and other objects.
In the fourteenth century BC (i.e., in the Mycenaean period), the use of ivory expanded geographically and in the diversity of objects made from tusks. Objects of ivory were in great demand in Mycenae and elsewhere, for example, at Argos, Athens, Pylos, Tiryns, Sparta, and Thebes. Exploration of the famous shaft graves at Mycenae brought a series of fine ivories to light, and excavation at some Mycenaean sites has revealed ivory workshops. Many of the ivories are simple items, like pins, cosmetic implements, and pommels. Excavations have also recovered boar tusks, which were used to decorate helmets. Ivory inlay was extremely common, as seen in items from the House of Shields at Mycenae, where floral designs and dolphins were favorite motifs. A detailed carving of two goddesses and a divine child—probably a votive offering—was found at Mycenae’s acropolis.
The Linear B tablets from Pylos and Knossos refer to the use of ivory (e-re-pa; Gk. elephas) decoration in their inventories of furniture, weapons, and chariots. As the legend of the Caledonian boar attests, the Mycenaeans used boar tusks to decorate their helmets (cf. Homer, Il.10.260–265). Excavations at Mycenaean sites, including Mycenae itself, have uncovered fine examples of helmets made from boar tusks. Among references to ivory in the Homeric epics, perhaps the two most famous are found in the descriptions of Penelope’s chair, which is inlaid with ivory and silver (Od.19.55–58), and Odysseus’s bed, which is decorated with the same substances and also gold (Od.23.166–204).
The island of Cyprus was a center of ivory trade and, as in the copper trade, its geographic position made it important for the continued exchange of goods and ideas between the east and west. Cyprus assumed this role in the Late Bronze Age, when the art of ivory carving achieved a high standard. Cyprus had long-term involvement in the ivory trade, as indicated by Akhenaten’s demand that the ruler of Alashiya (i.e., Cyprus) send him two tusks of ivory.
The twelfth-century BC tombs at Enkomi contained some spectacular ivories, including a gaming box that is now in the British Museum. This rare box, which included the board in its lid and held the pieces inside, is carved with detailed scenes of animals and
hunting. The site of Kition has also produced fine ivories dating to about the same time as the tombs at Enkomi. Perhaps the most famous is a furniture plaque carved with a detailed image of Bes. Tomb 79 in the necropolis at Salamis has become famous for its suite of ivory-inlaid furniture. The throne and bed found in this tomb, which date to the eighth century BC, are exceptional pieces.
The Greek “Dark Age” (ca. 1200–800 BC) witnessed a decline in the arts, including ivory working, but the use of ivory increased again during the Geometric Period (beginning ca. 900 BC), when artisans made innovations in many artistic media. In the Orientalizing Period, which began at the end of the eighth century BC, contacts with Egypt and the Levant created more crossfertilization in artistic traditions. Excavations at many sites that date to this time and to the subsequent Archaic Period (beginning ca. 600 BC) have uncovered a significant number of ivories.
D. G. Hogarth’s pioneering excavations at the Ephesian Artemision in 1904–1905 gave the world one of the most famous collections of ivories, which dates to the late seventh or early sixth century BC. Hogarth found these ivories in a foundation deposit in the great temple to Diana/Artemis, which is one of the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.” These ivories served a variety of functions and came from different places to the famous sanctuary at Ephesus, where they were presented as offerings. The subject matter of these pieces varies widely, as is usually the case with votive offerings. The ivories include figurines of a priestess (or worshipper) carrying a bowl and jug, an elaborately dressed priest with a long necklace, a seated sphinx, and a roaring lion in full stride.
From the Archaic Age excavators recovered some three hundred ivories from the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Sparta. As a collection, this group dates to the seventh and sixth centuries BC, though some of its pieces originated at earlier times. Categories of carved ivory and bone from this site include plaques carved in relief, figures of the goddess Orthia, other figurines, combs, and seals. The collection includes two carved plaques that depict helmeted Spartan warriors with spears. Some of these ivories reflect an orientalizing influence from the eastern end of the Mediterranean, but others, like
the kouroi and korai (statues of standing young men and women), were carved in a more classical Greek style.
The pieces that constitute the huge collection of ivories recovered from Delphi’s sacred precincts stand among the highest achievements in the genre. In the latter half of the 1930s, the French research team recovered more than two thousand ivory fragments at this site. The treasuries, monuments, and temple of Apollo all received gifts, and the site’s long and sometimes turbulent history disturbed the objects that comprise this great hoard. Many of these ivories date to the sixth century BC or earlier but were damaged by the elements or by fire in the fifth century BC. The ivories in this collection reflect a diversity of provenances, motifs, states of preservation, and donors.
