Glass intaglio with the portrait of Silenus from Galilee: stylistic analysis, provenience, dating, and meaning

Indroduction

The small glass seal with an intaglio mythological portrait was occasionally revealed on the topsoil between the Tel Huqoq and Sheikh Nashi sites by Dr. B. Aru-bas in 20171 (Fig. 1, a-b). The intaglio was discovered without any architectural and archaeological context, so its exact derivation cannot be determined. However, its iconographical unique features make it very important for Greco-Roman studies and worth a publication of its own.

• I.    Technical and physical observations and their analysis

Context, origin, and related finds

In the locality during the earliest surveys, “Early Bronze, Iron, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and twelfth-thirteenth century pottery was reported”2. Some years before the well-known excavations of the nearby synagogue at Tel Huqoq, U. Leibner had surveyed the site. He had reported Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman potsherds, which “provide an indication of the beginning of the settlement here around the mid-first century BCE”3 and till the Late Byzantine period (uninterrupted). In ancient times, another nearby settlement, Sheikh Nashi (ca. 400 m to the ESE), was economically connected to Tel Huqoq. According to the pottery finds, it was settled from the Iron Age till the Byzantine periods4. During the excavations of the synagogue and its' surroundings at Tel Huqoq, the earliest architectural stratum was dated to the Hellenistic period5. So, the glass intaglio gem might be related to one of these layers presented in the region.

The gem will be described primarily according to its visible characteristics. Then, we will analyze its technical and iconographical features and apparent symbolic meaning.

Shape and type

The tooled seal, with an intaglio-type design (stamped concave negative relief), was perforated lengthwise (with a single horizontal hole). It features an anthropomorphic design on the frontal side. The shape of the scaraboid was oval (like a scarab beetle). The undecorated domed back was semicircular in section. The frontal side was slightly concave (Fig. 2).

Dimensions (mm)

Glass blank: L 15 mm, W 12 mm, Thickness 5 mm, D of the perforated hole 3 mm; image: W of the stamped counterpart 10 mm (between contours); 8x12 mm - portrait.

The substance (material)

Dark hues of turquoise translucent glass (imitation of blue chalcedony?) with plenty of tiny bubbles within its texture.

Weathering

A dirty patina is noticeable over the whole surface, especially in deepened areas and pitting because of the biodeterioration of glass under the influence of fungi and cyanobacteria. There is a crack in the lower part of the image (covered by a patina). A chip from the rear side reached the perforated hole. The mouths of the perforated hole were slightly erased and cracked because of constant use.

Technique

The process of glass intaglios manufacturing combined hot-working and coldworking. An engraved stone or any other kind of seal (metal ring?) was impressed into the wet clay or other ductile material. This seal's oval or lanceolate shape might be testified by the visible, though scarcely noticeable, imprinted contours around the frontal portrait. This peculiarity led us to assume that the image was stamped directly on the hot glass, but such a technique is usually considered less popular. The baked imprint was used as the bottom of the one-piece oval mold, into which the hot glass seal blank was inserted and shaped. Thus, the protruding contours shaped the surface with a concave (negative) pattern, similar to the original seal. The rear side of the glass intaglio was slightly convex. The forming of the perforated longitudinal channel for the metal axis of the ring was described by T. Ornan: “The blank was either formed on a coated metal rod or rod-pierced, as in bead-making”6. However, if the glass blank was cast into the mold, imagining how the rod might be used is complicated. The rod is applicable only if the glass intaglio was directly stamped by the gem/ring on the hot glass without the mold. So, most probably, the hole was drilled. Some tiny finishing details of the portrait were engraved (cold-working): “The molded devices may have been retouched by drilling, grinding, or cutting” (Bernheimer 2002b: 229). If it occurred, this technical feature personalized each glass intaglio artifact, even if a certain number were stamped from one seal. Usually, for this detailing and sharpening work, the same tools were emphasized as for stone seals7. In both possible technical ways of glass intaglio manufacturing, the original counterpart, from which it was stamped, might be earlier. This peculiarity makes dating highly relative and ambivalent. There might be a considerable chronological gap between the original image and the actual date of its reproduction on the intaglio. The dating of the image might be determined only by stylistic means. The dating of the intaglio glass piece might be defined by the same stylistic means. Still, microanalyses might also be helpful (especially in identifying the glass's material composition and apparent genesis).

