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Iconographic motifs from the 6th–5th millennia BC in the Levant and Mesopotamia: Clues for cultural connections and existence of an interaction sphere

Authors:
  • National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina
  • Israel Antiquities Authority

Abstract and Figures

Several objects bearing unusual motifs have recently been recovered during salvage excavations and surveys of sites in Israel dated to the 6th–5th millennia BC. In the southern Levantine examples (Hagoshrim, Neve Yam and Ein Zippori), these motifs appear on bone objects and stone palettes in strata identified with the Early Chalcolithic of the Wadi Rabah and post-Wadi Rabah cultures. In Mesopotamia (Ashur, Mari) these motifs appear on stone stelae. In the case of Ashur the context of the items bearing the motifs is unclear, while in the case of Mari, the stele probably represents an heirloom found in a later context. Other shared iconographic motifs between the Southern Levant and these regions dating to the 6th and 5th millennia are schematic representations in stone of ram’s heads, possibly representing personal amulets. These are associated in the north with the Halafian culture (Domüztepe), and in the south (Kabri, Hagoshrim) with Early Chalcolithic cultural entities. Here we analyze these motifs and other objects in common from these geographically distant regions, and suggest that together they constitute an ‘interaction sphere’. This reiterates the proposal advanced years ago by J. Kaplan, but which was overlooked for several decades, concerning the relations between the southern Wadi Rabah culture and the northern Halafian cultures.
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Paléorient, vol. 42.2, p. 135-149 © CNRS ÉDITIONS 2016 Manuscrit reçu le 9 décembre 2015, accepté le 14 juin 2016
I
  

6

5

BC
 
L
 
M
:
C

   
    
I
.
M
,
N
.
G
,
E
.
G
,
A
.
Y

and
L
.
K

H

Abstract: Several objects bearing unusual motifs have recently been recovered during salvage excavations and surveys of sites in
Israel dated to the 6th–5th millennia BC. In the southern Levantine examples (Hagoshrim, NeveYam and Ein Zippori), these motifs
appear on bone objects and stone palettes in strata identied with the Early Chalcolithic of the WadiRabah and post-Wadi Rabah
cultures. In Mesopotamia (Ashur, Mari) these motifs appear on stone stelae. In the case of Ashur the context of the items bearing
the motifs is unclear, while in the case of Mari, the stele probably represents an heirloom found in a later context. Other shared
iconographic motifs between the Southern Levant and these regions dating to the 6th and 5th millennia are schematic representations in
stone of ram’s heads, possibly representing personal amulets. These are associated in the north with the Halaan culture (Domüztepe),
and in the south (Kabri, Hagoshrim) with Early Chalcolithic cultural entities. Here we analyze these motifs and other objects in
common from these geographically distant regions, and suggest that together they constitute an ‘interaction sphere’. This reiterates
the proposal advanced years ago by J.Kaplan, but which was overlooked for several decades, concerning the relations between the
southern Wadi Rabah culture and the northern Halaan cultures.
Résumé : Plusieurs objets gravés de m otifs peu habituels ont été récemment découverts lors de prospections et de fouilles de sauvetage
en Israël sur des sites datés des 6e et 5e millénaires av.J.-C. Au Levant Sud (Hagoshrim, Neve Yam et Ein Zippori), ces motifs
s’observent sur des objets en os et des palettes en pierre attribués au Chalcolithique ancien du Wadi Rabah et aux cultures post-
Wadi Rabah. En Mésopotamie (Assur, Mari), ils sont gravés sur des stèles en pierre. Dans le cas d’Assur le contexte de découverte
de cet objet n’est pas connu alors qu’en ce qui concerne Mari, la stèle a été trouvée dans un contexte tardif et pourrait constituer
une réappropriation. D’autres motifs iconographiques partagés entre le Levant Sud et ces régions datent des 6e et 5e millénaires
et sont des représentations schématiques sur pierre de têtes de bélier, qui pourraient être des amulettes personnelles. Celles-ci
sont associées dans le Nord à la culture Halaf (Domüztepe), et dans le Sud (Kabri, Hagoshrim) au Chalcolithique ancien. Nous
analysons ici ces motifs et d’autres objets communs à des régions géographiquement éloignées et nous suggérons que celles-ci
constituent ensemble une «sphère d’interaction». Cette proposition réitère celle avancée par J.Kaplan il y a des années, mais qui
a été négligée pendant plusieurs décennies, et qui défend des relations entretenues entre la culture Wadi Rabah au Sud et la culture
Halaf au Nord.
Keywords: Wadi Rabah; Halaan; Early Chalcolithic; Female gurines; Iconographic connections.
Mots-clés : Wadi Rabah ; Halaen ; Chalcolithique ancien ; Figurines féminines ; Similarités iconographiques.
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136 I. M

