Ritual connections: altars and installations of Late Bronze Age Cyprus and Iron Age Philistia as examples of continuity, change and nostalgia

Abstract

The two-horned Philistine altar from the site of Tell es‑Safi/Gath is a hallmark find. Whilst this altar is the earliest of its kind in the Iron Age Levant, there are remarkable Late Bronze Age connections to the Cypriot horns of the consecration and slaughtering blocks/altars from Late Cypriot cult sites. The Philistine altar is hewn from stone and unworked on the back and rear sides, bearing resemblance to these Late Bronze Age Cypriote cult and ritual furnishings in both aesthetic design and possible use. Slaughtering blocks from Late Bronze Age Cyprus are rectangular stone blocks with shallow concave surfaces usually set into the floor. They have been historically interpreted as blocks for ritual slaughter of animals due to their proximity to faunal remains, however there is no concrete evidence which would suggest sacrificial use, such as blood or residue atop the surfaces. This paper will further investigate and illuminate these connections between the Levant and Cyprus as possible Philistine symbols of nostalgia, prestige and status emulating (or remembering) both the Aegean and Cyprus, a process which was prevalent up until around the 9th century BCE in Philistia and the wider Mediterranean. This paper will further analyze the Area D altar from Tell es‑Safi/Gath which may be an attempt at imitating the basic form of a Cypriot LC IIC/IIIA stepped altar with horns of consecration as a way of remembering parts of the Philistine Mediterranean past.