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Courtesy Ian Stern/Archaeological Seminars Institute

QOS IN A CAVE. Found throughout the Maresha caves are non-figurative, stylized depictions of the Edomite (and later Idumean) deity Qos. This approximately 4-foottall, cross-shaped image carved into a recess probably representing Qos features a rectangular lower body and outstretched arms, together with a simple blockish head adorned with stylized eyes and nose. Such aniconic depictions may indicate that the Idumeans, like their Judean neighbors, had a strong aversion to figurative idols.