, N. G

, E. G

, A. Y

and L. K

H

Paléorient, vol. 42.2, p. 135-149 © CNRS ÉDITIONS 2016
INTRODUCTION
In this paper we present a set of iconographic motifs found
in recent years in three 6th–5th millennia sites in Israel (g.1).
Until recently, this time period, sometimes termed the Late
Pottery Neolithic (Gopher 1995, 2012; Kafa 1998; Kadowaki
et al. 2008; Gilead 2009), and by N.Getzov (2009) the Early
Chalcolithic, was under-researched in the Southern Levant,
since relatively few sites were known. In the last two decades
the situation has changed with numerous sites being discov-
ered and excavated in both Israel and Jordan (e.g., Kafa 2001;
Lovell 20 01; L ovell et al. 2004; Rosenberg et al. 2006; Banning
2007; Gopher 2012; Khalaily et al. 2016).
The excavations undertaken by Jacob Kaplan from the
1950’s onward, represent the earliest research on this time
period (Kaplan 1958a and b and 1972). He was the rst to
identify the “Wadi Rabah culture” and coined this term fol-
lowing work at the site of the same name on the coastal plain
near Tel Aviv (Kaplan 1958a). He dened the Wadi Rabah
culture on the basis of the presence of ceramic traits including
incised ceramic decorations and those executed with other
techniques (painting and burnishing), as well as typological
items, including the earliest bow-rim jars and at loop handles
(Ibid.).
The term Wadi Rabah was then extended to all southern
Levantine cultures that appeared at the beginning of the 5th
millennium cal.BC (and see summary in Gopher and Gophna
1993: 325-339; Gopher 1995; Garnkel 1999: 104-152). Over
time several distinct cultural entities of the 5th millennium
were recognized as belonging to this time period, such as the
Qatian and Besorian in the south (Goren 1990; Gilead 2009),
JerichoVIII in the Jordan Valley (Garstang 1932; Garstang et
al. 1935), and in the north of Israel two supposedly coeval cul-
tures, the Tzaan and the Natzurian (Gophna and Sadeh 1988;
Yannai 2013). All these cultural entities are chronologically
situated before the onset of the well-known Late (Ghassulian)
Chalcolithic (beginning in 4500BC).
Though years ago Kaplan (1972) pointed out the relation of
the 6th–5th millennia Israeli sites to the Halaan of the Northern
Levant and Mesopotamia, until recently, and with few excep-
T. Batashi
E.Zippori
E. el-Jarba
Hagosherim
Tell Te `o
Beisamoun
Kabri
Munhata
Jericho
Wadi Rabah
Demircihüyük
Tepecik
Hisarlik
Aruchlo Khramis Gora
Imiris Gora
Hoca Çeşme
Kazane
Höyuk
Aşaği Pinar
Ras Shamra
T. Brak T. Gawra
T. Halaf
T. Kurdu
Domüztepe
Ashur
Mari
Nippur
T.Turllu
Fistikli
Höyuk Shams ed-Din
T.Tzaf
T. Sabi Abyad
T. Ghassul
T. Batashi
E.Zippori
E. el-Jarba
Hagoshrim
Tell Te `o
Munhata
Jericho
Wadi Rabah
Demircihüyük
Tepecik
Hisarlik
Aruchlo Khramis Gora
Imiris Gora
Hoca Çeşme
Kazane
Höyuk
Aşaği Pinar
Ras Shamra
T. Brak T. Gawra
T. Halaf
T. Kurdu
Domüztepe
Ashur
Mari
Nippur
T.Turllu
Fistikli
Höyuk Shams ed-Din
T.Tzaf
T. Sabi Abyad
T. Ghassul
Atlit Yam
Neve Yam
N. Zehora
0300 km
N
Mediterranean
Sea
Fig. 1 The Southern Levant in the framework of the ancient Near East. Location of sites mentioned in the text.
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Iconographic motifs from the 6th–5th millennia BC in the Levant and Mesopotamia
137
Paléorient, vol. 42.2, p. 135-149 © CNRS ÉDITIONS 2016
tions (e.g., Yizraeli-Noy 1999; Garnkel 2003; Streit 2015),
this insight was overlooked. Indeed, southern Levantine
research, on this and later periods, has been narrowly focused
on local developments (Milevski and Gandulla 2016), and the
interaction with other regions and cultures of the Northern
Levant—in Lebanon and Syria, Southern and Easter n Anatolia,
Northern and Southern Mesopotamia and Iran and
Mesopotamia (g.1)—has been neglected (and see Gómez et
al., this volume).
In 2007, Edward Banning compiled a series of important
papers in Paléorient 33,1 (2007) that sought to readdress the
problem of this “disconnection” in our knowledge. Though
these papers mainly addressed ceramic typological questions
and the radiocarbon evidence for the Halaan and Wadi Rabah
cultures, they also offered a range of different perspectives on
