EARLY BRONZE SNAKE MOTIFS ON POTTERY VESSELS AND THEIR SYMBOLISM IN SOUTHERN LEVANT

Abstract

Snake symbolism is prevalent throughout recorded history and is seen in cultures vastly separated by distance and time such as from Ancient Egypt to modern Jordan. In the Southern Levant (present day Jordan and Palestine), many objects with snake appliques have been discovered during excavations. Twenty five pieces of pottery sherds and vessels decorated with snake appliqués were recorded during various excavations of Early Bronze Age sites in Southern Levant. Ten sherds with snake appliqués belonged to unidentified pottery vessels, seven sherds with the appliqués were identified from bowls, four appliqués were found on storage jars, three appliqués were found on jugs, one from a cooking pot and one appliquéd chalice. The greatest number of pieces comes from Khirbet ez-Zeraqon, followed by Bab Edh Dhra’, Jebel Al-Mutawwaq, Khirbet Ras Ed Daliya, Khirbet el Kerak, Khirbet al-Batrawy, ‘Arad, and Tel el-Qadi respectively. This study aims at examining the pieces to try to get a deeper understanding of how these separate sites had represented the image of the snake and where they typically place the snake on the object and with what behavior the snake is exhibiting in order to understand how these jars may have been used or what may have been placed inside the vessels or objects. A catalogue is included herein with 25 documented snake appliques with an overview of the sites they were recovered from, their type, their archaeological context, and references. Since most of these pieces were either found in temples or religiously related places in private houses, they were most probably used in certain cultic rituals or in activities relates to cultic beliefs. In conclusion, the preponderance of evidence suggests that some vessels may have been used for cultic purposes while others may have been used to hold things of value.