Image Details

David Harris/Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem

This lovely 5-inch-high ivory has the face of a man (compare with photo of carved trees), the wings of an eagle, the front quarters of a bull and the hindquarters of a lion—thus it resembles the cherubim described in the Hebrew Bible (Ezekiel 1:10). Carved from an elephant’s tusk in the ninth or eighth century B.C., the plaque was probably once inlaid in a piece of furniture. Since it was bought on the market, its provenance is not known; but it probably came from Arslan Tash (ancient Khadatu) in northern Syria, a province of the Assyrian Empire.