this topic and diverse forms of analysis (e.g., Banning 2007;
Campbell 2007), thereby highlighting some of the problems
and features of this period.
The chronology of the 6th–5th millenniaBC in the Northern
Levant and Mesopotamia has been discussed at length in the
archaeological literature (table1). We have adapted the schema
based on Campbell (2007), where the Halaan begins ca
6500BC and ends ca mid-6thmillennium, with a possible tran-
sition to the Ubaid from the end of the 6thmillennium – begin-
ning of the 5th millenniumBC. The geographic distribution of
the Halaan culture was extensive and stretched from
Southeastern Turkey, Northern Iraq into parts of Northern
Mesopotamia,and southwards into Syria (Watson 1983).
Table 1 – The chronology of the Early Chalcolithic in the Southern
Levant in connection with the entities of the Ancient Near East.
Years
cal. BC
Northern
Mesopotamia/
Anatolia
Caucasus Northern
Levant
Southern
Levant
4000
4500
5000
5500
6000
Early Uruk
Late Ubaid
Early Ubaid
Halaf
Maikop/
Berikdeebi
Sioni
Alikemek
Neolithic
Shulaveri-
Shomu
Amuq F
Ras Shamra
III B
Ras Shamra
IIIIC
Amuq E
Amuq D
Amuq C
Late Chalcolithic
Ghassulian, Golanian
Early Chalcoltihic 3
Natzurian, Tzafian,
“Bet Shean XVIII”,
Besorian
Early Chalcolithic 2
Jericho VIII, Tzafian,
Qatifian
Early Chalcolithic 1
Wadi Rabah
Pottery Neolithic-
Jericho IX (Lodian)
For parallel periods in the northern part of the Southern
Levant we have adopted the three-part schema proposed by
Getzov (2009): Early Chalcolithic1, 2 and 3 (ECh.1, 2, 3).
The Wadi Rabah culture falls with in the Early Chalcolithic1
that begins ca 5800/5600 cal.BC and ends ca 5000 cal.BC
(Banning 2007). Other cultures are present at this time in the
Southern Levant, for example, at the site of Hagoshrim in the
northern Hulah Valley. At this site the pottery lacks the char-
acteristic Wadi Rabah decoration and most closely resembles
Halaan pottery of Northern Mesopotamia (Getzov 2011),
such that it may represent the southernmost Halaan site.1
Based on chronology, our synchronization for the southern
Levantine Early Chalcolithic1 is with the northern Levantine
and Mesopotamian Halaan and Early Ubaid periods.
The Early Chalcolithic 2, covering ca 5000–4800 cal.BC,
encompasses the Qatian, Jericho VIII and the early part of
the Tzaan cultures, while the Besorian, Nazurian and the late
Tzaan are dated to the Early Chalcolithic3, ca 4800–4500
cal.BC. In this late phase are also placed the early levels of
Teleilat Ghassul, which is also called Pre-Ghassulian (Gopher
2012: Table42.1).
The geographic distribution of Wadi Rabah sites shows that
this culture was spread over the central and northern areas of
the Southern Levant (Gopher and Gophna 1993: Fig.15), the
coastal plain, the Shephelah, the central hill country, the Lower
and Upper Galilee and the Jordan Valley.
Following the theme of the session which gave rise to this
paper, we will highlight the relationship of the southern
Levantine cultures of the 6th–5th millenniaBC with the cultures
of the Northern Levant and Mesopotamia, by investigating the
relationship between a set of similar iconographic motifs from
different geographic regions, and examine the extent and
nature of cultural connections and disconnections between
them. We will rst present a set of archaeological ndings
which attest to contact between the regions. Finally, we will try
to offer a general explanation for this phenomenon within the
conceptual framework of the “interaction sphere”, in the sense
developed by J.Caldwell (1964), namely complex exchange
networks through which status-specic goods or prestige items
and information (especially sacred or symbolic knowledge)
circulate, thereby connecting distinct societies who exhibit
diverse regional cultural traditions in their subsistence base,
1. The pottery assemblage of the Early Chalcolithic1 of Hagoshrim is char-
acterized by a few examples of incised decoration, high frequencies of
bowls with double carination, an extensive black coating on the surface
and several Halaan sherds which have not been found in other sites of the
Early Chalcolithic in Israel.
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138 I. M

