Image Details

Courtesy Yoel Elitzur

COMPARISON SHOPPING. Despite Biblical descriptions of animal sacrifice altars proliferating across ancient Israel, only a few have been found. The one pictured here is attributed to Manoah, who, according to Judges 13, built an altar after an angel reassured him that his wife would give birth (when she did, they named the child Samson). The Manoah altar is similar in size, composition and setting to the one found by the authors, except that it lacks horns.