The Shavei Zion Figurine Assemblage. A Cultic Site at Sea
November 2021 | Vol. 9.11
By Meir Edrey, Adi Erlich, and Assaf Yasur-Landau
The Shavei Zion figurine assemblage was found, much like many other archaeological finds underwater, by chance. A diver with an interest in antiquities came across cylindrical clay objects during one of his dives. It soon became apparent that these objects were in fact, hollow, mold-made terracotta figurines. Several of these artifacts were then brought to the attention of the then director of the National Maritime Museum at Haifa, Israel, who contacted the late Prof. E. Linder of the University of Haifa. The two understood the significance of the find and, fearing the site would be thoroughly looted, had launched a series of surveys followed by excavations conducted between 1972-73, aided by members of the Underwater Exploration Society of Israel. The excavations were abruptly stopped due to the Yom Kippur war and were never resumed, however further figurines and other finds were collected since then at the site by the Israel Antiquities Authority. Since the initial discovery, many other underwater sites containing thousands of figurines were found near Phoenician settlements.
Map of Phoenicia with the area of Shavei Zion marked. Courtesy of Meir Edrey.
The underwater site is located about 1km northwest off of Shavei Zion, which is situated 5km north of Akko on the coast of northern Israel. During the excavations, some 300 figurines and figurine fragments, as well as other ceramic vessels (mainly amphoras) were collected. Most of the figurines were found on an underwater kurkar ridge rich with organic activity. Many of them were consequentially covered by a thick layer of marine concretion that included sediments and marine organisms which bonded them to the natural rock, making their detection and extraction a difficult task. The excavators resorted to using chisels and hammers and even pneumatic drills to detach large segments of the rock with the figurines still attached to them in order to separate them on dry land.
Figurine covered by marine concretion. Photo by J.J. Gottlieb and T. Sokolsky.
Diver at Shavei Zion, from the excavation records. Previously published in E. Linder, 1973. A Cargo of Phoenicio-Punic Figurines. Archaeology, Vol. 26, No. 3 (July, 1973), pp. 182-187.
Map of excavation area. Courtesy of Meir Edrey.
Linder believed he had uncovered the remains of a 5th century BCE shipwreck that hauled a cargo of figurines and amphoras even though no remains of a ship were noted, and the finds were found spread over a wide area. He maintained that no organic objects could be preserved in this environment and that the artifacts were scattered by the energy of the waves. The figurines, some of which bear the ‘sign of Tanit’, were interpreted as representing the Phoenician goddess who was mainly popular in the central Mediterranean at that time. Despite the widespread attention this extraordinary find attracted, no full publication of the underwater site of Shavei Zion was ever published, while the figurines alone were the subject of several studies.
Figurine with sign of Tanit on the abdomen. Photo by J.J. Gottlieb and T. Sokolsky.
Several years ago, during reorganization of the storerooms at the National Maritime Museum, a few boxes filled with finds from Shavei Zion were found. The curators contacted Dr. Ehud Galili, who participated in the original excavation, and he passed the material on to us. With the newly rediscovered material, we were in a position to examine the full extent of the recovered assemblage for the first time since 1973. First, we examined the ceramic finds, which were only mentioned briefly in previous publications, and found that the pottery from the site can be dated to a wide chronological range, from the 7th to the 3rd centuries BCE, suggesting continuous human maritime activities at the site. Furthermore, a typological analysis of the amphoras indicated a wide variety of types and sub-types, which is uncharacteristic of cargoes of merchant ships that usually haul homogenous wares.
As for the figurine assemblage, the excavators suggested there were over 30 types of figurines in the assemblage based on size, position, and attributes, while later studies suggested there are between 12-16 types. We on the other hand suspect that the number of types in the Shavei Zion assemblage is much smaller, and that the morphological variation that appears as different types should be attributed to a process of copying preexisting figurines in order to produce new molds.
Distorted figurine. Note the bulbous head as opposed to the narrow body. Photo by J.J. Gottlieb and T. Sokolsky.
Each time a copy was produced and then reproduced, the figurines became smaller in size and displayed lesser and lesser details. This process, known as Surmoulage, has rendered some of the figurines as abstract shapes which in the past were considered a result of extensive ware due to post-depositional processes. However, if the figurines were deformed due to the energy of the waves, one would expect an even worn appearance and a complete lack of details, which is not the case. The process of reproduction is also evident by the fact that no small-scale figurines display any fine details, suggesting they represent deteriorated forms of the larger figurines.
Furthermore, it seems the figurines originate from a number of locations. A recent petrographic analysis of the assemblage revealed that the figurines were produced in four to five different workshops located along the Phoenician coast, from Akko in the south to Beirut or Byblos in the north.
Finally, there are indications that some of the figurines, like some of the pottery vessels, can be dated to the early Hellenistic period. These figurines display fine thin walls and holes which may be interpreted as ‘vent-holes’ that first appear during the Hellenistic period. However, it should be mentioned here that these can also be a result of post-depositional processes. Nevertheless, the same cannot be said for the deformation and deterioration of the figurines that we attribute to their reproduction, as these still display features that one would not expect to see if they were worn by the energy of the waves.
Figurine with possible ‘vent-hole’. Photo by J.J. Gottlieb and T. Sokolsky.
The dispersal of the finds, the heterogenous nature of the associated amphoras, the figurines’ reproduction from preexisting terracottas over and over again, the varied origins of the clay, and their manufacturing techniques all suggest the Shavei Zion assemblage was accumulated over a long period of human maritime activities, indicating they were most likely not part of the cargo of a single 5th century BCE ship. So how did they get to the bottom of the sea?
Despite their morphological variation, all the figurines are thematically similar. They all display the image of a female standing on a pedestal with her right hand raised. Many figurines display attributes related to fertility and childbearing, such as a protruding belly, suggesting they represent a specific cult. As stated above, the figurines were identified as representing the Phoenician deity Tanit. However, what if they do not represent the deity, but rather, the cult identified with the worship of Tanit and Baal Hammon performed in tophet sites in the central Mediterranean, where the so called ‘sign of Tanit’ is widely present? The connection between the emblem and deity is circumstantial at best, however its frequent appearance on dedicatory stelae at tophet sites is interesting. We maintain that the figurines actually represent a vow similar to the vows taken by Phoenician parents offering the sacrifice of their infant children in exchange for a divine favor. It is more than possible that instead of an actual infant, the figurine, representing the worshipper and her unborn offspring, was offered as a substitute. Such a ritual would be consistent with the writings of Quintus Curtius (Alex. 4: 3.23) who suggested that during the Persian period child sacrifice was no longer practiced in the Phoenician homeland, unlike the Phoenician settlements of the central Mediterranean, where this cult was widely popular.
As a maritime society, the Phoenicians were dependent on the sea for almost every aspect of their daily lives. Such rituals were no doubt performed in order to safeguard their maritime activities which were vital for their very existence. If the figurines were indeed a part of rituals similar to those practiced at Tophet sites, it seems they had found a more humane way of worship.
Meir Edrey, Adi Erlich, and Assaf Yasur-Landau are faculty members at the University of Haifa.
How to cite this article:
Edrey, M., Erlich, A. and A. Yasur-Landau. 2021. “The Shavei Zion Figurine Assemblage. A Cultic Site at Sea.” The Ancient Near East Today 9.11. Accessed at: https://anetoday.org/shavei-zion-figurine-assemblage/.
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