This attractive ceramic sculpture is a votive figure from the middle of the first millennium BC, and represents a deity in the Phoenician pantheon. It is unusually compact, and also very gracefully-executed. It depicts a goddess standing with her weight mainly upon her left leg, the right slightly flexed outwards. The hands are tucked into the sides, although it is possible that they were originally in other positions, but have since been eroded through the action of waves and water. The patina on the surface may indicate that the piece was already old – and had perhaps received libations – prior to its deposition. The base is integral and circular, the feet and dress of the figure blending in seamlessly. The garment cannot be identified, but it seems to have wrapped over the apex of the head in a fashion often seen in these pieces. The facial features have also been rubbed, but this adds to rather than detracts from the presence of the piece. The rather austere pose of the personage portrayed bears some affinity with Archaic Greek period pieces. The back of the piece is almost completely plain, implying that it was always meant to be viewed .from the front rather than in the round, which is appropriate for figures destined for shrines. The piece has attracted some calcareous encrustation from its long immersion in the Mediterranean.

Antiquities
Ancient Near East