The Thrones of Astarte are approximately a dozen

ex-voto An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or to a divinity; the term is usually restricted to Christian examples. It is given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ''ex voto suscepto'', "from the vow made") or in gratitude o ...

cherubim A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...

" thrones found in ancient

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

n temples in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, in particular in areas around

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

, Tyre and Umm al-Amad. Many of the thrones have a similar style, with

heads on winged

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

bodies on either side.Davila and Zuckerman (1993), p.77: "Compare the votive throne discovered at Umm el-'Amed (Dunand and Duru 1962: 168 pl. 67). The lower part of the throne is badly damaged, but the heads are preserved. The heads are human, and each bears a head-dress or coiffure that reaches down to the shoulders. They also have stylized beards. On our throne, what remains of the headdresses/coiffures and beards of the cherubs stylistically parallels those of the Umm el-'Amed cherubs. In fact, it seems quite probable that they stem from the same artistic and iconographic milieu. We may further note the cherub thrones depicted on a Late Bronze/ Iron I ivory from Megiddo, the sarcophagus of Ahiram (cf. Pritchard 1969: figs. 332, 456-59, respectively), a relief from Hadrumetum/Sousse (Cintas 1947: pls. 48-49), and a scarab from Sardinia (Bisi 1967: fig. 57). In each of those exemplars the cherubs have a feline body with wings, a tail, and styled hair, but no beard." Images of the thrones are found in Phoenician sites around the Mediterranean, including an ivory plaque from

Tel Megiddo Tel Megiddo ( he, תל מגידו; ar, مجیدو, Tell el- Mutesellim, ''lit.'' "Mound of the Governor"; gr, Μεγιδδώ, Megiddo) is the site of the ancient city of Megiddo, the remains of which form a tell (archaeological mound), situat ...

(Israel), a relief from

Hadrumetum Hadrumetum, also known by #Names, many variant spellings and names, was a Phoenician Phoenician colonies, colony that pre-dated Carthage. It subsequently became one of the most important cities in Roman Africa before Vandal Kingdom, Vandal and Uma ...

(Tunisia) and a scarab from

Tharros Tharros (also spelled Tharras, Archaic Greek: , Hellenistic Greek, Tarras or Tarrae, Τάρραι) was an ancient city and former bishopric on the west coast of Sardinia, Italy. It is currently a Latin Catholic titular see and an archaeological ...

(Italy).

List of Thrones

Gallery

File:Ahiram.jpg, A similar throne depicted on the

Ahiram sarcophagus The Ahiram sarcophagus (also spelled Ahirom, in Phoenician) was the sarcophagus of a Phoenician King of Byblos (c. 850 BC), discovered in 1923 by the French excavator Pierre Montet in tomb V of the royal necropolis of Byblos. The sarcophagus is ...

Noël Aimé-Giron
Un ex-voto à Astarté
BIFAO 25 (1925), p. 191-211 Phoenician inscription KAI 17 from Throne of Astare AO 4565 at the Louvre.jpg, KAI 17 (photo) Phoenician inscription KAI 17 from Throne of Astare AO 4565 at the Louvre (copy).jpg, KAI 17 (copy) Ivory plaque from Megiddo IAA 1938-780.jpg, Ivory plaque with Throne of Astarte Terracotta statue of Baal-Hammon on a throne AvL.JPG, Punic statue from Tunisia ( Sanctuaire de Thinissut) Phoenician Silver bracelet with amethyst intaglio stone in a gold bezel from Magharat Tabloun necropolis in Sidon in the Beirut National Museum 16157.jpg, Scarab with Throne of Astarte

References

Bibliography

* Sébastien Ronzevalle
Le "Trône d’Astarté"
Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale (Beirut) 3 (1909), 755–83, pls 9–10; * Sébastien Ronzevalle, ‘Note sur un monument phénicien de la région de Tyr’, CRAI (1907), 589–98 * James R. Davila and Bruce Zuckerman (1993). The Throne of ʿAshtart Inscription. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, (289), 67–80. doi:10.2307/1357365 *

Józef Milik Józef Tadeusz Milik (Seroczyn, Poland, 24 March 1922 – Paris, 6 January 2006) was a Polish biblical scholar and a Catholic priest, researcher of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) through the deserts of Judea/Jordan, and translator and editor of the B ...

(1967). Les papyrus araméens d'Hermoupolis et les cultes syro-phéniciens en Égypte perse. Biblica, 48(4), 546–622. Retrieved July 28, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/42618436 *

Henri Seyrig Henri Arnold Seyrig (; 10 November 1895 – 21 January 1973) was a French archaeologist, numismatist, and historian. He was the general director of antiquities of Syria and Lebanon since 1929, and director, for more than twenty years, of the ...

. Antiquités syriennes. In: Syria. Tome 36 fascicule 1–2, 1959. pp. 38–89; doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/syria.1959.5447 https://www.persee.fr/doc/syria_0039-7946_1959_num_36_1_5447 * Edward Lipiński, Rereading the Inscriptions of the ‘Throne of Astarte’ and the Sidonian Obelisk, Journal of Semitic Studies, Volume 61, Issue 2, Autumn 2016, Pages 319–325, https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/fgw011

External links

*{{commons category-inline, Thrones of Astarte
Lion-Throned Goddesses of West Asia

Phoenician mythology Near East and Middle East antiquities of the Louvre Votive offering 1st-millennium BC sculptures Phoenician sculpture Collections of the National Museum of Beirut Thrones Archaeological artifacts Cherubim Astarte Sculptures of lions