An EB I Stamp Seal from Tel Kitan / חותם טביעה מתל כיתן מתקופת הברונזה הקדומה א

• Published in: ארץ-ישראל: מחקרים בידיעת הארץ ועתיקותיה 1992-01, Vol.כג, p.5-8
• Main Authors: איזנברג, עמנואל, Eisenberg, Emanuel
• Format: Article
• Language: Hebrew
• Subjects: התקופות הכלקוליתית והברונזה
• ISSN: 0071-108X

This stamp seal, uncovered in level VII and associated with the EB Ib period, was found in the excavations of 1978. The rectangular limestone seal (55 × 31 × 12 mm) has rounded corners and an elongated handle on the back. Two scenes are depicted on the base of the seal (in deep and schematic relief) in a tete beche arrangement: the lower shows a man walking to the right behind two horned quadrupeds; the upper shows (from left to right) a man with raised arms, a round knob-like feature, and a horned quadruped. These images and objects were executed in a linear and schematic style, thus suggesting different forms of expression. Possible explanations of the scenes are as follows. The lower scene could be described as: (A) Plowing with a pair of oxen. The animals, a pair of long-horned oxen, are driven by a man with stick or whip in one hand and reins in the other. The plow iself is depicted as a peg between the oxen and the man. (B) Shepherd and herd. The shepherd leads two domesticated animals, held together in one hand by a rope, while in the other hand he carries a stick or spear to protect them. (C) A hunting scene. Possibly a hunter, spear and sling (?) in hand, standing behind two wild beasts. The upper, upside-down scene may have been carved to fill in the areas left empty after completion of the lower scene. Hence, the three motifs depicted were minimized and distorted: (A) The Man. Arms raised in prayer or blessing, the figure may be nude. (B) Knob-like object. Of cosmic significance, the form is reminiscent of the sun. (C) The Beast. This image is unclear. Though carved in the same style as the other two animals depicted on the seal, this animal has shorter horns, perhaps indicating a different species. This scene could perhaps be regarded as a form of ritual: either as an animal fertility rite or, according to the Syro-Mesopotomian interpretation, as offerings to a deity. The only other seal of similar size and shape which comes from a stratified context was found at Tel Qashish in the Jezreel Valley; it supports the supposition that such seals made their first appearance during the EB I period. However, the Tel Kitan seal, inspired by Mesopotamian-Syrian glyptic art, remains, to date, unique in its artistic aspects.