Two Figures In The Background
Two Figures In The Background The two figures in the foreground of this inked scene from a jar found at Teman have attracted much attention. They possess human bodies but have tails and bizarre heads. One partial nude is a female. Some have suggested the faces look bovine and, given the presence of tails, this is indeed as good a suggestion as any. If so, the portrait may depict “Yahweh and his Asherah,” because as an El divinity (Exod 6:3), Yahweh would have been thought to be represented by a bull (as indeed the Bible says he was at Bethel and Dan in Israel) and Asherah as a cow (Amos 4:1 may allude to this identification). Drawing courtesy of Zeʾev Meshel. Herr, Larry G. “The Iron Age II Period: Emerging Nations.” Biblical Archaeologist: Volume 60 1-4 2001 : 144. Print.