Archaeologists have unearthed over 1,000 small feminine figurines from the biblical world that date to the eighth–sixth centuries BCE. These Judean Pillar Figurines, as they are called, were largely found in and around Judean homes, but their exact function remains a mystery.
What are Judean Pillar Figurines?
Judean Pillar Figurines are the most popular type of anthropomorphic art from Iron Age Judah, but the Bible does not mention them. They have no real male counterpart, which some scholars take as evidence for the historicity and effectiveness of the Second Commandment: “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth” (Exod 10:4). However, the large number of feminized figurines may suggest otherwise.
Judean Pillar Figurines are typically about 4–8 inches tall. Like other figurines from the region, these figurines have a pillar base instead of legs. The overwhelming majority feature a hands-at-breasts pose, and breasts were sometimes but not always depicted to a large scale. The heads come in two types. The first type is handmade and its face was formed by pinching clay: depressions from the thumb and index fingers formed two eyes and a nose. The second head type looks more naturalistic and includes short, curly hair. Its face and hair were created by pressing an open mold onto clay. It is unclear why two head types emerged. As a matter of course, artisans applied whitewash to the Judean Pillar Figurines after they were fired in the kiln. Traces of red, black, and/or yellow paint are found on top of the whitewash tracing natural features of the faces (like eyes, skin, and hair), and in bands around the necks, chests, and arms. Paint is generally not found upon the whitewash of the pillar bases. Depending on how one interprets paint, the figurines may be conceived as nude.
Who do Judean Pillar Figurines represent?
No one is sure who or what the figurines represent. The most popular scholarly opinion is that the Judean Pillar Figurines were associated with a high goddess, usually Asherah (1 Kgs 15:13; 1 Kgs 18:19). Asherah’s cult symbol is some kind of sacred pole or tree (Deut 16:21; 2 Kgs 13:6), which scholars connect to the figurines’ pillar base. Aside from this potential connection, Judean Pillar Figurines do not bear the iconographic markings of any known goddesses. For example, they do not hold plants, stand on a lion, or include divine symbols, as would be expected for a high goddess. Due to their pose with hands-at-breasts, the figurines have also been understood as fertility figures easing issues that relate to childbirth, spanning conception to weaning. More recently, scholars have argued that the figurines represent a lesser divinity. Whether interpreted as a goddess, a fertility figure, and/or as a low god, the Judean Pillar Figurines are always understood as beneficent figures intended to bring blessing. Minority opinions hold that the figurines were toys or represented human women.
The number of Judean Pillar Figurines drop significantly after the Babylonian destruction of Judah in 586 BCE. Whatever their original functions and identity, Judean Pillar Figurines do not seem to have been deemed useful or available to the exilic and postexilic communities.
Bibliography
- Darby, Erin D. Interpreting Judean Pillar Figurines: Gender and Empire in Judean Apotropaic Ritual. FAT 2/69. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014.
- Kletter, Raz. The Judean Pillar Figurines and the Archaeology of Asherah. BAR International Series. Oxford: Tempus Reparatum, 1996.
- Meyers, Carol L. “Terracottas without Texts: Judean Pillar Figurines in Anthropological Perspective.” Pages 115–30 in To Break Every Yoke: Essays in Honor of Marvin L. Chaney. Edited by Robert B. Coote, Norman K. Gottwald, and Marvin L. Chaney. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2007.