Use

Glass intaglio with a perforated hole adorned the metal finger rings. It was not fixed within the ring but was moveable and might be spun around its axis.

Discussion of the technical features and dating

According to T. Ornan, “... glass seals are a well-established, even if not frequent, feature of the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, increasing gradually over time, especially in contexts to be Phoenician. They are, with few exceptions, monochrome in a bluish, greenish, or brownish color <...> From the 6th century BCE onward, glass seals are no longer rare <...> Quite a few of the Persian-period pieces have molded rather than engraved motifs and are rather mediocre from technical and artistic standpoint; but high-quality glass seals also occur, found in and outside our region”8. During the Classical period, the production of intaglio glass gems was especially flourishing (Fig. 3)9.

The scaraboid shape of the glass intaglio generally imitates Ancient Egyptian or Greek geometric and archaic scarab seals carved from different types of stones10. During the Classical period, according to Boardman, scaraboids became “the commonest shape”. Concerning stone scaraboids of Type B of the Classical period, Boardman noted: “scaraboids of Type B have very shallow convex backs, like the Archaic scaraboids, but they are very much flatter in their proportions. Their walls are more often straight than in-sloping. It is not a common variety, but found in the fifth century and, more often, in the fourth”11. There is a definite connection between the gems of this Type B and the shape of the glass intaglio under consideration, which is very close to it, just flatter in proportions. However, Boardman considered that the shape of the intaglio glass gems of the Classical period “does not imply a connection with the Type B stone scaraboids”12. In his opinion, the shape of the glass gems depends on the process of their manufacture, which is cast in an open one-piece mold, and not on the typological development.

The exact shape or material of the anticipated ring in which the intaglio was mounted is inapplicable, but there are several main fitting types of rings with a straight axis for the gem related to the Archaic period (Fig. 4)13. One of the rings was wholly circular but had a small pendant for the gem14. The particular type of the ring with the short straight axis for the intaglio glass gem with the swivel appeared already during the Archaic period (late 6th century BCE)15, but it became more popular during the Classical period, including Etruscan and Achaemenid areal (5th-4th centuries BCE)16. The coloristic range of intaglios of the named period included different tints of green and blue, with pale green predominating during the 4th century BCE17. Turquoise might be included in this palette. According to G.M. Bernheimer, “…during the Hellenistic Period, seal usage shifted away from scaraboids mounted as swivel rings to large convex stones fixed in finger rings”18.

Therefore, according to the technical and physical features, shape, and color, the intaglio glass scaraboid gem under discussion is highly likely Classical or early Hellenistic (late 5th-4th century BCE). Nevertheless, the glass seals were usually larger during the named period and reached ca. 20-25 mm in length. So, the scope of the intaglio glass gem (L 14-15 mm) is Archaic19. The straight walls are also an Archaic feature, which “survives for a while, although not for long, into the second half of the fifth century”20. The scope of the glass blank was oriented to the stone counterpart and could not be considerably larger. So, the counterpart with its image might be earlier than the sealed replica and might be dated to the 6th-5th centuries BCE. The iconography of the image and its' more precise dating will be discussed below after the description.

• II.    Decoration (anthropomorphic image)

Description of the image and its' identification

The rear and the lateral sides are undecorated. The frontal side bears the intaglio en-face portrait of the old, bald, and apathetic man. The detailing of the face is microscopic: the tiniest features of the portrait might be defined, but with “the tendency to summarize the details and features”, which is, according to Boardman, characteristic of the gem art after Dexamenos master (5th-4th century BCE21). An old man has a pear-like face with narrow and tiny forehead, chubby cheeks, wide snubnose with accentuated nostrils and plump lower lip. The grooved in the middle and pointed at the ends ears are turned upwards. The eyes are set very closely and almost covered by heavy eyelids. The upper lip and the chin are covered by striated mustaches and a beard, rather bushy but accurately trimmed in a semi-oval shape. The face is symmetrical. The master who carved the face on the original gem was skillful in his craftsmanship, and the portrait is virtuous, even in increased scope, without any excessive details.

