Image Details

Photo by Erich Lessing

ON THE COVER: Found in Royal Palace G at Ebla, in Syria, this 2-inch-long figurine of a human-headed bull consists of a wooden core wrapped in gold foil. Inlaid steatite (soapstone) forms the beard, and the now-empty eye sockets originally held inlaid eyes. Probably used as a decoration on a piece of furniture, this figurine dates to about 2400 to 2300 B.C., roughly the same period as Ebla’s archive of 16,500 inscribed tablets and fragments. “Ebla and the Bible—What’s Left (If Anything)?” reassesses the biblical significance of Ebla and its archive.