Jan.9] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY. [1894.
standing,andis 4f inches highwithoutthe feet. (Seeplate,slightly
reduced.) The figure wears a conical head dress witha flower-
shaped termination tied below the tip. The arms are curiously
posed,muchlike thoseof the Syro-Egyptian deitiesholdingspear
or battle-axe andshield which are figured in Miiller's Asienund
Europa,p. 311 ft"., but with the left arm too straight andtoo low to
correspondsatisfactorily. Theattitudeof the god on Mr. Macgregor's
plaqueseemsto explain the action of the figure : both handsare
closed as if grasping an object ; the raised righthandprobablyheld
a spear, whilethe other grippedthe serpent as it rose to repulse its
assailant.
The workmanshipis rude, the eyes have beeninlaid,but are
nowempty. Thesilvercoveringhas beenapplied in a primitive
fashion, being simplyplatesbent round andpegged down along
convenientlines,withsilverrivetslet into the bronze. The plating
has covered the whole figure,but there is not much of it remaining
at the present time; the rivets are sunk in grooves, oneof which
runsdownthe back of the head, oneon each shoulder,oneabove
andonebelowthe right upperarm,andothers alongthe back of
the right lowerarmand the whole of the left arm, on each sideof
the body and waist-cloth, and down the back of each leg. Thelines
of rivets wherethe plates havebecomedetachedare well shownin
the photographs, for which we are indebted to a good friendof
the Society, Mr. Walter L. Nash. Therudeand primitive workman
shipas displayed in this statuette,comingfrom a centre of handi
craftlike Phoenicia, are surely in favour of a very earlydatefor the
specimen.
A Relic of Pharaoh Necho from Phoenicia.
A stone fragmentwithhieroglyphs,worthlessenoughin itself,
wasoffered to Mr. Franks at the same time as the figure, and
" thrown in " with someother purchases. It however possesses
considerable interest as being evidentlya relic of Necho's brief
occupationof Syria, between his great invasionof the country in
608 b.c, andhis total overthrowby Nebuchadnezzar in or about- It is a fragment of a thin tabletof basalt, on which is part of
a royal figureholdingstaffand mace. In front of this is a scrap of
a cartouche withthe legs of a bird \ remaining. On the back is
a very shallow inscription containing the name of the temple of
90