According to these physiognomic peculiarities, the portrait might be attributed to the rustic god of wine-making and drunkenness, Silenus (anc. Greek: Σιληνός/Silēnós, Σειληνός/Seilēnós’ Latin: Silenus, Selenus22), the foster father of the god Dionysus. The attribution comes from plenty of other depictions of this mythological creature in different kinds of art23. As the circle of artifacts is too broad, only small art pieces, such as glyptic and numismatics, are considered here.

Frontal portrait of Silenus in glyptic arts and numismatics

The iconography of the Silenus portrait en face was popular on coins minted during the Late Archaic, Classical, and Roman periods (Figs. 5-6). The earliest frontal portraits in Archaic “dry” stylistics are known from two ancient staters: one from Ionia, Phocaea (Fig. 5, a; ca. 521-478 BC; D 10 mm), and the other from Mysia, Kyzikos (Fig. 5, b; ca. 500-450 BCE24; D 19 mm).

The portraits of Silenus in a more realistic style decorated the later coins of the Classical and Early Roman periods: silver tetrobol from Cilicia (Fig. 5, c; ca. 465-350 BCE25), drachmas from Catana ((Fig. 5, d); ca. 420-410 BCE26), Macedonian aes coin (Fig. 5, e; 168-27 BCE27). The main physiognomic features of the frontal face attributed by H. Gitler and O. Tal as an Egyptian dwarf-monster god bes on several groups of the Philistinian coins of the Persian period (5th-4th century BCE) are pretty similar by their iconography to Silenus (Fig. 6)28. These are only some examples among the others.

Many authors noted the relationship between coins and gems over a prolonged period. To a certain extent, gems and coins had many standard features, such as size, images, and even technique29. The decorative compositions used on coins might be the source of inspiration for the gem's art30. By its character and style, the portrait of Silenus on the glass gem is mainly similar to the portrait on the drachma from Catana (Fig. 5, d)31 and on the hemiobol from Gaza (Fig. 6)32, both dated to the 5th-4th centuries BCE.

It is curious that the plain frontal portraits of Silenus, which were shared on the coins, were comparatively random among gems. The earliest frontal image of Sile-nus is known from the 7th-century scarab, which originated from the Greek Islands. The face of Silenus/satyr decorated the back of the beetle (Fig. 7, a)33. Another early sample is the Classical gem, attributed as satyr's head and related to the so-called “dry-style” (Fig. 7, b)34. Gem, dated to the second half of the 5th century BCE, with the mask of a wreathed Silenus (or satyr?) with an open mouth, also might be mentioned (Fig. 7, c)35. The portrait on the Early Hellenistic glass medallion, attributed as “unusual Bes”, resembles Silenus, though with the odd small standing on the head36 (Fig. 7, d)37. The other example of the glass paste intaglio with green iridescence from the collection of the British Museum is dated to a later and somewhat approximate period (Fig. 7, e; 1st century BCE - 3rd century CE)38. The frontal portrait was attributed to be a Dionysiac mask, but by its features, it resembles Silenus. Roman banded agate gem from the collection of the Getty Museum is adorned with the sad face of satyr/Silenus in a wreath of beads (Fig. 7, f)39. Roman burnt agate intaglio (Fig. 7, j ), with the portrait of Silenus, is mainly close to the gem under consideration by its apathetic mood. However, its provenance is dubious (known from the ArsValue auction)40.

Among ceramic finds, the frontal face of Silenus was frequently applied on the handles of the Hellenistic braziers; for example, the whole collection of such braziers was discovered in Dor41. At the same site, the painted krater with the application of a satyr’s head was discovered42.

