Idols of the People: Miniature Images of Clay in the Ancient Near East (Schweich Lectures on Biblical Archaeology) [Hardcover]

P. R. S. Moorey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2004 | Series: Schweich Lectures on Biblical Archaeology

These lectures investigate the numerous miniature baked clay images from Canaan, Israel and Judah (c. 1600-600 BC). They constitute vital evidence for the imagery and domestic rituals of ordinary people, but significantly are not explicitly mentioned in the Old Testament. These terracottas are treated as a distinctive phenomenon with roots deep in prehistory. Attention is focused on whether or not the female representations are worshippers of unknown deities or images of known goddesses, particularly in Early Israelite religion.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Idols of the People is an excellent little book, and I would even venture to say that it was Roger Moorey's best book, a best book among a number of superb publications. Zainab Bahrani, Bibliotheca Orientalis

About the Author

P.R.S. Moorey is Formerly Acting Director, Keeper of Antiquities, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Fellow of the British Academy.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 102 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0197262805
• ISBN-13: 978-0197262801
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,304,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Terracotta Figurines of the ANE, February 3, 2005

By 

Virgil Brown (White Oak, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Idols of the People: Miniature Images of Clay in the Ancient Near East (Schweich Lectures on Biblical Archaeology) (Hardcover)

From the above product review one might the impression that the terracotta figurines discussed in this book all relate to the Old Testament in some way or another. The author has helped to ficilitate this impression by initially offering three "working assumptions."

First is that investigating terracotta figurines in what is commonly called Ancient Israel must take into account parallel inquiries from other parts of the ANE (Ancient Near East). Second is the idea that if one is to understand terracotta figurines from Ancient Israel, one must understand their historical ancestry. And third is the idea that regardless of where any terrracotta figurines might be found, whether in the trash or in a temple, they had the same *meaning* to their owners.

But Moorey has not written a book just about Ancient Israel, but the ANE. The first of his three lectures begins(chronologically) with figurines found at Ain Ghazal (c. 8700 BC). The second lecture discusses figurines dated from 3000 to 1150 BC. It is in the third lecture that Moorey discusses figurines found in the territory of Ancient Israel during the time of the Divided Monarchy.

Moorey is a brilliant man noted for his encyclopeidc knowledge of this subject. In his concluding remarks he notes that if the functions of terracotta firgurines in Ancient Israel is obscure, their disappearance is *more* notable. They disappear from those lands occupied by the returning Exiles from Babylonia. However in nearby lands such as Idumea, figurines were still found.

So at last one gets around to what the above product review is all about.