The Miṣpe Yamim Bronzes

Abstract

Four bronze artifacts were found at Miṣpe Yamim, a sacred site on a mountain peak in the Upper Galilee. The find spot was close to a temple that was built in the Persian period and continued as an open air sanctuary in the Hellenistic period. The bronze pieces are a situla bearing Egyptian motifs and inscriptions and a Phoenician votive inscription to Astarte by ʿakbor son of bod ʾešmun; an Apis bull typical in stance and attributes except for unusual "winged scarabs" on its back; a recumbent ram, almost certainly a weight and probably from the Persian period; and a prancing lion cub that originally was an accessory, probably a handle, of a larger vessel, unusual in form and probably made locally. The bronzes were probably votive gifts to the temple in the Persian period but the find spot and the smashing of the Apis bull and of another figurine of an Egyptian deity found at the site suggest a connection to the final stage of the cultic center and probably to desecration by Hasmonean capturers of the site.