Customer Reviews

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

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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.