Most Likely
"El Toro"
Wall bracket from Megiddo
Israel Museum Jerusalem- item 14321
The object belongs to the group of objects named "wall brackets" that were found during the late bronze and early iron age in different locations in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean - many of them in Cyprus, and therefore identified as Cypriote wall brackets. Approx. 500 wall brackets have been found so far in about 44 archaeological sites dating between the 15th to the 11th century BC, spread throughout sites in Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus and Greece. "The disappearance of wall brackets from the material culture of the Mediterranean basin is almost as sudden as their appearance, and it seems that this object must be firmly linked to a certain cultural and temporal environment, namely, Cyprus in the 13th and 12th centuries BCE." (Dr. Nava Panitz-Cohen) Most of the brackets were found in residential buildings and yards, but some were located in the vicinity of public temples, in workshops and in burial sites.
Scholars continue to debate and struggle to interpret what these intriguing objects were used for.
The object was excavated in Tel Megiddo in 1937 during the excavations conducted by the Chicago University, funded by John D. Rokfeller
PP 29-31, Fig 384
VII A AA 3043 249:3
Currently exhibited in the Israel Museum Jerusalem
Proposed functions in different papers:
Hanging lamp
Lamp holder
Coal scoop
Incense burner
Water Ladle
Stand for offerings
Fertility cult ritual
Personal ritual
Religious object
Status symbol
Method of Hanging
We do not know for sure that the object was indeed wall mounted, but according to the analysis of the morphological structure, there is a high possibility.
Assuming that the object was indeed wall mounted, the manner, height, and angle at which it was mounted may also imply on how the object functioned.
There is a possibility that microscopic examination and analysis of the area of the hole and the back side of the object may provide clues and new information regarding the function.
Contemporary study of mounted objects
Architecture in the Late Bronze Age
Ideation
Examining options for different uses of the object according to categories of living and different locations in a periodical architectural structure.
Using design methodologies such as brainstorming, typological research, system examination, and associative thinking to present as wide a variety of options as possible.
28 uses were suggested in 14 different categories, which were then marked by Archaeologists on a scale of Likelihood, several examples follow:
Initial testing and protocol
Based on the feedbacks from the Archaeologists, several concepts were tested using prototypes, and a protocol for further scientific and technological tests was drafted in order to confirm or refute the suggested uses.
Bibliography and related articles
* "Off the wall": wall brackets and cypriots in Iron Age I Israel / Nava Panitz-Cohen / Hebrew University of Jerusalem
* A wall bracket from Kandia in the Argolid / Lorenz Rahmstorf
* The Spreading of Objects and Ideas in the late bronze age Eastern Mediteranean / Joseph Maran / University of Heidelberg
* A wall bracket from Phaistos/ Luca Girella
* The Ancient pottery of Israel and its neighbors / Seymor Gitin / Israel exploration society
* 1177 B.C / Eric H. Cline / Princeton University Press
* An introduction to the archeology of the Land of Israel during the biblical period /The open University of Israel
* Ancient Pottery of the Holy Land / Ruth Amiran / Israel Exploration Society
* Architecture in Israel in ancient times / Israel Exploration Society
* 6000 years of art in the Land of Israel/ Keter books