Image Details

This bearded man once decorated a ceramic cult stand found in the soil fill above the Stepped-Stone Structure. The naked man appears to have his hands tied in front of him and his wrists held by figures that once stood to either side. The figure has been identified as the Mesopotamian demon Humbaba, being slayed by the hero Gilgamesh.

Steiner dates the stand to the 10th century B.C.E., although similar cultic stands found throughout Israel are known to date from the 12th to 10th century B.C.E.

Because the stand was found above the Stepped-Stone Structure, and thus is probably later than the structure, Steiner’s dating for the cult stand actually supports Cahill’s position that the Stepped-Stone Structure predates the 10th century B.C.E.