The Sacred Representation of a Miniature World: Rituals With Figurines and Small and Miniaturized Pottery at the Phoenician Cult Place of Kharayeb

Abstract

The rituals performed in the Phoenician cult places have traditionally been reconstructed primarily on the basis of architectural remains and sculptural finds. However, even if the exact role ceramics or other objects played in the rituals is unknown, it was certainly not secondary. New work carried out at the cult place of Kharayeb by an Italian-Lebanese mission has produced unusually detailed documentation of such finds, and provides a richer context for the consideration the little data about pottery already published by M. Chéhab and I. Kaoukabani. In particular attention has focused on the use of small and miniaturized pottery (from figurines to miniature vessels) in rituals at the site. With reference to recent research on these issues and comparison with similar practices in the Near East, Greek, and western Phoenician worlds this article proposes new hypotheses on the meaning of ritual practices involving small objects. THE ELUSIVE RITUALS OF THE PHOENICIAN CULT PLACE OF THE FIRST MILLENNIUM BCReconstructing rituals practised in the Phoenician area in religious cultural contexts, whether public or domestic, is a rather complicated challenge (Fig. 1). Indeed, the few excavated Phoenician sanctuaries, temples and shrines are known only for their architectural and sculptural remains. Archaeologically documented activities related to the cult itself are very few in number, especially for the phases between the beginning of the first millennium and the Persian era (end of sixth century to 333 BC). Moreover, the possibility of reconstructing the rituals practised using pottery has been lost forever because of the methods of excavation adopted until very recently.In the publication of a cult place such as Amrit (Dunand and Saliby 1985), for example, the data relating to pottery were summarized in just a few pages and pictures (Fig. 2), leaving them at a distinct disadvantage compared to the documentation of the statuary (Lembke 2004). Some interesting elements can, even so, be deduced from the presence both of oil lamps (found in the favissa; Dunand and Saliby 1985, table 55) and of characteristic jugs whose mouths are closed by a perforated filter (Fig. 2b). This type of jug was found in large quantities, especially 'dans la quai nord du bassin, surtout en face du naos' (Dunand and Saliby 1985, 51) and must have been used in

Smelting Metals, Enacting Rituals. The Interplay of Religious Symbolisms and Metallurgical Practices in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean

“…The direct involvement of metalworkers in ritual settings of social and political competition appears to be a form of regulation of their activities within communities 8 Academic literature has recently provided interesting new insights on this category of metal votive objects using anthropological theories on miniaturization. These highlight in particular concepts such as 'enchantment' and 'ritualized alterity' in relation to paraphernalia representing miniatures of every-day tools and objects (Kohring 2011;Dehouve 2016;Oggiano 2022). According to these theories, the choice of representing something (from a ceramic plate to a metal ingot) in its miniaturized form can reinforce the idea (and illusion) of human control and connection over materiality, and ultimately over the natural world and its resources.…”