The Jordan Museum
National museum of Jordan’s history and culture. Over 2,000 artifacts, incl. Ain Ghazal Statues, the earliest large-scale human representations; Nabataean exhibits; Dead Sea Scrolls.
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Middle Bronze Age II (around 1650-1550 BC)
Wood (modern reconstruction) with ivory inlays
H 13.5 cm, W 10.5 cm, D 15.5 cm
Tabaqat Fahl/Pella, northern Jordan Valley
The ivories decorating this box were excavated in 1984. The wood of the box had decayed but it was possible to reconstruct it from the positions of the ivories upon discovery, and by comparisons to contemporary Egyptian boxes.
The main panel on the lid has two lions with their paws on the heads of two intertwined disc the cobras. Above is the winged sun symbol of the Egyptian god Horus, while the sides have inlays in the form of the Eye of Horus. Next to the knob for closing the box is a viper snake. The free use of the Egyptian symbols, however, indicates that the carver was not Egyptian. The box is probably a product of Syro-Palestinian coast, noting that a species of small elephants was native to Syria up to the first millennium BC.
(From a text in the Jordan Museum)
© Photo: Haupt & Binder
National museum of Jordan’s history and culture. Over 2,000 artifacts, incl. Ain Ghazal Statues, the earliest large-scale human representations; Nabataean exhibits; Dead Sea Scrolls.