A Zebu-Shaped Weight from Tel Beth-Shemesh
In 2007, a bronze zoomorphic weight, shaped as a humped bull or zebu, Bos indicus, was found in a Late Bronze Age context in the renewed excavations at Tel Beth-Shemesh. The similarity of this object to other figurines and balance weights not only demonstrates commercial and cultural ties among Late...
Authors: | ; ; |
---|---|
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Soc.
2011
|
In: |
Israel exploration journal
Year: 2011, Volume: 61, Issue: 2, Pages: 146-161 |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
|
Summary: | In 2007, a bronze zoomorphic weight, shaped as a humped bull or zebu, Bos indicus, was found in a Late Bronze Age context in the renewed excavations at Tel Beth-Shemesh. The similarity of this object to other figurines and balance weights not only demonstrates commercial and cultural ties among Late Bronze Age sites, but also indicates familiarity with this sub-species of cattle, usually associated with South Asia. Despite its excellent state of preservation, this weight does not reveal much about its particular position in the Beth-Shemesh economy because it was made with a hollow cavity used to modulate its mass. This zebu-shaped weight provides us with further evidence of the frontier status of Beth-Shemesh and points to the site's connections with the Eastern Mediterranean trade network of the Late Bronze Age. |
---|---|
Contains: | Enthalten in: Israel exploration journal
|