An Anatolian-Style Lead Figurine from the Assyrian Colony Period Found in the Middle Bronze Age Palace of Tel Kabri

Description of the Figurine

The Kabri lead figurine (Figs. 2b, 3a–c) is a double figurine with two human depictions, one large and one small. Its current maximal height is 4.5 cm; its maximal width, at the base, is 2.1 cm.

The head of the larger figure is missing, but it is possible to estimate that, when it was originally complete, it had a maximal height of ca. 5 cm. The lower part of a trapezoid beard extending below the neckline indicates that this was a male figure. He is dressed in a long skirt open at the front with parallel horizontal lines on it, perhaps indicating decorative bands. It is fastened with a wide belt. The figure is holding a weapon in his right hand, its tip now missing, and a standard ending with the image of a caprid in the left hand.

The smaller figure is similarly dressed, holding in both hands an animal, whose head is missing, possibly also a caprid. The head of the figure has large schematic ears and is covered with a high conical fluted cap.

Anatolian Parallels

While lead figurines begin to appear in Anatolia in the later part of the Early Bronze Age (e.g., Efe 2006; Şahin 2016), the style of depiction of the Kabri figurine, the elements of iconography, and even the material used are perfectly compatible with a specific group within the large corpus of Anatolian mold-made lead figurines—one which is typical of the Assyrian Colony period at the beginning of the 2nd millennium b.c.e. (Emre 1971; Marchetti 2003; Heffron 2017). It was cast as a single piece in a one-part mold, which resulted in a decorated obverse side but a plain reverse side, since the back of the mold was either left open or covered with a simple lid (Marchetti 2003: n. 7).

Stone molds for such figurines have been found at Kanesh/Kültepe as well as other Anatolian sites (e.g., Kulakoğlu and Kangal 2010: cat no. 237, 240; Alp 1993). Stylistically, the dress, the schematic ears, the pointed cap, and the caprine standard together find exact parallels in one specific group of Anatolian lead figurines: the “Classic” type ascribed by Nicolò Marchetti to the Kültepe workshops. This type is well dated to the Karum Ib level and is represented both by molds and the figurines themselves (Marchetti 2003: 395).

Specifically, the god holding a standard with a caprid finds parallels in a mold currently in the Louvre as well as one from Kültepe (Emre 1971; pl. VII:1a–b, 2). While most other molds and figurines show a duo of a male and female deity, many times with a baby carried by the goddess (Emre 1971: pls. V:2, VI:1–5, VII:1–3, VIII:1a–b), the theme of two male gods, one large, one small, seems to be rather rare in lead figurines. The iconography of the figures indicates that these are deities, representing part of a divine family. The exact identification of the names of the gods portrayed by the lead figurines, including the god carrying a caprid standard is still under discussion, yet an identification with the Mesopotamian god Amurru has been offered as one possible option (Emre 1971: 140–41; Özgüç 1979: 280–81; Heffron 2017: 287).

Kültepe Ib is a relatively long period overall. A tentative sequence of at least six kings are known or assumed to have ruled at Kanesh during the Ib period: Hurmeli (who may have founded a new dynasty but there could be an initial Ib predecessor), Inar, Waršama, Pithana, Anitta, and Zuzu (Barjamovic, Hertel, and Larsen 2012: 35–40). It likely ended late in the reign of Samsu-iluna of Babylon (Barjamovic, Hertel, and Larsen 2012: 40), when there occurred a widespread fire destruction at Kültepe, perhaps as the result of Hittite conquest (Barjamovic, Hertel, and Larsen 2012: 51) or other inter-polity warfare (Michel 2011: 323). While there is a subsequent period of much reduced activity during the Ia phase, the Ib destruction largely ended the apparent role and importance of Kanesh in history (Barjamovic, Hertel, and Larsen 2012; Kulakoğlu 2014).

