Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/372

 342 A History of Art in Sardinia and Jud.t.a. which reads as follows: "Of Abiyyûh, servant of Uzziu." As final specimen of this class of monuments we will cite a scara- bœoïd of red agate, which was presented by De Sarzec to the Louvre along with Chaldaean antiquities. Although it was re- covered in Mesopotamia, there is no doubt as to its having been manufactured by a Phoenician ar- tificer. It portrays a god with the attributes that we sometimes see about Horus, consisting of two sets of wings and a serpent in either hand. A double horn or crescent, with a central solar disc, and a snake depending on each side, are about his head, whilst symbol, the " eye of Osiris," is repeated Fig. 231. — Seal of Baalnaathan. Fig. 232. — Moabite Intaglio. De Vogue, Melanges, p. 89. near the feet the divine twice. The inscription, " Baalnaathan," whom Baal gives, i.e. given by Baal, exactly corresponds with "Jonathan," whom Jehovah gives, with this difference that in the latter Iah-Jehovah, Iaveh, is replaced by Baal. Baalnaathan may have been one of those Israelites who, forsaking the national god, had embraced the Syrian cult. However that may be, it does not apply to the owners of the other figured seals, whose appellations could only have been chosen by Jehovah-fearing parents, albeit for reasons adduced above, figured emblems of a nature severely reprobated by contemporary prophets (8th, 7th, and 6th centuries a.c.) are seen side by side with the inscriptions. 1 This fact alone would be sufficient proof, had we not already demonstrated it, that despite the anathemas poured forth against idolatry, despite the iconoclastic zeal of some kings, the bulk of the people, until the return from Babylonia, viewed images w r ith no less favour than their neighbours ; for the prescriptions of the decalogue were not laid to heart except by the chosen few. These, thanks to the elevation of their ideas, and the depth of their convictions, had in the end their tenets universally acknowledged. 2 1 It is the opinion of Hebrew scholars best qualified to pronounce upon the question. The selection of names, the shape of the letters, all point to Punic influence during the dual kingdom, the final overthrow, and the dispersion into exile. 2 The presumption that the seal engraved " Baalnaathan " may have been the property of a Jew, is based upon the fact that although naithan has the same signi- ficance as " liathon," the verbs which these words represent were not convertible in the Hebrew or Punic dialects. Hence a Phoenician would have used " liathon " and