Ammonite Sculptures

Among the most fascinating finds from Iron Age Ammon are the figural statues depicting deities, kings, and individuals. Over 40 statues have been preserved, ranging in size from smaller-than-life to monumental.

Most of these statues were found on the Citadel or in its immediate surroundings, with a few discovered in the broader vicinity of the capital. Crafted from local limestone, they were undoubtedly made within Ammon itself, showcasing remarkable Ammonite craftsmanship. The abundance of these statues is striking, as large-scale figural sculpture was far less common in the Iron Age southern Levant than in later periods.

Who, then, did the Ammonites portray? The statues depict gods, goddesses, kings, ordinary individuals, and even double-faced female heads. Deities are identified by their headdresses, often resembling the Egyptian atef-crown—a symbol widespread in the Levant since the Late Bronze Age. Ammonite kings wear a diadem, typically adorned with a lotus motif, and are dressed in a distinctive Ammonite garment; one statue even bears an inscription identifying it as King Yerah'azar. Other male statues likely represent donors, possibly linked to funerary monuments. Despite stylistic variation, these sculptures share a cohesive Ammonite iconographic program, with clear influences from the Levant, northern Syria, and Mesopotamia.

The Ammonite statues will be published in a monograph featuring an in-depth stylistic and iconographic analysis, along with contextual interpretation within the socio-political framework of the kingdom.

References:

Abou Assaf, Ali. 1980. Untersuchungen zur ammonitischen Rundbildkunst. Ugarit-Forschungen (12): 7–102.

Dornemann, Rudolph H. 1983. The Archaeology of the Transjordan in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Milwaukee, Wis. Milwaukee Public Museum.

Schmidt, Katharina 2023. Hard Power: The Stone Statues of Ammon, Biblical Archaeology Review 49/4, 48–53.

Schmidt, Katharina 2023. An Ammonite god in the British Museum, in: I. Finkel, J.A. Fraser, St. J. Simpson (Hg.), ‘To Aleppo gone …’: Essays in honour of Jonathan N. Tubb, 67–69.

Schmidt, Katharina 2022. Die Bildwerke des Königreichs Ammon. Ein neues Projekt zu eisenzeitlichen Steinstatuen in Jordanien, Antike Welt 2/22, 16–21.