'Ain Samiya goblet
31°59′3″N 35°19′59″E / 31.98417°N 35.33306°E
The 'Ain Samiya Goblet is a silver cup from the Middle Bronze Age I (2300-2000 BC), found in a tomb at Ain Samiya near modern Ramallah. It was discovered in 1970 at Khirbet el-'Aqibat, located just before Ein Samiya on the road to Kafr Malik.[1][2] An extensive cemetery had been previously known to cover three adjacent hills: Khirbet el-'Aqibat, Khirbet Samiya and Dhahr el-Mirz, the latter of which had been excavated in the 1960s by Paul W. Lapp, the Director of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem.[1]
It depicts a double-headed god with an animal body planting crops and the dead body of a serpent, parts of whom are being held by two male figures. The scenes are purported to depict a proto version of the Babylonian creation epic, the Enuma Elish and the defeat of Tiamat by the Babylonian patron deity, Marduk.[3] The goblet demonstrates clear influences from Mesopotamia on Proto-Canaanite culture and shares other parallels with contemporary depictions like the Khafaje plaque during Babylonian captivity.[4][5]
- Ain Samiya goblet in Israel Museum
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References[edit]
- ^ a b Shantur, Bakizah; Labadi, Y. (1971). "Tomb 204 at 'Ain-Samiya". Israel Exploration Journal. 21 (2/3). Israel Exploration Society: 73–77. ISSN 0021-2059. JSTOR 27925264. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
- ^ Yeivin, Z. (1971). "A Silver Cup from Tomb 204a at 'Ain-Samiya". Israel Exploration Journal. 21 (2/3). Israel Exploration Society: 78–81. ISSN 0021-2059. JSTOR 27925265. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
- ^ Mundkur, Balaji (1983). The Cult of the Serpent: An Interdisciplinary Survey of Its Manifestations and Origins. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 125. ISBN 0-87395-631-1.
- ^ Yadin, Y. (1971). "A Note on the Scenes Depicted on the 'Ain-Samiya Cup". Israel Exploration Journal. 21 (2/3): 82–85. ISSN 0021-2059. JSTOR 27925266.
- ^ "Rare goblet: Ein Samiya, near Ramallah". Israel Museum. 2022-04-06. Retrieved 2022-04-20.