Syro-Hittite Family Group

£ 600.00

A Syro-Hittite bronze votive statuette depicting four joined stylised figures with out-stretched arms, each with a simplified flat face with a pinched nose. The item’s reverse appears flat and unmodelled.

Date: Circa 2nd-1st Millennium BC
Condition: Fine, earthly encrustations visible to the surface. Supplied with a custom made stand.

SOLD

Product Code: NES-26
Category: Tag:

The Neo-Hittite civilisation, also known as Syro-Hittite, existed during the Iron Age in northern Syria and Southern Anatolia, modern day southern Turkey. The Hittite empire collapsed around 1180 BC and fragmented in many minor states, collectively named Syro-Hittite states. Along with the fall of the empire, most of the Eastern Mediterranean trade networks ceased to exist, involving in this fall some of the major late Bronze Age cities in the area. Many of these small bronzes would have served as votive offerings for cult worship, though they did not represent the cult images themselves. They would have been placed prominently amongst other statues, pottery, jewellery, and weapons, in order to gain the favour of relevant supernatural forces. If not displayed publicly, these bronze statuettes might have served as idols in private homes.

To discover more about the Syro-Hittites, please visit our relevant post: Civilisations of the Ancient Near East.

Dimensions W 4.1 x H 8.8 cm
Metal

Bronze

Region

Near East (Western Asiatic)