art 253
if it is holding the bowl, but there are a few exceptions on which a volute-
palmette design is carved into the base. Many pieces have lion’s forequar-
ters projecting over the rim, and a few feature a bird’s head in the same
position.240 the stylization of the lion’s head and mane offers a good basis
for comparison with the ivory carvings of the “flame and frond” style.241
a total of 67 steatite or greenstone hand bowls are said to have origi-
nated in the hoard at rasm et-tanjara (Orontes valley in the eastern
Ghab).242 these pieces are similar in style and execution to the long-
known examples from Zincirli, carchemish, and hazor, to which five more
pieces from more recent excavations at tell afis can be added.243 a com-
mon characteristic is the quite unrealistic rendering of the fingers, which
are strictly parallel and spaced. In contrast, hand bowls from other sites
such as the Yunus cemetery near carchemish, Kinneret/tell el-Oreimeh
in palestine, and the heraion of samos show a different treatment of the
hand and fingers, as do a number of pieces from museum collections.244
In conclusion, the stone pyxides and hand-lion bowls are evidence of
different artistic sources and production areas. In terms of their carving
styles and techniques, they can be linked to sculptures in monumental
art as well as to other object groups of minor art. they are not exclusively
aramaean but a typical outcome of what s. Mazzoni calls the “interna-
tional orientalizing” style245 to which art production in the aramaean
centers evidently made a great contribution.
240 For a selection of these representations, see the pieces from Zincirli (von Luschan
1943: pl. 14 and here pl. XXvIIa–b). recent excavations in Mishrife have yielded a new frag-
ment of a lion, which was probably part of a lion bowl made from hematite, a material so
far unattested in hand-lion bowls in syria (Morandi Bonacossi 2009: 131f figs. 14, 15).
241 e.g., the lion on two serpentine bowl fragments from Zincirli (von Luschan 1943:
pl. 14a–e; here pl. XXvIIa–b) in comparison with the lion on an ivory horn found at well
aJ in the northwest palace of nimrud and other works from the “flame and frond” group
(herrmann 2000: 26–29 fig. 1c).
242 athanassiou 1977: 98–122, cat. nos. 1–67.
243 Mazzoni 2005: 49–56 figs. 4–8, pls. XII.4, XIII–Xv.
244 Mazzoni 2005: 53 with bibliography.
245 Mazzoni 2005: 62.