TMSP Terracotta Figurines in the Ira and Ingeborg Rennert Conference of New Studies of Jerusalem

Tomorrow is the 22nd Annual New Studies on Jerusalem Conference at Bar Ilan University. Dr. Aaron Greener will be presenting his research on the figurine assemblage found by the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

Our research on figurines has been a hot topic recently. You may have seen our “Find of the Month” in October about the Korshaya sisters who found the leg of an Iron Age figurine, most likely of a horse. You may also have participated in our “Name That Find” competition that was the snout of an Iron Age horse figurine.

With all of the buzz about our figurines, and the upcoming conference, we wanted to share with you the excerpts from Aaron’s presentation. Our project’s wet sifting method enables us to find the small fragments usually missed at other sites. 15% of our ceramic finds date to the Iron Age II, First Temple Period and include almost 150 typical Judahite figurine fragments. Their dating is based on style, morphology, manufacturing method, plastic details, and decorations.

Some of the TMSP Figurine Assemblage

Aaron has discovered a unique distribution of figurines from our sifting. Our assemblage has an absence of foreign figurines and a high percentage of bird/pinched nose head fragments. The identity and function of Judahite figurines are complex issues surrounded by debate in Archaeology and Biblical Studies. Though “foreign” attributes are found in most Judahite sites, our assemblage has none. Though the statistics on this research has been completed, we have only theories about why this assemblage is distributed in this way. We suggest that the absence of foreign motifs in the Temple Mount figurine assemblage may be related to a Judahite rejection of outside influences during the Iron Age II, which found it greatest manifestation in the cultic and national center on the Temple Mount.

We hope that comments and other research from the conference will help to explain this anomaly further, and we will update you with any further research.

Excerpt: Iron Age II Figurine Fragments from the Temple Mount Soil
Aaron Greener, Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira (Zweig)

The repertoire and ratios of the various TMSP figurine types are similar to the ones from most other excavations in Jerusalem and Judah. A closer examination and comparison, however, highlights several significant patterns. Firstly, all the Jerusalem excavations demonstrate low proportions of mold-made heads, and indeed, all three TMSP human heads were pinched. This would fit well with Erin Darby’s suggestion regarding the popularity of the pinched heads in Jerusalem, and its possible ideological significance. Secondly, the TMSP has a greater presence of animal heads that are not horses than any other site in or outside of Jerusalem. Thirdly, zoomorphic vessels are rare and miniature furniture models are totally absent.

The most significant characteristic of the TMSP figurine assemblage comes from a broader look at the Iron Age II figurines from neighboring regions (Northern Israel, Philistia, Phoenicia and Trans-Jordan). This examination highlights the basic similarities as well as the figurines’ differing regional characteristics and styles. Outside of Judah there are many plaque figurines, peg figurines, hollow and wheel-made anthropomorphic figurines, women playing drums, animal heads with unique characteristics and applied details, and almost all the human heads are mold-made. A small quantity of figurines with these “foreign” attributes are found in most Judahite sites. None, however, were found in the Temple Mount soil, the Temple Mount’s eastern slope or in the Ophel Excavations south of the Temple Mount. All the figurines from these sites are of the basic and simple Judahite types. It had already been suggested that sites situated close to the heart of the Judahite kingdom usually have less figurines with foreign influences than sites in the Kingdom’s periphery. A similar patterns has been recognized also in Philistia, where more foreign (Judahite) influences were recognized inland than along the coast. We suggest that the reason for the absence of foreign motives in the Temple Mount figurine assemblage may be related to a Judahite rejection of outside influences during the Iron Age II, which found it greatest manifestation in the cultic and national center on the Temple Mount.