, N. G

, E. G

, A. Y

and L. K

H

Paléorient, vol. 42.2, p. 135-149 © CNRS ÉDITIONS 2016
domestic crafts and non-ritual artefacts.2 Thus, these societies
share a repertoire of supra-local values expressed in styles,
symbolic and ritual materials as well as behavior, i.e. ceremo-
nial acts, that bind them together and extend beyond the bound-
aries of their respective regional traditions. Notably, the source
and paths of the common items and acts are not
unidirectional.
SHARED MATERIAL CULTURE
In recent years it has become clear that the southern
Levantine material culture of the 6th–5th millenniaBC did not
develop in a vacuum. Even if the pottery and int repertoires
differed from those of the northern cultures, several types of
nds present in the southern Levantine sites, originated in the
north. For instance ne stone (chlorite) vessels, perhaps the
most exquisite nds in Hagoshrim and EinZippori, have close
parallels in sites of the Northern Levant and Anatolia
(Rosenberg et al. 2010; Milevski and Getzov 2014). A similar
northern connection has been proposed for slingstones that are
commonly found in Halaan sites and were apparently used in
hunting (Gaulon 2006). These objects also occur in Wadi
Rabah sites in Northern Israel (Rosenberg 2009). Obsidian
items offer clear evidence of connections with Anatolia, either
with the central or with the eastern sources (Gopher et al.
1998; Schechter et al. 2013).
Most importantly, as rst noted by Kaplan (1958a), and
more recently by others (Garnkel 1999: 151; Rosenberg et al.
2006; Getzov et al. 2009), the pottery vessels show evidence of
cultural connections. Typological comparisons reveal several
common characteristics with the pottery of the Wadi Rabah
culture (and see Garnkel 1999: Table15), mainly with sites in
Lebanon (e.g., Kirkbride 1969), and Syria (e.g., von Oppenheim
1943; Gustavson-Gaube 1981; Breniquet 1991), while the main
difference between the Halaan and Wadi Rabah is expressed
in matters of pottery decoration.
It is clear from the pottery of Hagoshrim dated to the
6th millennium BC that a cultural entity that differed from
the Wadi Rabah, existed in the very northernmost regions of
Israel (Getzov 2011). At Ein Zippori (Milevski and Getzov
2014) and other sites in the Southern Levant, the situation dif-
fers since classic Wadi Rabah wares are found (e.g., Garnkel
2. N. Yoffe (1993) applied this concept to the Neolithic/Chalcolithic cultures
of Mesopotamia. For the Levantine Pre-Pottery Neolithic see Bar-Yosef
and Belfer-Cohen (1989), contra Asouti (2006).
1999: 104-152) together with some sherds that are difcult to
place within the spectrum of local wares and are probably
related to the Northern Levant.
Roughly chipped or refashioned sherds—varying in shape
and in the presence/absence of perforations—are another item
in common between the Wadi Rabah and Halaan sites,
although they also occur in earlier Yarmukian sites (e.g.,
Eirikh-Rose and Garnkel 2002) and in later periods. They are
found in Halaan sites such as Tel Sabi Abyad in Syria
(Akkermans and Verhoeven 1995) and Fıstıklı Höyük and
Kazane Höyük in Turkey (Costello 2000) and in Wadi Rabah
sites such as Ein el-Jarba (Kaplan 1969), Teluliyot Batashi
(Kaplan 1958b), and Munhata (Garnkel 1992). At EinZippori
they appear both in the Early Chalcolithic and Early Bronze
Age layers (N.G. personal observation). The reworked sherds
have been interpreted varyingly as spindle whorls, tokens,
objects used in accounting or games, and more recently as
objects that have a mnemonic function (Costello 2000).
Seals are another important part of the corpus of Halaan
nds in the Northern Levant. In the Southern Levant besides
the large assemblage from Hagoshrim (Getzov 2011), they are
present but in small numbers in Wadi Rabah sites (e.g., Getzov
et al. 2009: Fig.33:1; Milevski and Getzov 2014). One of us
(Getzov 2011: Fig.4) has previously published a map showing
every Mesopotamian or northern Levantine sites where simi-
lar seals to those found at Hagoshrim were discovered. This
again highlights the importance of Hagoshrim as belonging to
an entity related to the Halaan, probably to the southernmost
Halaan. A discussion concerning the function of the seals
whether economic, social or cultural is beyond the scope of
this paper, but the presence of these northern motifs in the
Hagoshrim seals must have been understood by the southern
Levantine populations (e.g., Collon 1990).
To conclude, the material culture of the Early Chalcolithic
sites in the Southern Levant clearly shows the presence of an
exchange network of both goods and knowledge relating to
material culture. For this to constitute an “interaction sphere”
as dened by Caldwell (1964), evidence of a shared symbolic
and ritual world needs to be demonstrated.
COMPOSITE FEMALE FIGURINES
In this section we will present a set of nds from recent
salvage excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities
Authority (IAA hereafter) which we have labelled “composite
female gurines”. They are described below by site.
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Iconographic motifs from the 6th–5th millennia BC in the Levant and Mesopotamia
139
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HagosHrim
First and foremost we present an item found at Hagoshrim
in the Hulah Valley (g.2). It was encountered on the oor of
a room in StratumIVb, identied with the Early Chalcolithic1,
contemporaneous with the Wadi Rabah culture, but probably
representing the southernmost extension of the Halaan in the
Levant (Getzov 2011).
The object comprises a complex of anthropomorphic fea-
tures and decorative motifs that have been incised on a caprine
radius shaft, either a sheep (Ovis) or a goat (Capra). We tenta-
tively call it a composite female gurine made on bone, or an
“eye idol” utilizing terminology applied in Mesopotamia by
M.Mallowan (1947) to the Tell Brak idols, but also in prehis-
02 cm
02 cm
toric (Chalcolithic) Spain and Portugal (occulados; Cacho et
al. 2010).
The Hagoshrim incised item is divided into three parts or
registers. At the top, is a face including eyes, eyelids and eye-
brows and/or eyelashes and in the middle register, a bovid
(probably a gazelle because of the long, zigzag-like horns, long
neck and legs; less likely a billy goat) with a cross–hatched
pattern on its body. The animal is facing toward a plant/tree,
possibly a three-frond palm tree, and is grazing on one of the
fronds. The lowest register depicts a pubic triangle with a small
hole between it and the legs of the animal, possibly represent-
ing the navel. Two parallel lines above the triangle possibly
represent a belt.
Interestingly, a fragmented gurine made on limestone
(g. 3) found years ago in the top soil of Hagoshrim (today
in the Museum of Ma’ayan Baruch) portrays a navel, under
it a line and a pubic triangle and legs (Yizraeli-Noy 1999:
No.106).
Fig. 2 Decorated bone from Hagoshrim
(photo C.Amit, drawing N.Getzov, courtesy of the IAA).
Fig. 3 Stone gurine from Hagoshrim, top soil
(adapted from Getzov 2011: Fig.10.45).
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140 I. M

