Double-Faced Female Figure of Astarte[?] (Illustration)

Illustration

by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin
published on 18 February 2019

Double-Faced Female Figure of Astarte[?] — This limestone head probably represents the goddess Astarte. Some of the ivory inlays still remain within the eye sockets while holes on the collar were probably for inlay decorations. Four such heads were discovered together in 1968 CE and a fifth one was found in 2011 CE. They have holes on the top and bottom and were probably set as a balustrade in the window of an Ammonite temple, to give a chance to devotees praying outside to see one face, while priests in the holy interior could see the other face. Iron Age II mid-8th century BCE. From Amman Citadel, Jordan. (The Jordan Museum, Amman, Jordan).

About the Author

Associate Professor of Neurology and lover of the Cradle of Civilization, Mesopotamia. I'm very interested in Mesopotamian history and always try to take photos of archaeological sites and artifacts in museums, both in Iraq and around the world.

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Uploaded by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, published on 18 February 2019 under the following license: CC BY-NC-SA. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.

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APA Style

Amin, O. S. M. (2019, February 18). Double-Faced Female Figure of Astarte[?]. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/image/10079/

Chicago Style

Amin, Osama S. M. "Double-Faced Female Figure of Astarte[?]." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Last modified February 18, 2019. https://www.ancient.eu/image/10079/.

MLA Style

Amin, Osama S. M. "Double-Faced Female Figure of Astarte[?]." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 18 Feb 2019. Web. 15 Dec 2019.

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