Let's post something really ancient then...or not... I want to buy this small figurine of Ba'al or Reshef, the seller is not sure, for my dad who is a phoenicians-obsessed historian... who is this god and is it genuine?
Not a clue but, a couple clicks on google revealed Figurine of the god Baal (ht. 12 cm) discovered in the ruins of a house covering the surface of level II at Enkomi and this Reshef figurine (17.9 cm) found at Ugarit.
Well it seems he has a hole in his right hand .. I wonder what would fit in there .. a spear maybe ?? .. HMMmm ...
Baal and Reshef seem to resemble each other a lot, and the upper half of the statue I am interested in matches quite well... only both baal and reshef seem to be walking while the other one does not(might be because this one is more primitive). Baal is holding some sort of weapon in some examples, in others a lightning rod...he was the god of war after all... and of fertility, weather, rain, lightning, patron of sailors(for the phoenicians as sea faring people the most important god of all ofcourse)amongst other things Reshef was the god of plagues and death, better keep him on your side, then he could also take the plague away again. He is not always depicted with both arms raised, so I think the chance that the statue is Baal is greater. Baal holding a lightningrod and another weapon. Yes, James, tell her the good news about my correct usage of the word!
I am no expert on Phoenician bronzes, but this fellow looks artificially aged to me. There is a thriving market in antiquities, which means there is a thriving market in fakes. The Bulgarians seem to be very good at making fake 'ancient' bronzes, they sell them as fake, but unscrupulous dealers will sell them as genuine. It is best to check if this dealer is reputable and knows his stuff. The fact that he doesn't know the identity of this god doesn't sound very convincing to me. About the identity of the god. Many Phoenician gods have a raised arm for a spear. So we have to look at other characteristics. Surely I am not the only one who has noticed that this god is ictyphallic? That could mean this god is Adon, the young god of love. Also known as 'the Lord' (sound familiar?), or Ba’al Adon, Adonis in Greece, and remembered in the name Adonai when referring to Yahweh in Judaism. There is a myth about the death of Adon, where his mourning lover, goddess Astarte, recreates him using his erect phallus. Much like the Egyptian myth of Osiris and Isis, and with the same meaning – restoration of the cycle of life and of fertility of the land.
Bonjour à tous, J'ai le même problème. Je possède 4 statuettes phéniciennes en bronze que j'ai achetées il y'a 40 ans. Il faut un jour que je m'en occupe pour les mettre en vente Le problème, c'est qu'il n'y a pas d'expert capable de déterminer l'origine et l'âge vu ont 2000 ou 2500 d'âge. Je veux vous montrer des images de ces statuettes, mais je ne sais pas comment.
Hello everyone, I have the same problem. I have 4 Phoenician bronze statuettes that I bought 40 years ago. It takes one day that I take care of them to put them on sale The problem is that there is no expert able to determine the origin and the age seen at 2000 or 2500 age . I want to show you pictures of these statuettes, but I don't know how.