, N. G

, E. G

, A. Y

and L. K

H

Paléorient, vol. 42.2, p. 135-149 © CNRS ÉDITIONS 2016
Neve Yam
During surveys at the submerged site of NeveYam in the
Mediterranean coast, south of Haifa (Galili 2009; Galili et al.
2015), a cattle femur engraved with a very similar motif to that
of the Hagoshrim gurine was found (g.4). The Neve Yam
site is similarly attributed to the Early Chalcolithic 1 (Wadi
Rabah culture) though pottery from the Early Chalcolithic2 is
also present (Galili 2004).
The bone gurine is divided into four registers. The eyes in
the upper part have a double line around them (eyelids) and
lines above them probably representing eyebrows and /or eye-
lashes. Unlike the Hagoshrim item, there are no animals in the
middle register, instead several schematic plants/trees are rep-
resented separated by triangles lled with a net-like or cross-
hatched motif; below this is a register with a cross-hatched
04 cm
Fig. 4 Decorated bone from Neve Yam (photo E.Galili,
drawing L.Zeigler, courtesy of the IAA).
Fig. 5 Palette from Ein Zippori (Reg. no.30252). 1) verso;
2)reverse; 11.5x 5.5cm (photo C.Amit, courtesy of the IAA).
motif, and further down a female pubic triangle separated from
the middle register by two parallel lines (possibly a belt). If we
compare this object with the item from Hagoshrim it can be
suggested that several conventions existed as to how to repre-
sent eyes, plants/trees and pubes, while cross hatching was a
common decoration.
eiN Zippori
A third object, which can also be considered as part of the
composite female gurine group, was discovered at the site of
Ein Zippori located in the Lower Galilee near Nazareth
(Milevski and Getzov 2014). It is a fragment of a at lime-
stonepalette with both sides engraved (g. 5). The palette
was found in the Early Chalcolithic layers of the site; unfor-
tunately we cannot assign the locus where it was found to one
of the specic phases of this period (ECh.1 or ECh.2). At rst
glance on what we can call the verso aspect of the palette
(g.5: 1), two birds are clearly depicted and part of an eye in
the upper left hand corner. The birds may represent cranes or
possibly even ostriches, taking into account their long necks,
the position of the heads and the rather short bodies which
are decorated with a net-like motif, similar to the embellish-
ment found on the animals on the Hagoshrim bone. The legs
of the birds are very schematic and in the left bird they are
exed intimating that it is taking off or landing. There is a
circle above the birds that could be interpreted as a nose or a
navel, that is, if a pubic triangle ever existed on the missing
piece.
On the reverse of the palette (g.5: 2) there is another
motif of geometric shapes lled with a net-like pattern, which
could also represent the torso of a human gure, but since the
palette is broken on both ends it is difcult to be more pre-
02 cm
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141
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cise. However, if we observe the reverse of the Ein Zippori
palette it can be considered as similar to an engraved stone
object found at Munhata (Gopher and Orelle 1995) (g.6)
which though broken, has a pubic triangle engraved on the
one side.
When we reconstruct the palette of EinZippori (g.7) we
can see parallel iconographic motifs with the items from
Hagoshrim and Neve Yam. The eyes and eyelids can be
reconstructed with a high degree of certainty, but the prob-
lem is whether there was a pubic triangle since the palette
was broken at this point. Naturally these are tentative recon-
structions, but they are supported by similar motifs that occur
on objects that were found at this same site that are presented
below.
Two other fragments of incised bones which were found at
the site can be related to the group of female bone gurines we
have presented here. The rst (g.8: 1-2) (Yaroshevich 2016) is
an incised bone fragment showing the upper part of eyes (the
left one with eyelids), while the second (g.8: 3) is an incised
bone fragment which probably represents the lower register
02 cm
1 2
Fig. 6 Palette from Munhata (adapted by N.Getzov
from Gopher and Orelle 1995), verso (1) and reverse (2).
Fig. 7 Reconstruction of the Ein Zippori palette
(drawing N.Getzov, courtesy of the IAA).
02 cm
02 cm
02 cm
1
2
3
Fig. 8 1-2) Fragment of decorated bone from Ein Zippori (photo
E.Galili, drawing L.Zeiger, courtesy of the IA A); 3) Fragment of deco-
rated bone from Ein Zippori (photo I.Milevski, courtesy of the IAA).
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142 I. M

, N. G

, E. G

, A. Y

and L. K

H

Paléorient, vol. 42.2, p. 135-149 © CNRS ÉDITIONS 2016
with motifs of tree branches similar to those on the gurines
from Hagoshrim and Neve Yam.
Last but not least, a pottery sherd from a bowl found at
Ein Zippori bears an interesting painted decoration (red on
buff) showing parts of eyes with eyelids (g.9), painted in a
similar style to the eyes on the bone gurines.
COMPOSITE FEMALE FIGURINES
ANDOTHER MESOPOTAMIAN ITEMS
Some time ago Getzov (et al. 2009) and I.Ziffer (2010)
both highlighted the connections between the southern
Levantine composite female gurine from Hagoshrim and the
stone stele of Mari from Mesopotamia, dating to the 4th millen-
niumBC (Margueron 2004: Fig.92).
The stele (g. 10) was found in a pit at the temple of
Ninhursag in VilleII, but according to Margueron (2004: 113-
114) it must represent an heirloom of the VilleI phase, dated to
Fig. 9 Decorated sherd from EinZippori with reconstruction
(photo I.Milevski, drawing N.Getzov, courtesy of the IAA).
02 cm
04 cm
010 cm
Fig. 10 Stele of Mari
(adapted by N.Getzov from Margueron 2004: Fig.92).
the Early DynasticI period, i.e. the rst half of the 3rd millen-
nium BC (and see Getzov et al. 2009; Schumacher 2013;
Uehlinger 2014).
The images on the stele of Mari appear in several registers.
The upper part is a face with eyes and eyebrows, and a geomet-
ric motif on top of them; a zigzag, or herringbone-like motif of
two panels. Below the eyes and the nose marked by a line and
a circle are two horizontal lines of horned animals with a pubic
triangle between them. Here again the animals depicted are
bovids, probably gazelles, given their zigzag-like horns, slen-
der bodies and long necks and legs. The upper line of images
depicts schematic trees or branches between which some of
the animals are looking at each other. In the lowest line there
are birds, portrayed in a very schematic way, with long necks
and wings but without legs. The lower register includes a
similar geometric pattern of two panels similar to the upper
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Iconographic motifs from the 6th–5th millennia BC in the Levant and Mesopotamia
143
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one (over the eyes).3 The iconography of the stele is markedly
similar to that of the Wadi Rabah gurines –in the style of the
eyes, quadrupeds, trees, pubis and birds as well as in its
composition.
Margueron (2004) contended that the only parallels in
Mesopotamia for the Mari stele were several palettes from
Ashur. These gypsum palettes were uncovered in the 1930s
by W.Andrae (1938: Fig.31). Though their precise location in
the site is unknown, interestingly Andrae wrote that they must
3. No clear parallels to the stele of Mari were found in Mesopotamian contexts
aside from a bed model from Nippur made in clay depicted in the Fribourg
Museum Catalog (Keel und Schroer 2004), dating to the Old Babylonian
period (ca 2000BC). This item depicts a pubic triangle which ties it to the
Mari stele, but the remainder of the iconography is not comparable.
date to the Neolithic, i.e. probably parallel to our Early
Chalcolithic1 (and see above).
The palettes from Ashur (g.11) bear the same motifs as
found on the Mari stele—the quadrupeds, the eyes, the trian-
gles and even the navel. Palettes1 and 2 depict an eye in the
upper part (marked by the arrows), and probably a line, circle
and geometric motifs in the lower part. Thus, the iconography
of the palettes resembles both the images on the stele of Mari
and the Early Chalcolithic composite female gurines from
the Southern Levant. Of course the question of the dating of
the stele of Mari remains unresolved.4
4. Recently, Schumacher (2013) listed several 3rd millennium parallels to
specic features found on the Mari stele; these include occulus painted
010 cm
Fig. 11 Palettes from Ashur (photos A.Gutow and O.M.Tessmer,
courtesy of the Vorderasiatische Museum, Berlin).
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144 I. M

