Thrones of Astarte explained

The Thrones of Astarte are approximately a dozen ex-voto "cherubim" thrones found in ancient Phoenician temples in Lebanon, in particular in areas around Sidon, Tyre and Umm al-Amad.[1] Many of the thrones are similarly styled, flanked by cherubim-headed winged lions on either side.[2] Images of the thrones are found in Phoenician sites around the Mediterranean, including an ivory plaque from Tel Megiddo (Israel), a relief from Hadrumetum (Tunisia) and a scarab from Tharros (Italy).[2]

List of Thrones

Image Period Location found Current location Inscription Description First published
Hellenistic none On the front, two figures pouring a libation into a flower. On the seat, rectangular anathyrosis for placing an object.[3] Dunand[4]
Hellenistic none On the front, a Phoenician palmette. On the seat, a large rectangular mortise used to fix an object. Backrest without decoration. 1941 Dunand[5]
Roman Greek inscription Seat very tilted, unable to hold an object. The back shows a globe inside a crescent. 1924[6]
none Naiskos in which is a throne with two sphinxes. Above the seat, U-shaped cavity, intended to receive an object rounded at the bottom: perhaps a round baetyl and its crowns. On the side faces, officiating priests. 1933[7]
none Naiskos analogous to the previous one. At the back is a small cavity, intended to hold an object. On the sides, winged goddesses of Egyptian style. [8]
2nd century BCE Phoenician dedication to Astarte, known as KAI 17 On the throne, two stelae with reliefs, depicting two standing officiants. 1907 Ronzevalle[9] [10] [11]
Hellenistic none
Hellenistic none
4th century BCE none 1860, Renan[12]

Notes and References

  1. Milik, 1967
  2. Davila and Zuckerman (1993), p.77: "Compare the votive throne discovered at Umm el-'Amed (Dunand and Duru 1962: 168 pl. 67). The lower part of the throne is badly damaged, but the heads are preserved. The heads are human, and each bears a head-dress or coiffure that reaches down to the shoulders. They also have stylized beards. On our throne, what remains of the headdresses/coiffures and beards of the cherubs stylistically parallels those of the Umm el-'Amed cherubs. In fact, it seems quite probable that they stem from the same artistic and iconographic milieu. We may further note the cherub thrones depicted on a Late Bronze/ Iron I ivory from Megiddo, the sarcophagus of Ahiram (cf. Pritchard 1969: figs. 332, 456-59, respectively), a relief from Hadrumetum/Sousse (Cintas 1947: pls. 48-49), and a scarab from Sardinia (Bisi 1967: fig. 57). In each of those exemplars the cherubs have a feline body with wings, a tail, and styled hair, but no beard."
  3. [Henri Seyrig]
  4. M. Dunand, Excavations of Byblos, II, p. 79, no.7225, p. 152
  5. Dunand, Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth, V, 1941, p. 93, where the origin is given as unknown.
  6. Ch. Virolleaud, Syria, V, 1924, p. 119, pi. 32, where the origin is given as unknown. The throne had been received in Sidon by L. Brossé: cf. Noel Aimé-Giron, Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, XXV, 1925, p. 206
  7. Noel Aimé-Giron, Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, XXXIV, 1933, pp. 31-; R. Dussaud, Syria, XIV, 1933, pp. 335-
  8. G. Mendel, Catal. of sculpt. (Museums imper. Ottom.), I, n ° 92 (attribution in the 5th century); Noel Aimé-Giron, Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, XXV, 1924, pp. 191-; cf. R. Dussaud, Syria, VI, 1925, pp. 95-
  9. Sébastien Ronzevalle, Note sur un monument phénicien de la région de Tyr; In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 51ᵉ année, N. 10, 1907. pp. 589-598; DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/crai.1907.71970
  10. Ronzevalle, 1909, p.755-
  11. Clermont-Ganneau, in Repert. epigr. sémit., n ° 800.
  12. E. Renan, Mission de Phénicie (1865–1874), p.707 and plate LIII: "Le petit fauteuil représenté planche LIII est une restitution en partie hypothétique de l’ensemble formé par deux fragments que nous avons rapportés (au Louvre, Catal. n° 75 et 76). Le globe ailé, les bras en forme d’aile, les sculptures fines, quoique très-frustes, du devant sont certains. Les figures des angles sont très-difficiles à agencer." [translated: "The small armchair shown on Plate LIII is a partly hypothetical restitution of the whole formed by two fragments that we have brought back (to the Louvre, Catal. N ° 75 and 76). The winged globe, the wing-shaped arms, the fine, though very rough, carvings on the front are certain. The angle figures are very difficult to arrange."</ref> |- | [[File:National Museum of Beirut – Thrones of Astarte 3.jpg|100px|frameless]] || || Umm al-Amad || National Museum of Beirut || none || The front is broken. Horizontal seat, rounded front. Backrest without decoration. Large throne which could fit a person. || Dunand|-| || || Temple of Eshmun || Temple of Eshmun || none || || Dunand|-| || || Temple of Eshmun || National Museum of Beirut || none || || Dunand|-| || Hellenistic || Unknown || National Museum of Beirut || none || || |}

    Bibliography

    • Sébastien Ronzevalle, Le "Trône d’Astarté", Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale (Beirut) 3 (1909), 755–83, pls 9–10;
    • Sébastien Ronzevalle, ‘Note sur un monument phénicien de la région de Tyr’, CRAI (1907), 589–98
    • James R. Davila and Bruce Zuckerman (1993). The Throne of ʿAshtart Inscription. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, (289), 67–80. doi:10.2307/1357365
    • Józef Milik (1967). Les papyrus araméens d'Hermoupolis et les cultes syro-phéniciens en Égypte perse. Biblica, 48(4), 546–622. Retrieved July 28, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/42618436
    • Henri Seyrig. Antiquités syriennes. In: Syria. Tome 36 fascicule 1–2, 1959. pp. 38–89; doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/syria.1959.5447 https://www.persee.fr/doc/syria_0039-7946_1959_num_36_1_5447
    • Edward Lipiński, Rereading the Inscriptions of the ‘Throne of Astarte’ and the Sidonian Obelisk, Journal of Semitic Studies, Volume 61, Issue 2, Autumn 2016, Pages 319–325, https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/fgw011

    External links

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