Euphrates Syrian Pillar Figurines

The Euphrates Syrian Pillar Figurines (EU SPF's) are anthropomorphic clay figurines dating from the late Iron Age period (mid 8th-7th centuries BCE) and produced in the Middle Euphrates region. These figurines are part of a greater coroplastic production mainly composed of handmade horse-rider figurines, i.e. the Euphrates Handmade Syrian Horses and Riders (EU_HSHR's).

EU_SPF holding a child from Karkemish. The British Museum, London, no. 108757.

Other names in literature

The actual nomenclature adopted for this class of figurines has been recently proposed in a doctoral research.[1] Their current name recalls both their geographic origin and the shape of their bodies, which are hollow, tubular, and sometimes twice grooved at the base. However, one may find their appearance in literature with different nomenclatures:

  • Baked Clay Handmade Freestanding Figurines or Syrian Terracottas – Free-standing handmodelled[2]
  • Nordyrische Pfeilerfigurinen (NPF)[3]
  • Standing or Pillar figurines[4]

Museums collections
MuseumProvenienceNos. of figurinesMuseum Nos.
British Museum, LondonKarkemish, Yunus, Middle Euphrates cemeteries20104476, 105041, 105042, 105043,105044, 105045, 105050, 105051, 105052, 105053, 105054, 105055, 105057, 105098, 108757, 116182, 116326, 138204, 138205, H80.21
Ashmolean Museum, OxfordKarkemish, Deve Höyük, Kefrik, Middle Euphrates cemeteries9AN1913.447, AN1913.634, AN1914.795, AN1914.796, AN1915.239.36, AN1935.29, AN1935.31, AN1947.341, AN49.47.328
Fitzwilliam Museum, CambridgeDeve Höyük1ANE.80.1913
Museum of the Ancient Near East, BerlinDeve Höyük1VA 07080
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, AnkaraKarkemish21568,201A, 1569,201A[5]
Istanbul Archaeology Museums, IstanbulKarkemish25383, 5384
Bible Lands Museum, JerusalemNorth Syria20594,[6] 0598[7]
Israeli National Maritime Museum, HaifaUnknown13825[8]
Israel Antiquities Authority, Beith ShemeshTel Zeror1IAA1966-354[9]

Notes
  1. Bolognani, B. 2017, pp. 45,139.
  2. Moorey, P.R.S. 1980, pp.100–101; 2005, pp.220–222.
  3. Pruss, A. 2010, pp. 216–225.
  4. Clayton, V. 2001, Part II: The Figurines; 2013, pp.17–24.
  5. Bolognani, B. 2017, cat.nos.797–798
  6. Schlossmann, B.L. 1981, p.261, no.224; Spicket, A. 2000, p.130, no.143.
  7. Schlossmann, B.L. 1981, pp.222–223, no.183.
  8. Zemer, A. 2009, p.75, fig.27.
  9. Ohata, K. 1967, pl. XLVII, no.4.

References
  • Bolognani, B. 2017, The Iron Age Figurines from Karkemish (2011–2015 Campaigns) and the Coroplastic Art of the Syro-Anatolian Region, unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Bologna, Bologna. amsdottorato.unibo.it/8222/7/Bolognani_Barbara_tesi.pdf
  • Bolognani, B. 2020, “The Iron Age Female Figurines from Karkemish and the Middle Euphrates Valley. Preliminary Notes on Some Syrian Pillar Figurines”, in Donnat S., Hunziker-Rodewald R., Weygand I. (eds), Figurines féminines nues : Proche-Orient, Égypte, Nubie, Méditerranée, Asie centrale (VIIIe millénaire av. J.-C. - IVe siècle ap. J.-C.), Proceedings of the International Conference “Figurines féminines nues. Proche-Orient, Egypte, Nubie, Méditerranée, Asie centrale”, June 25th-26th 2015, MISHA, Strasbourg (EAHA), De Boccard, Paris, pp. 209-223.
  • Clayton, V. 2001. Visible Bodies, Resistant Slaves: Towards an Archaeology of the Other: The 7th Century Figurines from Tell Ahmar, unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Melbourne, School of Fine Arts, Classical Studies and Archaeology, Melbourne.
  • Clayton, V. 2013. Figurines, Slaves and Soldiers. The Iron Age Figurines from the Euphrates Valley, North Syria, K&H Publishing, Victoria.
  • Moorey P.R.S. 1980, Cemeteries of the First Millenium B.C. at Deve Huyuk, near Carchemish. Salvaged by T.E. Lawrence and C.L. Woolley in 1913 (with a catalogue raisonne of the objects in Berlin, Cambridge, Liverpool, London and Oxford)(«BAR» 87), Bar Publishing, Oxford.
  • Moorey P.R.S. 2005, Ancient Near Eastern Terracottas: With a Catalogue of the Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
  • Ohata, K. (ed.) 1967. Tel Zeror II. Preliminary Report of the Excavation, Second Season 1965, The Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan, Tokyo.
  • Pruss A. 2010, Die Amuq-Terrakotten. Untersuchungen zu den Terrakotta-Figuren des 2. und 1. Jahrtausends v.Chr. aus dem Grabungen des Oriental Institute Chicago in der Amuq-Ebene,(Subartu 26), Brepols, Turnhout.
  • Schlossman, B.L. 1981, "183. Female Figurine", "224. Female Figurine", in O.W. Muscarella (ed.), Ladders to Heaven : Art Treasures from Lands of the Bible : a Catalogue of some of the Objects in the Collection Presented by Elie Borowski to the Lands of the Bible Archaeology Foundation and Displayed in the exhibition "Ladders to Heaven : Our Judeo-Christian Heritage 5000 BC-AD 500", Royal Ontario Museum, June 23 – October 28, 1979, The Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem, pp. 222–223,261.
  • Spycket, A. 2000, The Human Form Divine: From the Collections of Elie Borowski, Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem.
  • Zemer, A. 2009, Terracotta Figurines in Ancient Time, The National Maritime Museum, Haifa Museums, Haifa.
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