The David Plates Plus One

 In 628–29 CE the Byzantine emperor Herakleios (also spelled Heraclius) (r. 610–41) successfully ended a long, costly war with Persia and regained Jerusalem, Egypt, and other Byzantine territory. Silver stamps dating to 613–29/30 on the reverse of these masterpieces place their manufacture in Herakleios’s reign. The biblical figures on the plates wear the costume of the early Byzantine court, suggesting to the viewer that, like Saul and David, the Byzantine emperor was a ruler chosen by God. Elaborate dishes used for display at banquets were common in the late Roman and early Byzantine world; generally decorated with classical themes, these objects conveyed wealth, social status, and learning. This set of silver plates may be the earliest surviving example of the use of biblical scenes for such displays. Their intended arrangement may have closely followed the biblical order of the events, and their display may have conformed to the shape of a Christogram, or monogram for the name of Christ. - Metropolitan Museum of Art

An early Sasanian silver gilt shield boss with a lion's head dated to the 4th century CE found in Iran was identified by British scholars as Sasanian partially because the Sasanian "Goliath" depicted on one of the David plates carries a shield decorated with a lion head boss similar to the one they were researching, that is now in the collections of the British Museum.

At the top of this magnificent plate, David confronts Goliath, and between them is a personification of the river from which David gathered stones for his sling. The major scene shows the decisive battle. Although David appears to be on the defensive, his men move forward, forcing Goliath’s soldiers into retreat. At the bottom, the victorious David beheads the giant. Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Closeup of David fighting a (Sasanian) Goliath wielding a shield with a lion head boss on one of the "David" plates, 7th century CE, that I photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Early Sasanian silver gilt shield boss (?) with lion's head dated to the 4th century CE found in Iran. Image courtesy of the British Museum.

In order to prove that he can kill Goliath, David describes to Saul how he killed a lion (1 Samuel 17:34–37). The accomplished naturalism of David’s flowing cape and the lion’s fur and mane demonstrates a conscious reference to and continuity of the traditions of Greco-Roman art. Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

While the theme of the set of plates is clear, the subject of each individual plate is sometimes difficult to determine. The scene here has been identified as showing David’s eldest brother, Eliab, accusing David of neglecting his duty as a shepherd to watch the battle with Goliath (1 Samuel 17:28–30). It may also portray Goliath’s challenge to David (1 Samuel 17:41–45) or David’s meeting with the Egyptian soldier (1 Samuel 30:11–15). Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The prophet Samuel, recognizing David as God’s chosen one, anoints him (1 Samuel 16:13). David’s father, Jesse, and two of his brothers watch. The calf, knife, and altar below Samuel refer to the sacrifice he was supposed to offer in Bethlehem (1 Samuel 16:1–3); the ram and staff below David signify his role as keeper of his family’s flock (1 Samuel 16:11). Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

David is shown receiving Saul’s armor for his battle with Goliath (1 Samuel 17:38). He stands under an arcuated lintel. In late Roman and early Byzantine art, this architectural structure, suggesting a palace, was used to distinguish the emperor and here implies David’s future role as king. The armor is Roman, a metal breastplate over a short tunic. To David’s right is Saul, who wears a chlamys, or cloak, over a short-sleeved tunic, which covers another tunic with embroidered cuffs, a standard feature of Byzantine courtly dress. Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

David, brought before Saul, says he is willing to battle Goliath (1 Samuel 17:32–34). Saul is dressed as member of the Byzantine court. His chlamys, or cloak, worn over a long-sleeved tunic, is fastened with a cruciform fibula, or brooch, the sign of a high-ranking state official. The chlamys is adorned with a tablion, a rectangular embroidered panel indicating the wearer’s rank. The man at the far left wears the Persian costume fashionable at court during the early Byzantine period: short tunic with long sleeves, girdle, long trousers, and boots. Here again the arcade suggests a palatial setting. Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

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The art of ancient Yemen: Arabia Felix to the Romans

Ancient Yemen was composed of a number of regional kingdoms including the Minaeans in the north in Wādī al-Jawf, the Sabeans on the southwestern tip, stretching from the highlands to the sea, the Qatabānians to the east of them, and the Ḥaḑramites east of them.  They were all engaged in the spice trade, especially frankincense and myrrh. They left behind many inscriptions in the monumental ancient South Arabian script or Musnad, as well as numerous documents in the related cursive Zabūr script.  Scholars disagree about their origins with some claiming these kingdoms arose about 1200 BCE.  Others say they did not begin to flourish until the 8th century BCE and lasted until they were conquered by the Himyarites.  The Himyarite Kingdom conquered neighbouring Saba' for the first time in c. 25 BCE, Qataban in c. 200 CE, and Haḍramaut c. 300 CE. The Middle Saba' kingdom rose in the early 2nd century CE with its capital established at Ma'rib. Himyar's fortunes relative to Saba' changed frequently until it finally conquered the Sabaean Kingdom again around 280 CE. Himyar then endured until it finally fell to invaders from the Kingdom of Aksum in 525 CE.

Arabia Felix was one of three regions into which the Romans divided the Arabian peninsula: Arabia Deserta, Arabia Felix, and Arabia Petraea with Arabia Felix representing the southwest corner of the peninsula.  In 26 BCE, Aelius Gallus under Augustus's order led a military expedition to Arabia Felix, but after some beginning successes he was obliged by the unhealthy climate and epidemic to desist in the conquest of the area.  The ancient city of Eudaemon (modern Aden) was a  transshipping port in the Red Sea trade but by the first century CE it was by-passed to eliminate the costs associated with these middlemen.

