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Document Details : Title: Reinterpreting Iconography with Astronomy Author(s): GOLDFARB, Amanda Journal: Ancient Near Eastern Studies Volume: 50 Date: 2013 Pages: 215-236 DOI: 10.2143/ANES.50.0.2975513 Abstract : This paper focuses on Canaanite and Phoenician iconographical depictions of astronomical events. It draws on star mapping programmes that provide new insights into the ancient night sky. It is argued that well-known narratives such as the lion/bull attack, common in the Near East, had astronomical significance. The different depictions of seasonal events - especially those decorating metal bowls - indicate that artefacts bore multivalent iconographies often with clear astronomical associations. Phoenicians and Canaanites practised at least a basic level of observational astronomy, although their mathematical determinations remain conjectural. |
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