In terms of absolute chronology, we can make use of a timeframe now known as the Revised Eponym List (REL), which is based on the attested sequence of annual officials at Aššur (see Barjamovic, Hertel, and Larsen 2012). Although there remain a few issues and debates which might make small adjustments necessary in the REL sequence (see, e.g., Barjamovic, Hertel, and Larsen 2012; Bloch 2014; Manning et al. 2016; Lacambre and Nahm 2015), the combination of dendrochronology, radiocarbon “wiggle-matching,” the REL sequence itself, and other Old Assyrian associations across the sites of Kültepe, Karahöyük, and Acemhöyük allows resolution in terms broadly of the Middle Chronology and most likely the Low-Middle Chronology (dating some eight years later) (Manning et al. 2016, 2020; Manning, Barjamovic, and Lorentzen 2017).

According to this time frame, Kültepe Ib starts within the three years labeled REL 138–141, i.e., ca. 1832/1824 b.c.e., before the first secure document from Kültepe Ib of REL 142. On the other end of things, the last attested date is REL 255, although a few additional (“post-canonical”) eponyms are known (Barjamovic, Hertel, and Larsen 2012; Nahm 2015). Along with other material culture associations, this suggests that Kültepe Ib continued for perhaps another ca. five years or so, until a putative date of REL 260. This would be somewhere around, and likely not much later than, ca. 1713/1705 b.c.e. Thus, in all, Kültepe Ib apparently lasted for approximately 120 years.

Lead (Pb) Analysis

In order to perform various analyses, a small chip was cut from the available detached fragment of the statuette. The detached chip was then split and used (a) in part for metallographic and chemical analyses, and (b) in part for lead isotope analysis (LIA).

Measured lead (Pb) isotope ratios in the metal have been shown to be a powerful method for discriminating metal sources, because they carry the characteristic signal derived from the geological history of the deposit. Therefore, they may be usefully used as tracers for metal provenancing (Gale 1989; Gale and Stos-Gale 2000; Stos-Gale and Gale 2009; Pernicka 2014; Artioli et al. 2020).

The chemical analyses of the metal performed in the pristine core of the sample by scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersion spectrometer (SEM-EDS) show that the object is composed of mostly pure lead with very minor oxygen impurities. The small inclusions (1–3 μm) present in the metal are visible only at high magnification and are composed of Pb-As, Pb-Ag, or Pb-As-Cu alloys, and quartz.

The plot of the Pb isotope ratios (Table 1 and Fig. 4a–b) measured on the statuette sample falls in a region where Aegean and Anatolian mineral deposits partially overlap. Therefore, from the statistical point of view, both sources are just as likely. The calculation of the closest Euclidean distances in the 3D isotopic space (Stos 2009) from the data points measured on the statuette metal to the isotopic data of the mineral sources present in the database indicate that the shortest distances are towards the Anatolian mines located in the Bolkardag/Sulucadere Kalay area, despite the fact that the next closest mineral sources from the geographical point of view are from specific deposits located in the Seriphos Island (Moutoulas).

The same results are obtained if we calculate the kernel density distributions (or KDE: see Baxter, Beardah, and Wright 1997) of the mineral deposits and check the probability of the Tel Kabri Pb metal provenance. KDE has been widely proven to be the best way to statistically treat 3D data measured with non-homogeneous accuracies and precisions, and having different densities of points in the explored 3D space, such as isotopic data of metals (Baxter and Gale 1998; Baxter 1999; Baxter, Beardah, and Westwood 2000; Baxter 2003; Stos-Gale and Gale 2009; Charlton et al. 2012; Radivojevic et al. 2019).

From a statistical point of view, therefore, the Anatolian/Bolkardag source is the most likely one, though the Aegean provenance of the lead cannot be excluded on the basis of probabilistic affinity alone. On the other hand, all other known deposits from the Levant, the Middle East, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean area can be safely excluded as a source.