The “Delphi ivories” are made from different kinds of material and represent a wide range of votive offerings. The chryselephantine statues deserve special attention. These composite works consisted of wooden frameworks that were covered by ivory to represent human skin. On less expensive works, wood, stone, or other materials represented the statues’ hair and clothing. In the chryselephantine method, non-flesh parts of the statue were sheathed in gold; some statues are life-size and might represent deities. The gold added great value and aesthetic appeal, and bestowed honor on the recipient, while the ivory representation of flesh took advantage of the ivory’s color, texture, and sheen. The Greeks had long admired the ivory-like qualities of the loveliest complexions (cf. Od.18.190).
The lavish use of ivory and gold leaf was a routine feature of the production of cult statues in Classical Greece. In the middle of the fifth century BC, Phidias created two monumental chryselephantine statues. He completed the first of these, the Athena Parthenos, in 438 BC. This statue, which stood in the Parthenon’s cella, was over forty feet tall. To a wooden framework Phidias added ivory veneer to represent flesh; he used over a ton of gold for the clothing and other elements, including hair, a helmet, sandals, a statue of Nike, and a massive spear and shield.
use ivories to honor the gods in their temples, as did the people of ancient Greece. Instead, the ivories of ancient Etruria (i.e., central Italy) have normally turned up in the tombs of this region’s ruling elite (e.g., at Chiusi, Praeneste, and Vetulonia).
The Latin word for ivory, ebur, provides the background for the English word “boar,” since for the Romans “ivory” originally referred to the boar’s tusks. As Republican Rome began its rise to power, it absorbed many aspects of Greek culture. Greek works of art, such as chryselephantine statues, were acquired through trade or as booty and made popular displays in Rome. The ivory-carving tradition of ancient Greece provided Roman artisans with both subject matter and techniques.
In general, life in Republican Rome was austere, and the excessive luxuries for which the Romans became infamous did not develop until the period of the Empire. After Rome’s expansion and conquests, ivory carvings were in large demand from those who occupied the highest levels of Roman society. For example, ivory was used to make scepters. Ivory portraits and statues of leading citizens appeared late in the Republican era as another influence from Hellenistic Greece.
Given Rome’s large size, demand for ivory remained constant. Tax records provide insight into the movement of ivory cargoes from Egypt. Libya and other parts of North Africa participated in the lucrative ivory trade by shipping the material across the Mediterranean to Ostia. In celebration of his victory in Syria in 189 BC, Lucius Cornelius Scipio had a triumphal procession in Rome. This event included the display of 1,231 elephant tusks (Livy, Rom. Hist. 37.59.3).
Julius Caesar, who was assassinated in 44 BC, was honored in death with ivory. His funeral bier was inlaid with ivory and adorned with purple and gold. As in all other cultures prior to it, in ancient Rome ivory symbolized high status.
Throughout their history, the Romans used ivory for many purposes: for example, inlay and veneer for furniture and in the production of boxes, gaming boards, playing pieces, musical instruments, handles, and writing boards. The Roman poet Martial,
So many specimens have survived because of their size, the quality of the raw material, and their value. Numerous diptychs were recycled for use as book covers.
The Periplus Maris Erythraei (“The Circumnavigation of the Erythraean [i.e., Red] Sea”), which dates to the middle of the first century AD, remains one of the most important sources about ancient Roman commerce, including the trade in ivory. This invaluable account records the cities, ports, and products of the Mediterranean Sea, North Africa and the Levant, the Red Sea, East Africa, and India. Ivory is referred to in a number of passages in the Periplus, in various geographical contexts. Another of the most significant ancient sources to mention ivory is the “Muziris Papyrus” (also known as Papyrus Vindobonensis G 40822), which dates to the second century AD and deals with trade between Rome and India. This papyrus, named after a port in southern India, documents the cargo of an Alexandrian merchant ship, which included pepper and elephant tusks. Both of these remarkable documents provide insight into the logistics that were involved in the acquisition and transport of ivory.
