The Ram in the Thicket is one of the most dramatic discoveries from the royal cemetery of Ur, an ancient Sumerian city some believe was the birthplace of Abraham. Indeed, the figurine’s name is an allusion to the story of Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac, in which God instead provides Abraham with a sacrificial ram caught in a thicket (Genesis 22:13). Made from gold, silver, and lapis lazuli, the figurine stands nearly 17 inches tall and depicts a spiral-horned goat eating the leaves of a tree. The statue has undergone considerable conservation work since its discovery and is housed today in […]
