Think About Religion

Sculptures in Motion

As you rotate the above 3D model, note the presentation of the pupils. We saw on the “Relight Artifacts” page that these pupils were probably pre-indicated through the use of a circular tool. This 3D model has DecorrelationStretch applied, which works in remote sensing to exaggerate color contrasts, in our case exaggerating faint traces of paint. Rotating the 3D model from front view to either of the side views reveals an optical illusion. The concave shape of the eye basins “swallows” much of the pupil’s diameter when viewed from the front, but displays the fuller area when viewed from the side. The pupils look bigger from the sides than they do from the front. This makes the eyes seem reactive. Alive, even.

The JPFs and Religious Studies

Where contexts of use have been found in the archaeological record, JPFs seem to be religious. They were found in assemblages with other objects also deemed religious, and even sometimes in the overt religious spaces of tombs. Also, JPFs and other figurine types received a base coat of whitewash while other clay objects did not. This makes figurines seem like they were separated out and treated in a special way. Further, the JPF’s body looks supernatural. Its lower half is not human and eyes can be so large that they consume the face. The leading stimulus that causes pupil movement is light. The above figurine has a narrative quality in that it is depicted as engaged with something outside of itself, a bright light.

In the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, light is a leading way that God is described aniconically (without artistic representation). How can we investigate what it meant to stare into the eyes of a hybrid figure bathed in God’s light? We might contextualize these descriptors against ancient Near Eastern texts or we might study conceptions of vision or visual encounter through time. We could also compare features (nudity, pose with hands at breasts, pillar figurines, style of jewelry) seen on the JPF to other objects with better-understood uses.

This research is illuminating, yet still not enough to “settle” the mysteries that underlie JPFs. Original context is irretrievably lost. Nonetheless, technology helps to uncover new potentialities over the topic of presence. Without needing to debunk alternative options, one function of the JPF seems to involve making the divine immediate and present.

The study of religion often involves ephemeral topics. Authoritative interpretations are not always desirable or even possible. For example, how can one qualify divine presence? I came as close as I could by noting: 1) the emphasis on eyes in JPF manufacture, 2) biblical descriptions of God as bright, and 3) JPF themes of hybridity and light. Religion scholars work to unravel potentialities of meaning and modes of engagement for objects like these. At the same time, we are trained to resist being enchanted by them. We do not aim through our studies to convert people either to or away from a religion. We work to continually see and show more about important cultural phenomena, as is the theme of this web exhibit.

Look Again: Guiding Questions for the Use of this Site by Educators

(There are imbrications among the following broad disciplinary approaches)

  • THINK LIKE A CONSERVATOR: Pick a point of interest on one of the JPFs imaged on this site. What kinds of questions can Reflectance Transformation Imaging help you ask about that point of interest?

  • THINK LIKE A COMPUTER SCIENTIST: How does RTI software “know” the position of a light source in RTI capture?

  • THINK LIKE A CURATOR: What is lost by presenting Judean Pillar Figurines digitally in this exhibit, as opposed to seeing them in person? What is gained?

  • THINK LIKE AN ARCHAEOLOGIST: Judean Pillar Figurines are found ubiquitously throughout ancient Judean towns. What might broad find-spots (in public and private buildings, in streets, alleyways, and cisterns, as fill underneath floors and in mud brick walls, in tombs, and especially in and around Judean homes) reveal about the use life of these objects?

  • THINK LIKE A BIBLICAL SCHOLAR: JPFs are from ancient Judah. Research ancient Judean conceptualizations of clay via the Bible. How does the fact that an object is made out of clay affect its interpretation (e.g., in terms of religious or economic value)?

  • THINK LIKE AN ART HISTORIAN: How does the Judean Pillar Figurine compare to feminized figures that came before? What does its confronting gaze imply about its character?

  • THINK LIKE A SOCIOLOGIST: How can RTI data (like tool marks or fingerprints) be used to pursue questions of Judean Pillar Figurine workshops and trade?

  • THINK LIKE AN ANTHROPOLOGIST: How are figurines used and conceptualized in the modern world? Why does this object type have so much staying power?