Discussion

Anatolian lead figurines belonging to this group were known to travel far to the north and east of the core area of the Assyrian trade colonies, reflecting the commercial networks connected with the trade of metals and textiles between Anatolia and Mesopotamia. The figurines manufactured in Kültepe belonging to the “Classic” group have been found to the north in areas north of the Kızıl Irmak (at Alishar Höyük and Bogazköy), to the south in the Amuq Valley (at Knaye and Tell Judaidah), and to the east possibly as far as Western Iran (Marchetti 2003: 412) (Fig. 5).

However, prior to this find from Kabri, no Anatolian lead figurines were known south of western Syria, thus making the Tel Kabri figurine a unique find. It is both the southernmost and westernmost example of a find connected with the Middle Bronze Age Anatolian cultural sphere during the period of the Assyrian colonies.

As mentioned above, the find context at Kabri dates to the 18th century b.c.e., perhaps in the second half of that century (end of Phase 5 or early in Phase 4; Yasur-Landau et al. 2017; Yasur-Landau et al. 2018). That context is contemporary with the later part of the Assyrian Colony period, also dated to the 18th century b.c.e. (i.e., Kültepe Ib and especially later Ib, as per above), which is the same period when lead figurines similar in style to the figurine from Kabri have been found in stratified contexts in Anatolia (dating to the earlier part of the MB II period and to a horizon of Anatolian sites contemporary with Kültepe level Ib; Marchetti 2003: 395).

The find context is, of course, the date when the figurine was discarded and deposited in the possible favisa of the courtyard. It is likely, therefore, that the Anatolian lead figurine reached Kabri several years or even decades before it was somehow damaged and then discarded. While the original use context of the figurine is unknown, its pattern of discard, within a favisa, recalls that of Anatolian figurines often found either in “votive pits” or domestic contexts (cf. Efe 2006; Şahin 2016; Heffron 2017).

The find of an Anatolian figurine at Kabri, whether cast in Anatolia or in a mold imported from Anatolia, possibly expands the interaction sphere of both Anatolia in the Assyrian Colony period as well as that of the contemporary southern Levantine city states. Much research has been dedicated to the study of long-distance trade routes going from east to west, between Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia, as reflected in the Kanesh documents (e.g., Palmisano 2017; Massa and Palmisano 2018, with references). Not nearly as much research has been dedicated to the contacts between central Anatolia and the Amuq and Northern Syria, perhaps in part because of the absence of literary sources for these routes in the Kanesh and other archives. And yet, archaeological studies have provided evidence for commercial contacts between Kanesh and the urban centers of Alalakh and Ebla (Yener 2007; Peyronel 2017).

The inclusion of areas further south in Syria within the sphere of Anatolian interaction is strengthened also with the find of Anatolian lead figurines at Hama and Qatna (Marchetti 2003: fig. A). However, to date, the areas of the central and southern Levant have been considered mostly outside the scope of Anatolian contacts during the Middle Bronze Age, with the exception of a single cylinder seal with Anatolian traits. This seal, perhaps manufactured during the Assyrian Colony period, was found at Ashkelon in a later MB II (MB IIB) context (Collon 1987: 41, fig. 138; Alizadeh 2008). Anatolian contacts with the southern Levant become more visible only during the Late Bronze Age, no doubt strongly correlated with the rise of the Hittite empire (Gilan 2013).

While the Kabri figurine, or the mold in which it was made, could have had either a direct route or several legs in its journey from Anatolia to the coast of the Galilee, some approximation of the length and possible route of the direct journey from central Anatolia can be given by using ORBIS, a geospatial model for the much later Roman world (http://orbis.stanford.edu/). There, the fastest journey from Caesarea (Cappadocia) in central Anatolia to Ake-Ptolemais (Akko) on the coast of the western Galilee, just south of Kabri, took 16.9 days in July, covering 951 kilometers in a combination of sea and land transportation.

