The Bible refers to many animals. Some of them are still native to Israel today, some are found in ancient art, some are only found in zoos. My visits to the Israel Museum and to the Safari Park made me think about this. I tried to connect my observations of actual animals to my enjoyment of many objects from ancient Caanan, Egypt, Greece, and other ancient Mediterranean sites. Here are some examples.
LIONS
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| Lions may have been here in ancient times, but now only live in the Safari park. |
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| Ivory ornament with lions from Meggido, Egyptian era. |
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| Lion face on a cup, Israel, 11th C. BCE. |
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Carved ivory lions, used as a chair ornament.
Carving influenced by Egyptian and Phoenician art. |
Horned Animals
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| Amulet from Caananite-Egyptian era. |
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| Scepter from Judean Desert cave near En Gedi, 5500-6500 years ago. |
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| Another view of the scepter with four ibexes and a ram. |
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| Copper mace head decorated with inbexes, from same Judean Desert cave. |
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| Cheese grater in the form of a goat. |
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| Bull-shaped libation vessels from Cyprus found at Tel Gezer. 14th-13th C. BCE. |
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| Decoration from a deep bowl from Cyprus found at Lachish. 16th-18th C. BCE. |
Hippopotamuses
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| Egyptian Hippopotamus. |
Other Animal Art from Egypt-Caananite Era
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| Amulets, 1400-1200 BCE. |
Later, as I wrap up my description of my soon-to-be-ended trip to Israel, I'll post some photos of birds in life and in art.
This series of posts is really interesting. It's always hard for me to wrap my brain around ancient times so seeing the antiquities and then the real animal is intriguing and sends my mind palace off on a million journeys!
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