The early archaeologist most associated with excavations in ancient Yemen was an American, Wendell Phillips.  Phillips was born in Oakland, California in 1921. His mother, Sunshine, was a gold prospector in California. His family was poor, and Phillips worked various jobs as a youth, including serving as a guide on Treasure Island during the San Francisco World's Fair. He suffered from polio as a young man and recovered in his early 20s.

Phillips graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1943 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in paleontology. His studies had been interrupted by World War II, in which Phillips served in the Merchant Marine before returning to college. Also during his college years, Phillips participated in fossil-hunting expeditions to Arizona, Oregon, and Utah, and corresponded with archaeologist William F. Albright, who later accompanied Phillips on his first archaeology expedition.

In the late 1940s, Phillips acquired funding from the University of California to organize a broad archaeological exploration of Africa. Though Phillips was inexperienced as an archaeologist, his used his charisma and persuasion skills to lead a team of approximately 50 scholars and technicians, equipped with trucks and an airplane. The expedition lasted 26 months and covered the entire length of the continent between Egypt and South Africa, receiving significant publicity in the United States. A highlight of the expedition's findings were jaws and teeth of a hominid from the Swartkrans site in South Africa.

Phillips's next expedition was in 1951 to the Arabian peninsula to explore the ancient city of Timna, a center for the incense trade in the ancient world. At Timna, Phillips's team excavated through layers of strata, allowing them to develop a timeline of the city dating to the 8th century BCE. An excavation at the House Yafash uncovered twin bronze lions and an alabaster figurine referred to by the team as "Miriam". The excavation also uncovered many utilitarian objects from daily life and funerary objects from a cemetery at Timna. Excavations included the Marib Dam, which was the largest of ancient times, and the Awwam Temple, which was one of the most important temples of the Sabaean people. Phillip's work was eventually brought to a halt by hostility from local Bedouin tribes.  At one point Phillips was even taken prisoner.

During his time in the Middle East Phillips became acquainted with the Sultan of Oman, who granted him the mineral rights to a modest oil producing region of his country, two offshore oil concessions, copper mining rights, and offshore fishing rights, the foundation for Phillips Middle east American Oil Company in 1954. Phillips traded some of his original concessions for more profitable mineral rights in Venezuela, Indonesia, and Libya.  By 1975, Phillips was the largest individual holder of oil concessions in the world, with a net worth in 1975 United States dollars of $120 million.

Here's a video on YouTube about his exploits:

https://youtu.be/bgxDzUUtuzY

Phillips' estate eventually donated the artifacts he recovered from Timna and Ma'rib to the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery of Asian Art.  I thoroughly enjoyed "Unearthing Arabia,"a fascinating exhibit at the Sackler Gallery in Washington D.C. in 2015 although at the time they did not allow photography of the objects. I have included the museum's image of the famous bronze erotes riding striding lions, though.

Arabia Bronze head of a youth in the Classical style with corkscrew hairstyle popular in ancient Saba 2nd century CE Ghayman, Yemen photographed by Mary Harrsch at the British Museum

Arabia Female Sculpture from ancient south Arabia 900 BCE - 600 CE photographed by Mary Harrsch at the British Museum

Arabia Fragment of a pediment depicting a nude fertility goddess and mythological creature South Arabia (Marib) 2nd century CE alabaster photographed by Mary Harrsch at the Walters Art Museum

Arabia Funerary Head-Stela of a Bearded Man South Arabia 5th-2nd century BCE Calcite-alabaster photographed by Mary Harrsch at the Walters Art Museum

Arabia Head of a man Qataban (Arabia Felix) 3rd-1st century BCE Alabaster photographed by Mary Harrsch at the Seattle Art Museum

Arabia Stela with bust of a priestess South Arabia 1st century BCE - 1st century CE calcite alabaster photographed by Mary Harrsch at the Walters Art Museum

Bronze Man of the Kingdom of Saba' (800 BCE - 275 CE) at The Louvre courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor PHGCOM

Bronze erotes mounted on striding lions 1st century BCE - 1st century CE courtesy of the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery

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Pottery askos in the form of a lion preparing to spring, Etruscan, 340-300 BCE at the British Museum

An askos was a vessel used to dispense small quantitites of liquids such as oil. They were used most commonly for refilling oil lamps. The original meaning of askos was wineskin. This example, thought to have been made in Chiusi, Italy has a base of irregular outline that has been cut away inside so as to leave only a narrow support, has a glazed black, and is decorated with a wavy pattern. The motif of the lion drawing back and snarling was popular in the art of both Etruria and southern Italy in the second half of the 4th century BC. It is frequently found on Greek vases and is also common in Etruscan funerary sculpture, particularly in Tuscania and Vulci, and most notably on the frieze of the Tomba François itself where this askos was probably found. All the examples pre-suppose an opponent: one is rarely shown. Buranelli suggests that the opponent may originally have been Herakles, and that the lion is the Nemean lion, shown at the moment before the hero seizes it. In support of a single original for the derivation of many of the examples Buranelli notes the disproportionately small head which all share, though many Greek depictions of lions in the classical period also characteristically have small heads.

The tail is laid back against the right flank, and beside it a spout rises vertically, adjoining an arching handle over the spine. The hide of the lion is represented by rows of small hatched marks in brown on the natural clay; the mane is conventionally modelled in rows of tongue-shaped locks. The mouth is open and forms a second spout communicating with the interior. The mask and feet have been painted yellow on a white engobe, but these colours have mostly faded. The tail appears to have been coloured vermilion. The belly is left unpainted. Around the lip of the vertical spout is a band of herring-bone pattern,  around its neck, a loop pattern.

Image courtesy of the British Museum.

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