Duplicate

In the course of the research, an amazing discovery was made. There is an uncountable number of small plastic items with the image of Silenus or satyr, and actually, only some of them were mentioned in the article. They are all only similar to the glass gem under discussion in their decoration, and the images of the mythological creatures are variable. However, there is one gem that is completely the same. The aquamarine glass scaraboid in the collection of E. Borowski43 is identical in its general and tiny features44. It was probably stamped with the same gem or cast in the same mold. Together with the other gems from the collection, it was bought in Europe without any accurate provenance (Borowski 2002, esp. introduction). There are some tiny discrepancies in the shape of eyes and nostrils. Still, these differences might result from the final engraving after each gem's cast (or might be the illusive result of the photographic inaccuracy). It is more considerable that general features, such as scope and proportions, as well as low relief of the left cheek and the quantity of the striations on the beard and mustaches, are coinciding. So, without a doubt, it is a duplicate. G.M. Bernheimer had identified it as the facing head of Satyr. The author dated it to the Late Archaic period (early 5th century BCE). Its provenience was related to the “Island or East Greek, but not necessarily Ionian”45. Nevertheless, the plasma scaraboid from the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection, published by Boardman, differs in its general style and portrait features. However, it also depicts the en-face image of Silenus. Boardman related it to the so-called “dry style”. At the same time, on our intaglio, the image is three-dimensional.

It might be better related to the realistic, voluminous, and even delicate style of the 5th or, more likely, 4th century BCE (Boardman 1972: 206).

Conclusions. Dating and use

The coloristic features and scope of the intaglio are relatively close to the Achae-menid (Spier 1992: 65) and Western Asiatic (Barag 1985: 58-59) glass scaraboids, but according to the theme and the highest artistic quality, the intaglio was manufactured somewhere in the Greek world, most probably, on one of the Greek Islands, where the cult of Dionysus was rooted and developed. Those were Naxos, Andros, Lesbos, small islands around Crete named Dionysades, and especially Delos, where the cult of Dionysus existed from the 8th century BCE46. Silenus had no independent cult and was the constant companion of Dionysus among the others. Only one temple was devoted solely to him – in Elis at Peloponnesus. Pausanias described it: “Here there is also a temple of Silenus, which is sacred to Silenus alone, and not to him in common with Dionysus. Drunkenness is offering him wine in a cup”47.

The appearance of the intaglio with Silenus in Galilee in the Classical/Persian-early Hellenistic period is unique and rare. Still, it is explainable by the closeness of the Dionysus cult centers in Nysa-Scythopolis and Pan in Banias, which were at their launching point during that period and further on48. In one of the versions, the mythological Silenus was born at Nysa-Scythopolis49. By the other version, he was a king of this polis50. According to Pausanias, Silenus was buried somewhere in the Kingdom of Israel: “That the Sinuses are a mortal race you may infer especially from their graves, for there is a tomb of a Silenus in the land of the Hebrews, and of another at Pergamus”51. In the light of this mythological evidence, the discovery of the gem with Silenus in the Galilee gains a special prominence.

The hypothesis of the derivation of the intaglio from the Greek islands is reinforced by the exceptional imaginative glyptic art of the islands, also reflected in the numismatics. The duplicate intaglio revealed in the E. Borowski collection implies the prototype's existence, from which this specific image might have been stamped on the glass (stone gem or coin). By its technical and artistic features, the glass intaglio gem is dated to the Persian/Late Classical period or Early Hellenistic, the 5th or, more likely, 4th century BCE. According to D. Barag and B. Brandl, there was mass production of glass seals during this period52. There are almost no other glass intaglios in Israel of this period found in the context; most of them are deriving from the private collections without provenance or provenience. Only several of them are known from local excavations. Two glass seals discovered in Khirbet Ni'ana are similar in shape and color53 but bear different decorations. Y. Gorin-Rosen and N. Katsnelson have referred to several Persian-dated glass scaraboids found in the vicinity of Khirbat el-Ni‘ana54 and Horbat Zikhrin55. They are also decorated differently than the glass intaglio seal in question.

The other question is the anticipated use of the intaglio glass gem with mythological creatures. Such gems might be used as a seal, adornment, or amulet56. Glass intaglios were mainly used as seals in the rings for impressing “on a soft material such as clay or wax that used to seal doors, closets, boxes, and ceramic jars, as a sing of scribal identification on letters, or as a verification of a verbal message”57. Plenty of bullae with imprinted seals of the Persian and Hellenistic periods featuring mythological figures and scenes were found in the archives of Tel Kedesh58 and Tel Iztabba59. Pottery sherd with the sealed profile of Silenus was revealed in Phanagoria (Kuznetsov, Tolstikov 2017: 295, 301, no. 182).