Image Details

Israel Museum/Zev Radovan

A chalk stone head dated to the Iron Age II (725–586 B.C.) probably represents an Ammonite king. It was found in Rabbat Amon (modern day Amman, Jordan), the center of the Iron Age Ammonite kingdom, one of the three major kingdoms east of the Jordan River during the time of Biblical Israel (the other two were Moab and Edom). The head presents an eclectic mixture of hair, jewelry and clothing styles, although it’s mostly typical of northern Syria and Mesopotamia. More noteworthy is the figure’s execution; it is a three-dimensional object made by someone who hadn’t yet embraced the possibilities of three dimensions and still relied on a two-dimensional bas-relief style in depicting the beard and eyebrows.