, N. G

, E. G

, A. Y

and L. K

H

Paléorient, vol. 42.2, p. 135-149 © CNRS ÉDITIONS 2016
If we return to our southern Levantine motifs, I. Ziffer
(2010) proposed that these were part of a cult which included
sacred trees, animals and pubic triangles, motifs related
to fertility in the animal, vegetal and human kingdoms. As
Ziffer pointed out, the stele of Mari includes all these
elements in a very similar composition. A key issue is then
not only the shared symbolic nature of the different elements
that could point to a common understanding of reality, but
the order in which the people from these cultures presented
them.
on ceramics from TroiaI (Turkey) and ThermiIII (Lesbos), and stipled
triangular pubes on gurines from early 3rd millennium BC contexts at
Demircihüyük- Sariket and TroiaII (Turkey).
APPLIQUÉ FIGURES ON POTTERY
In 1969, Kaplan published a unique carinated holemouth
jar with appliqués of two human gures from the Early
Chalcolithic1 (Wadi Rabah) site of Ein el-Jarba (g.12: 1). He
interpreted the applied motif as a human gure with a mask or
an animal-like face, later dened by Garnkel (2003) as repre-
sentative of southern Levantine depictions of “dancing g-
ures”. The holemouth jar was rec ently analysed petrographically
(Milevski et al. 2016) demonstrating that it is local. Moreover,
local parallels to the vessel type, also attest to its being of
southern Levantine origin.
Parallels to this motif appear from the 6thmillenniumBC
onwards in sites in Anatolia, Tepecik-Çiftlik (Cappadocia),
Fig. 12 Appliqué human gures on pottery vessels. 1) Ein el-Jarba (photo I.Milevski, redrawn after Kaplan 1969,
courtesy of the IAA); 2)Aruchlo (photo S.Hansen, courtesy of S.Hansen and the German Institute of Archaeology).
010 cm
1
010 cm
2
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Iconographic motifs from the 6th–5th millennia BC in the Levant and Mesopotamia
145
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Hoca Çeşme and Aşaği Pinar (Eastern Thrace) (Özdoğan 2011:
Fig.2, d-e, g-h); some of them contemporary to the example
from Ein el-Jarba. The same motif appears later in the 5th mil-
lennium BC in Neolithic sites of South-Eastern Europe
(Garnkel 2003: Fig.2.13, 10-11 and 14; Streit 2015), belong-
ing to the local Cucuteni culture but even earlier examples are
known dating to the early 6th millennium, from sites in the
Caucasus such as Aruchlo, Khramis Gora and Imiris Gora
(Lyonnet et al. 2012).
In sum, the typology and iconography indicate that the Ein
el-Jarba holemouth is a southern Levantine vessel portraying
similar human gures to Caucasian, Anatolian and southeast-
ern European vessels from the 6th–5th millennia BC (Streit
2015; Milevski et al. 2016).
02 cm
04 cm
1 2
3
4 5
Fig. 13 Pebble female gurines. 1) Nahal Zehora (adapted from
Gopher 2012); 2) Ras Shamra (adapted from de Contenson 1973:
Fig.16); 3) Beisamoun (adapted from Noy 1999: no.114); 4) Western
Galilee; 5) Tel Te`o (adapted from Eisenberg et al. 2001: Fig.9, 6.7)
(drawings N.Getzov).
Fig. 14 – Ovis-pendants. 1) Domüztepe (from http://www.british-
museum.org/research/research_projects/all_current_projects/
domuztepe_excavations_project.aspx) ; 2) Kabri (photo N.Getzov,
Museum of Prehistoric Man, Ma`ayan Baruch, courtesy of the IAA;
3) Hagoshrim (photo C.Amit, Museum of Prehistoric Man, Ma`ayan
Baruch, courtesy of the IAA).
OTHER ICONOGRAPHIC ITEMS
FROM THE SOUTHERN LEVANT
Images perceived by most researchers as representing
expressions of fertility have a tradition in the Neolithic of the
02 cm
1
2
3
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146 I. M