The “Begram ivories”—which date to the first century AD and come from ancient Kapisa, capital of the Kushan Empire (located north of Kabul, Afghanistan)—provide an excellent example of internationalism in ivory carving in the early Roman Empire. This incredible hoard, which contains over one thousand carved ivory and bone plaques, reflects a multicultural ivory-carving tradition that had developed in Central Asia during the Hellenistic Age. The finds at Begram (Kapisa) reflect this city’s strategic position for trade between India and Pakistan, and for points beyond. The Begram ivories consist mostly of decorations for couches and footstools. The artists who executed them, who were presumably from India, employed almost every imaginable technique of carving to manufacture these plaques and to represent their subject matter. For example, carved scenes, some containing remnants of colored pigments, depict female figures as dancers and musicians. The artists also depicted lions, elephants, and birds.
E. THE JEWISH WORLD
Judaism was practiced in all the lands of the Mediterranean world and beyond, and this gave Jews access to many artistic styles. In Jewish communities in North Africa and Syria, ivory was well known and had appeal. As elsewhere, the price of ivory was a factor in the extent of its use. While ivory implements and decorations are found in some of the wealthier homes at archaeological sites in Palestine, ivory has not turned up in large numbers or in hoards, as it has in Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome.
Philo of Alexandria comments on ivory in several of his books. For example, he makes reference to Phidias’s use of ivory and gold to make statues, and observes that people identify this artist by the quality of his workmanship (Ebr . 89). Philo also refers to ivory when contrasting the rich and the poor, observing that the former have beds of ivory, tortoiseshell, and gold, while the latter sometimes sleep on the floor (Spec. 2.20). Elsewhere, he describes the extravagant banquets of Romans and others whose furniture is made of tortoiseshell or ivory and “inlaid with precious stones,” and criticizes these banquets as being “for ostentation rather than festivity” (Contempl. 48–49).
Josephus provides information about elephants and ivory in the Roman period. Most of the references to elephants and ivory in his JewishWarand JewishAntiquitiesare to the use of war elephants in Seleucid Palestine. However, in the Antiquitieshe also makes passing reference to Solomon’s ivory throne and to this king’s expeditions in search of ivory (Ant. 8.140, 181; cf. 1 Kgs 10:18, 22). Josephus gives special attention to the abundance of ivory, silver, and gold that were on lavish display during the triumph of Vespasian and Titus after the Jewish War, noting how “their collective exhibition on that day displayed the majesty of the Roman empire” (J.W. 7.123–157, esp. 133–134). In his book Against Apion, Josephus observes that the most admired artists use ivory and gold to produce their most noteworthy novelties (Ag.Ap. 2.252).
Several interesting comments about ivory are found in rabbinic literature. For example, in their comments on Amos 6:4, which
describes those who “lie on beds adorned with ivory,” the Babylonian Talmud (b. Shabb. 62b) and several midrashic passages (Lev. Rab. 5:3; Num. Rab. 9:7; 10:3) suggest that these ivory beds served as places where sexual sins occurred.
The Talmud contains a delightful description of how some famous sages made preparations for the Sabbath, which includes the statement that “R. Abbahu used to sit on an ivory stool and fan the fire” (b. Shabb. 119a). The rabbi in question, who was from Caesarea, was a leading authority on the law. The reference to his ivory stool fits well with the fact, which we know from other texts, that he was wealthy.
F. THE CHRISTIAN WORLD
In reaction to the lavish use of ivory in the production of expensive furniture, Clement of Alexandria asks if a table with legs carved from ivory will complain if it holds cheap bread and states his opinion that the most humble bed can provide as much rest as one with ivory inlay (Paed. 2.3). In a letter to his friend Romanianus, Augustine observes that he sent Romanianus’s uncle a letter on ivory tablets but that he has written to Romanianus on “a scrap of parchment” because of a shortage of papyrus (Ep. 15.1). Augustine asks Romanianus to return any ivory tablets of his he may have in his possession so he (Augustine) can use them again (Ep. 15.1).
When Christianity was still illegal and its adherents faced persecution, Christian art and architecture did not develop rapidly. When the new faith became the official religion of the Roman Empire, this situation changed, and ivory claimed a place in the nascent Christian art.
In the early Byzantine period, ivory had many uses, ranging from the most mundane to the ethereal. Ivory was used, for example, to make combs, spindle whorls, and hairpins, but also to make pyxides, small boxes, and inlaid furniture. Carved reliefs on ivory diptychs can be listed among the most beautiful surviving pieces of early Christian art. Some of the Christian diptychs were created through imperial commissions. Many Christian artists adopted and adapted Greek
