You Remind Me of Someone
In Judah, figurines are nearly nonexistent during the Iron IIA period (second half of the tenth to the mid-ninth century B.C.E.), and male figurines are especially rare. Although the Tel Moẓa human figurines have no exact parallels, certain stylistic components and physical representations, such as facial characteristics, hairstyles, and headdresses, find their counterparts among Iron Age figurines from Israel, Philistia, and Edom.
The closest parallel to the Tel Moẓa figurines—both geographically and chronologically—is a slightly earlier head from Khirbet Qeiyafa (early Iron IIA). The best parallels, however, are an Iron I (11th century B.C.E.) Philistine male figurine head from Ashdod and two Iron IIB (ninth–eighth centuries B.C.E.) figurines from near the Edomite capital of Bozrah (modern Buseirah).
Although figurines are scarce in the southern Levant during the Iron Age IIA, the depiction of humans on emblematic Iron I and Iron IIA cult vessels is not uncommon. They appear on cult stands, shrine models, and clay altars. These figures exhibit facial characteristics and production techniques similar to the Moẓa figurines and provide a well-established cultural context for their appearance.