Beautiful From All Sides: Twice-moulded Figurines of the Southern Levant

AbstractFemale plaque figurines are the dominant type of anthropomorphic clay figurines in the Southern Levant of the Late Bronze Age. Unfortunately, there is no updated catalogue. The close study of fragments (the vast majority of the corpus) and of basic aspects (such as production modes, techniques, patterns of use/disposal) is at times overshadowed by the heated debate about the interpretation — the religious significance — of these figurines. We publish two newly excavated fragments of a unique type of plaque figurine, limited in distribution to northern Palestine. Unlike other plaque figurines, it is moulded on both sides. We present a detailed list and a study of the type and suggest that it is not double-moulded, as assumed by all former scholars, but produced by the double use of single moulds (hence, 'twice moulded'). Indeed, this does not tell us whether such figurines are goddess/es, mortal worshippers or something else. Trying to answer this question before the basic data is collected and ana...