Page 180 - The Art & Architecture of the Ancient Orient_Neat

THE LEVANT IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM B.C.
The bowl finds a very close parallel in a piece of engraved bronze from Tyre (Fig ure
69). It was originally nailed on a wooden, or sewn on a leather object. The figured parts
arc framed by a guillochc instead of the running spirals used in the bowl, but the same
plant designs fill the spaces above and below die fighting animals. The main group con­
sists of a Hon and a winged and crested griffin interlocked in fight. The disputed prey is
the carcass of a goat.
The second gold vessel from Ras Shamra (Plate 145) 1S a flat-bottomed plate with a
vertical rim. Its decoration differs completely both in subject and in style from its com­
panion. The decoration of the bowl (Figure 68) is essentially an engraving, even though
the figures are cursorily embossed. The figures of the plate arc, on the contrary, properly

Figure 69. Engraved bronze foil, from Tyre

modelled in relief, and only minor details - on the ribs, ears, and muzzle, for instance,
of the charging bull - are added with the graver. The decoration of the bowl is exuberant
and playful; it cannot be said to have a subject at all.65 But the designer of the plate has
attempted to adapt a knightly subject to the circular surface. The centre alone bears a
purely ornamental design of four wild goats, which resemble unicorns because their
horns were forced out of place by the central circle. Round this decorative centre-piece
whirls a chase. The hunter in his chariot is shown at the moment when he overtakes the
game and has tied the reins round his waist in order to free both hands for the drawing
of the bow. The game consists of a herd of wild cattle. The animal bringing up the rear
is a bull, then follows a cow accompanied by her calf, then again a bull. Since this last
figure closes the circle of design, it appears to pursue the hunter. The draughtsman has
made a virtue of necessity by showing it lowering its head for a charge. But if this threat
to the chariot were taken seriously - as has been done66 - the hunter would be depicted
on the verge of violent death, tipped out of the light vehicle, and dragged over the stony

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