Evidence for the material culture of ancient Israel comes mostly from artifacts and archaeology and attests to the influence of the great empires that surrounded Israel.
Though few musical instruments have survived from the biblical period, the archaeological record includes numerous depictions of people performing music, song, and dance.
This 21-inch-high (54 cm) stand was made in the ajouré (open-spaced) style and finished to look like bronze. In the bottom register, a nude female with raised arms (a fertility goddess?) touches the…
Chaim Gliksberg was well-known for his portraits of literary figures. Here, he has pictured Itzik Manger, the celebrated Yiddish poet and playwright. Manger was particularly renowned for his modernist…
This mirror was found in the Moringa burial cave at En Gedi; its tang would have been fitted into a handle, now missing, made of metal, ivory, or bone (see Ivory and Bone Carvings and Engraved…