The route led south, through the Cilician gates, then into Cilicia proper and, by boat, along to North Syria and the Phoenician coast. The various segments on land and on sea of this journey are well known from Bronze Age and later sources (Yasur-Landau 2010: 102–3, 114). An example of a journey heading in the opposite direction, from the coast of Syria to inland Anatolia, comes to us from a 13th century b.c.e. text found at Ugarit (RS 94.2406), which deals with the journey of an Ugaritic queen. She travels by boat from Ugarit to Cilicia, going inland from the coast to the town of Adana, perhaps by riverine transport, and then continues farther north into central Anatolia via a land route, crossing the Taurus mountain range (Sauvage and Pardee 2015).

Some support for the movement of this figurine via a route through Syria can be seen in the presence of an 18th century b.c.e. Syrian cylinder seal found in Tomb 984 at Tel Kabri, with excellent parallels to the glyptic art of the Amuq and western Syria. There is also another Middle Bronze Age Syrian cylinder seal of the same stylistic group found at nearby Achziv, albeit in a later context (on both, see Kempinski 1993).

The 18th century b.c.e. at Kabri was a period of rapid integration of this aspiring small polity into the maritime networks of the eastern Mediterranean. Several dozen Cypriot sherds and vessels were found at the site, starting in Phase 5 of the transition between MB I and MB II, and in Phase 4 of the MB II (Samet 2014: 389). The integration into the eastern Mediterranean maritime networks reached a peak in Phase 4 of the palace, at which point it was decorated with several sets of Aegean-style wall and floor paintings, probably reflecting the will of the rulers to create an international appeal to an otherwise very local polity (Cline, Yasur-Landau, and Goshen 2011). The later Phase 3 palace was equipped with wine storerooms, which were filled with luxurious wines mixed with herbal additives and probably used for feasts in the nearby halls, also increasing the international appeal of the palace and its rulership (Yasur-Landau et al. 2018).

A possible reason behind the desire to connect to Mediterranean maritime networks, both those going to Cyprus as well as those going to Syria and further into Anatolia, may very likely be access to metals. For example, the Cypriot vessels found in the Kabri palace may have accompanied a much more profitable commodity which is now invisible, such as Cypriot copper.

Such copper was reaching Egypt by sea already during the 19th century b.c.e., as indicated by the so-called Mit Rahina inscription (Marcus 2007). By the mid-18th century, Cyprus had become a major source of copper, as mentioned in the Mari tablets, and production on the island was on the rise in the late 18th century, very likely to meet new demands from outside (Manning 2014: 22, 35).

Similarly, the motivation to connect to Syrian and Anatolian networks may have been silver and copper from the Taurus mines and other sources, which had reached areas to the south, as evident in metal finds from the Amuq (Yener 2007: 156). It is also possible that tin, reaching the Syrian coast and the port of Ugarit via Mesopotamian trade routes, was another incentive for the northern connections of Tel Kabri.

A much-discussed tablet (A 1270) recounts shipments of tin from Mari to Aleppo, Qatna, Hazor, and even to “Kaphtorites” (Minoans) present in the port city of Ugarit (ARM 23: 556 [28–31]; Malamat 1998: 34–36; Guichard 2005: 162–63). However, such long-distance trade routes were by nature fragile and vulnerable to political upheavals. The Mari trade system, reaching Crete and Cyprus, collapsed in the mid-18th century with the conquest of Mari by Hammurabi of Babylon, and was subsequently followed by the collapse of the Assyrian Colony trade system in the late 18th century.

At the same time, the late 18th century b.c.e., Avaris in the Nile Delta became a supersite with extensive commercial connections, perhaps eclipsing much smaller polities on the Levantine littoral (Manning 2014: 30). These events may have had an effect on the commercial stability of the Kabri polity. Despite its impressive international contacts, Kabri survived only a few decades more, and the city and palace were destroyed and deserted ca. 1700 b.c.e. or shortly thereafter.

Continued excavations of the courtyard, as well as study of the finds from Pit 3117, will hopefully add additional information in the near future on the context for the use of this figurine. This may include additional evidence for contacts between the Levant and Anatolia during the Middle Bronze Age.