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STAFF ARCHAEOLOGICAL OFFICER IN THE CIVIL ADMINISTRATION OF JUDEA AND SAMARIA; PHOTO © THE ISRAEL MUSEUM, JERUSALEM

PICTORIAL PEDESTAL. Dated to the tenth-ninth century B.C.E., the Ta‘anach cult stand has four registers packed with vivid imagery. On the bottom level, a female figurine is flanked by two lions; on the second tier are two winged sphinxes with an empty space between them; on the third tier is a sacred tree flanked by two goats and lions; and on the top tier a calf or horse topped with a winged sun-disk stands between two pillars.