The Many Faces of the Goddess

Book excerpt: There are a multitude of female figures represented in the art of the ancient Near East and it has often been proved difficult to differentiate them. This study presents a collection of visual source material on godesses from Egypt, Ugarit, Syria and Palestine from c,1500 to 1000 BC. An introduction to the subject and previous research precedes a discussion of iconographic types (armed, seated, standing, equestrian and named women holding objects) and media (including reliefs, seals and amulets, bronze figurines, ivories and ostraca). Cornelius devises a typology of attributes for the goddess Anat, Astarte, Qedeshet and Asherah in order to define their individual qualities and provide a means by which these goddesses can be differentiated. Includes a large descriptive catalogue.