Page 185 - The Art & Architecture of the Ancient Orient_Neat

PART TWO.* THE PERIPHERAL
REGIONS
the bulbous musculature of the arms, and the flat treatment of the flounced
skirt arc un-
UKe Aegean work of the period.87
Hittitc influence, in
by iTOry cT, as
any
ot their native character1,1 the process. Thus the Hittitc ‘Royal Sign’ appears in ivory
at Alalakh, and m bronze at Shamra, as we have seen.88 An elaborately carved panel
(Figure 57) was found at Mcgiddo as part of a group of ivories, and has been treated by
us simply as an example of Hittitc art, even though it may have been made in Syria,8’
for the butting bulls, at the bottom of the design, recur on Syrian cylinders and on an
ivory box90 found at Lachish in Palestine.91
The Hittitc plaque, which served presumably as an inlay on the side or lid of a casket,
antedates the majority of pieces found at Mcgiddo. These comprised an ivory pen-case
inscribed with the name of Ramses III (1198—1165 b.c.), but the bulk of the hoard prob­
ably dates from the thirteenth century, like the ivory from Byblos (Plate 149A), while a
few pieces may belong to the fourteenth. This is very probable in the case of die Hitdte
piece. If it was intended for a prince of Mcgiddo, it could only have been during Suppi-
luliumas’ Syrian campaign (1360-1355 b.c.) or shortly afterwards. In the last quarter of
the century, when Seti I was re-establishing Egyptian hegemony in Palestine, a plaque
exalting a Hittite king would have compromised its owner. It is possible that the object
was made for a northern potentate and was brought to Megiddo as booty, but this would
also date it before the peace treaty of Ramses II and Hattusilis was concluded.
A number of ivories found at Megiddo show themes in common use throughout the
Levant. There are some figures and faces of women modelled in the round. Some served
as handles of spoons, the bowl of which they hold on their outstretched arms; the device
is Egyptian in origin. Others decorated furniture, for instance, plate 15 ia, of which only
the back is preserved. This shows the quality of the modelling at its best. The flat cap
is decorated with hanging lotus flowers and lotus buds. It recurs in figure 75, and also in
the horn-shaped object of plate 151B, probably a container for cosmetics.92 Here the eyes
are inlaid with glass.
A large number of ivories show engraved designs. A box lid,93 for instance, shows a
rosette surrounded by goats, as we see in figure 68. But at Megiddo the goats are drawn
half-kneeling, an attitude which is effective as decoration but impossible in nature, and
occurs also in Assyrian art.94 Another peculiar design appears on a comb (Figure 71)*
The dog which attacks the ibex seems to have passed its paw underneath it. This would
be a natural gesture for a feline, which would pull its prey towards it with its claws and
the lion in the jasper group of plate 152B is, in fact, doing precisely this. The maker of the
comb probably worked after a prototype with a lion; the jasper group also shows that
the curious intertwining of the animals on the comb is meant to suggest that they roil on

numbeTof^ories found at Megiddo which show distinct Egyptian in-
n This is clearest in some open-work panels, presumably for a casket (Plate 14 .
Tc) One shows the monstrous Bes, a dancing dwarf, demon rather than go* a spir t
pleasure used in Egypt to decorate dadoes in banqueting halls or bedrooms and beds.

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