, N. G

, E. G

, A. Y

and L. K

H

Paléorient, vol. 42.2, p. 135-149 © CNRS ÉDITIONS 2016
Southern Levant with schematic decorated pebbles (Yizraeli-
Noy 1999; Garnkel 2010: 335-337), in some way paralleling
the items from Hagoshrim, EinZippori and NeveYam. These
very schematic gurines (g.13) have eyes (incised lines)
and pubic triangles or vulvas, while sometimes the eyes
are not depicted, as in the case of Nahal Zehora (g.13: 1).
This last example and that from Tel Te‘o (g.13: 5) can be
dated to the Wadi Rabah culture. There is a similar gurine
from RasShamra (g.13: 2), that can tentatively be dated to
the 6th millennium BC; in the other cases the eyes are also
missing.
Another group of iconographic objects we include within
the framework of this paper are what we call “Ovis pendants”,
i.e. pendants that schematically represent the heads of rams
with twisted horns (g.14). In general these are made of exotic
stones, such as the item from Domüztepe in Turkey close to
the Syrian border (g.14: 1). The latter is dated by its context
to the beginning of the 6th millennium BC, the Early Halaf
according to Campbell (2007; but see Campbell and Fletcher
2010).
Very similar objects have been recovered in sites in Israel—
at Kabri (g.14: 2) and Hagoshrim (g.14: 3). Both items are
similar in size and shape, but manufactured on different types
of stone. Unfortunately, these objects cannot be attributed to a
specic period or date based on their contexts but at both sites
there are signicant Early Chalcolithic occupations, identied
with the Wadi Rabah culture. Moreover, in terms of their ico-
nography these pieces closely parallel the Domüztepe item.
Thus, we suggest that they too belong to the shared cultural
repertoire of the Early Chalcolithic in the Southern and
Northern Levant.
CONCLUSIONS: INTERACTION SPHERES
AND ICONOGRAPHIC INFLUENCE
The locations of all the ‘composite female gurines’
and other objects illustrate that numerous items of material
culture and symbolic motifs were common to the Southern
Levant and areas in the Northern Levant and Mesopotamia.
These nds demonstrate that close contact existed between
these regions in the Early Chalcolithic periods (6th and 5th
millenniaBC).
The concept of “interaction spheres” coined by Caldwell
(1964) denotes social, ideological and exchange connections
among distinct societies and separate cultures who share a
restricted corpus of material items that binds these local sys-
tems within a large, inter-regional area. This framework
enables us to examine both the independence and the unity of
regional cultures, as illustrated by the objects discussed here.
From our research, exchange of artefacts as well as sharing of
knowledge and symbols is evident in ceramic typology, use of
refashioned sherds, seals, ne stone vessels, obsidian, sling-
stones and the iconography of the ‘composite female gurines’,
Ovis’ pendants and appliqué ceramic motifs, while differ-
ences exist in a range of other features such as ceramic decora-
tive motifs, lithics, architecture, etc.
Though, as noted by Hayden and Schulting (1997), the spe-
cic socio-cultural dynamics that create and maintain interac-
tion spheres may not be fully understood, we propose that in
the Levantine-Mesopotamian sphere, following the ow of
goods, shared values and beliefs developed and these are man-
ifest in a shared corpus of symbols. This facilitated and main-
tained the social interaction and ideological cohesion needed
to exchange goods. While searching for the drivers behind
these connections, we can try to identify the directionality of
the movement of motifs and items. We suggest that the iconog-
raphy of the “composite female” motif, which rst appears in
the Early Chalcolithic1 of Israel, was transplanted to the north
as attested to at sites such as Ashur, since it appears there
slightly later. The stele of Mari although with no clear date,
should also be later than the southern Levantine examples,
possibly a case of iconographic inuence in the longue durée
as suggested by C.Uehlinger (2014).
However, given the relatively rudimentary level of socio-
political complexity that characterized communities in the
Southern Levant at this time, compared to those inhabiting
regions to the north and northeast, it is unlikely that an exten-
sive or one-sided sphere of inuence existed that followed a
south-north direction. Indeed, one clear north to south icono-
graphic transfer is the human ‘dancing’ gure from Ein el-
Jarba since this motif appears in the Caucasus and Anatolia
well before its appearance in the Southern Levant. Likewise,
several other shared features such as obsidian, slingstones, ne
stone vessels are ubiquitous in northern Halaan sites but rare
in Early Chalcolithic southern Levantine sites, and so probably
imported from the north into the south. Likewise, the date of
the ‘Ovis’ pendant from Domüztepe in Anatolia, also suggests
a northern inuence taking in consideration that this object
should be earlier than the southern Levantine items.
The ‘composite female gurines’ and other contemporane-
ous iconographic/symbolic items could have served as a com-
mon symbolic motif, shared by peoples of Anatolia,
Mesopotamia and the Levant. This tallies with the central con-
cept that denes an “interaction sphere”, namely that it is always
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Iconographic motifs from the 6th–5th millennia BC in the Levant and Mesopotamia
147
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focused around a specic kind of interaction (Caldwell 1964).
Concepts of human fertility and agriculture, domestication and
hunting, sacred vegetal and animals, that are embodied in these
gurines were part of the shared world of the Late Neolithic/
