60 IlElWEENTEXTANDAI(TIFACI"amountofevidencetosupportit,namely,onlythestatueitself.Whileit
maybecultie,ilm~IYalsobecommemomtive.Wecmnotknow,lO
Manyotherobjectshavebeenlabeledasculriethat merely maybe
objectswhose mundanefunctionwe havesimplyfailed tounderstand.
Among theseare theobjects known as kernos rings(hollow circular
ccmmicringswithsculptedanimalsorpomegranatesattachedtotheml1),
zoomorphicvesselsofvariouskinds,12 andnumerousexamplesoffIg-
urines ofthe "horse and rider" type modeled on those from Cypriot
culture.Concerningpillarfigurines,onescholarhasgonesofarastosug-
gestthatforIsraelitestheymaysimplyhavebeenchildren'stoys. 13 Itisalso
possiblethat m:mysocalled"standing-stoneshrines,~essentiallyrooms
witha largecentralpillarbutwithoutanyotherremainsthatwouldsuggest
a cultieuse,maysimplyhavebeenroomsthatuseda largestonepillarto
supporttheroof.14Inshort,thesheerappearanceofanobjectisinsuffi·
cienttowarrantitbeinglabeledcultie.HowTOAvolO Pl1l'ALL3:SAVE11-110LABEL"CUlllC"FOROUJECfSWITH
UNAMBIGUOUSICONOGRAPHYOil:RITUALCONTEXTSTherearemanyex~tmplesofarchaeologicalfinds thatcanberightly
labeled"cultie."Twogoocicriteriaforthisarethepresenceoficonogr<lphic
symbulismuntileobjectorthelucationoftheobjectinanunambiguous
ritualcontext.13elowarea fewcategoriesofritualobjectsthataregenerally
agreeduponastotheirdesignationascultie,
Slandingstones.Onerecent find that meetsboththe iconographic
symbolismandritualcontextcriteriasuggestedaboveistheinstallationin
thegateof13ethsaida,mentionedabove,which includesa smallstepped
platformcontainingoffering vesselsandaninscribedstelawithidentifiable
10 Fort\,otre~l\mcm.softhisitem,onethatconsidersit<Ig<XIdess,andonethatrecon-
sidersthath~pothesis,seeRuthAmir.m,"SomeOhserwtionsonCh:llcolithicandEarlyBronze
Age~lncluaries:lIldReligion:inTemples(I/I(//llglJI>!(lces/11lJiIJ/ic(I/Times(ed.A.Bir.m:
JeruS:llcm:HebrewUnionCollege,1981),47-53;andAlexanderIi,Jorfe,J.P.Dessel,and
R;l<.:hdS.Hallole,"The'GilatWoman':Femalelconogmphy,Ch:llcolilhicCult,andtheEndof
SouthernLe1l:11llinePrehistoty:NEA 64 (200t):1:1-23.
IIRuthAmir:m,AncientPVllel'YojtbeHolyI1l11djmmItsIk.'8i//llil/8intheNt}o!itIJiePeriod
10 tbeE//dojtbe/rol/Agemut~ers,NJ.:RutgersUniversilyPress,1970),300,photo350.Amiran
classifieskernosringsasculticitems,notinglhalIheyareknownfromtheMycenean/MinlXln
worldfrumwhichlheyorigin:lled,bUIshegoesontosl:t1ethatitisonlyasurmisethaIlhey
wereusedinreligiousritualsoncctheywereborrow<.-'dbythelsmclites(305).
12 Ma1.:lr,AI'cbaeQ/ogyoj/beumdojtbelJibfe,325,fig.8.t8,
13 ShmuelYeivin,"OntheUse:md1'olisu.seofArchaeologyinInterpretingtheBible,~
Allle/ieanAcademyForjewisbRe."ean::bl'I'oc(:edi//1Is 34 (1%6):t'51.
14 Con,crsatiun,ShlomoBunimovitz.