Local Production of a Small Rectangular Limestone Incense Altar at Tell Halif, Israel: Iconographic Considerations

Abstract

This article studies local production of an incense altar found at Tell Halif in 2007 through examining its iconography. The carvings depict hunting scenes consisting of a human and various animals. These animals are positively identified as zebu, wild boar, Saluki-type hounds, and Nubian ibexes. The distribution of these five animals indicates that the southern Levant might be the source of primary influence for incense altar production, while southern Arabia is also a visible influential factor. Established trade between the southern Levant and southern Arabia, as early as the 12th–11th centuries B.C.E., might support the idea of cultural ties between the two regions. The taxonomical identifications strongly support the hypothesis that the object was locally produced. And this hypothesis is also in accord with the petrographic provenance analyses of the raw material used for the Tell Halif incense altar.