Early Chalcolithic communities. Clearly, these and other
objects, imply a common socio-economic and ideological base,
most probably common religious beliefs and an understanding
of the world. Consequently, if we consider the full repertoire of
material cultural and iconographic motifs outlined in this paper,
we can suggest that a northern-southern interaction sphere
existed during the 6th–5th millennia BC in the Near East.
ackNowledgmeNts
Objects from our excavations at Hagoshrim, Ein Zippori and
NeveYam are published here by courtesy of the Israel Antiquities
Authority. We are indebted to the director Markus Hilgert and to
the deputy director LutzMartin, Vorderasiatiches Museum, Berlin,
for permission to publish the palettes of Ashur, and to AlrunGutow
and Olaf M.Tessmer (Fotoarchiv) for the photographs of these items.
Thanks are due also to Svend Hansen (German Institute of Archae-
ology – Euroasian Department) for graciously providing the picture
from Aruchlo, and to Estelle Orelle for bringing to our notice the
Halaan refashioned sherds. We are indebted to the four anonymous
reviewers for their critical comments.
Ianir Milevski
Nimrod Getzov
Ehud Galili
Alla Yaroshevich
Israel Antiquities Authority
POB 586 – 91004 Jerusalem – Isr ael
ianir@israntique.org.il
getzov@israntique.org.il
udi@israntique.org.il
allayaroshe@gmail.com
Liora kolska horwitz
The National Natural History Collections
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jerusalem – Israe l
lix1000@gmail.com
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... 18 Quelle peut être alors la nature de l'élément central des coiffures divines ? D'après les caractéristiques récapitulées ci-dessus, le seul objet archéologique connu qui pourrait (Milevski et al. 2016, Schuhmacher 2013, Uehlinger 2014. Les objets en question sont de nature diverse : plaques gravées en pierre, os longs gravés, vases, etc. Le motif des yeux grands ouverts en est l'ornementation principale. ...
... On est en droit de se demander si celui-ci ne présente pas un caractère universel, susceptible d'apparaître ou de réapparaître de façon autonome en plusieurs endroits. À cet égard, les vases en pierre de l'époque d'Uruk (Basmachi 1975(Basmachi -1976, n o 35) ou la glyptique d'Iran ou de la Diyala montrant des yeux plus ou moins stylisés (Amiet 1980, pl. 18, n os 292, 295, 468, 480, 501 (Milevski et al. 2016) offrent sans conteste les parallèles les plus convaincants, à un détail près : ces objets sont minuscules par rapport à la stèle de Ninhursag. Au mieux, ils pourraient correspondre à de lointains prototypes élaborés par des communautés agraires à la fin du Néolithique sur une zone géographique vaste, au Proche-Orient. ...
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Full-text available
In the long history of the Ancient Near East, deities wore horned headgear, diadems, haircuts, helmets, tiaras with one or more rows of horns. The purpose of this paper is to study the headdresses of the first known images of Mesopotamian deities, during the pre and protodynastic periods (4th millennium-first half of the 3rd millennium B.C.). Through iconography, it is possible to have a concrete idea of the material aspect of the headdresses of these early deities. They formed unsual composite ensembles combining natural and manufactured elements, where an anthropomorphic mask carrying an enigmatic value is embedded. We suggest that the stela of Ninhursag from Mari could be part of them.
... Anthropomorphic clay figurines in south Levantine prehistory date back to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (see e.g., Bar-Yosef et al. 1991, figure 13;Noy 1989, figure 5:2-4). Human depictions in the Early Chalcolithic period are rare, appearing primarily as pebble figurines or bone and stone engravings (Galili et al. 2016;Milevski et al. 2016; also see Kaplan 1969, figure 7 for an anthropomorphic decoration on pottery). Anthropomorphic depictions in clay are encountered at Middle Chalcolithic Tel Tsaf (Freikman et al. 2021 and see references therein) and become frequent during the Late Chalcolithic period (see e.g., Epstein 1998;Garfinkel 1999, 200-296;Milevski et al. 2018;Rowan and Golden 2009). ...
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... Anthropomorphic clay figurines in south Levantine prehistory date back to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (see e.g., Bar-Yosef et al. 1991, figure 13;Noy 1989, figure 5:2-4). Human depictions in the Early Chalcolithic period are rare, appearing primarily as pebble figurines or bone and stone engravings (Galili et al. 2016;Milevski et al. 2016; also see Kaplan 1969, figure 7 for an anthropomorphic decoration on pottery). Anthropomorphic depictions in clay are encountered at Middle Chalcolithic Tel Tsaf (Freikman et al. 2021 and see references therein) and become frequent during the Late Chalcolithic period (see e.g., Epstein 1998;Garfinkel 1999, 200-296;Milevski et al. 2018;Rowan and Golden 2009). ...
... The identification of the artifacts in this assemblage as slingstones is strongly supported by their aerodynamic form, comparable to similar biconical sling projectiles archaeologically known from later periods, and from historic and ethnographic accounts worldwide, including Oceania and North America West Coast (York and York 2011;Skov 2013 (Kaplan 1958); anthropomorphic and zoomorphic imagery (Garfinkel 2003;Streit and Garfinkel 2015;Milevski et al. 2016); imported obsidian and chlorite vessels (Rosenberg, Getzov and Assaf 2010;Schechter et al. 2016); and the design of the sling projectiles. Throughout history, the sling was used for different purposes, most commonly as a weapon, as well as a hunting and herding tool. ...
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