Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/88

 72 A History of Art in Sardinia and Judaea. which are covered, but whether with snow or leather boots it is impossible to determine. Behind his back is slung a huge basket or leather pouch. The general aspect and all the details about these stelas from Northern Syria indicate a votive character. Now the god is por- trayed together with his worshipper and the offering ; now his presence is assumed and as it were understood ; the attitude of the personages, the objects offered, such as pomegranates, the emblem of fecundity, pateras, drinking cups, lyres twanged in religious ceremonies, doves sacred to Ashtoreth, leave no doubt as to their destination. The object of these stelas therefore, like many found in Phoenicia and Cyprus, including statues, was to prolong the act of adoration and sacrifice ; they replaced the wor- shipper before the deity whose protection he had implored or imagined he had obtained.^ Great diversity of head-gear is observable in these sculptures ; sometimes they are bare-headed, with a wealth of curly hair (Figs. 279, 282); sometimes we meet with tall conical hats (Fig. 279), with rounded caps (Fig. 269), or the type seen on Khitisar (Fig. 260) ; at other times the hat is furnished with a turned-up rim (Fig. 276). This shape obtained in Cappadocia, and is one of the signs that are oftener repeated in the inscriptions.^ The most curious head-coverings are perhaps those of the two kings (Figs. 262 and 278). The presence and position of the child in Fig. 281 are sufficient indications that the round head-dress of this and Fig. 280 belonged to women. Defective drawing and general outline would otherwise leave the sex unrevealed, which the costume does not help to remedy. The dress of the various classes seems to have been sharply defined. Thus gods, heroes, and kings are clothed in long flow- ing robes heavily fringed (Figs. 276, 278). Over this or the tunic was sometimes thrown a richly embroidered mantle, calling to mind those on the monuments of Assyria and Nineveh (Figs. 277, 292). Short tunics taken in at the waist by a band (Figs. 269, 282) are still of general usage among the peasantry of Cappadocia. Coats of mail covering the whole body are seen in three out of four figures in the royal chase (Fig. 279). Bas-reliefs representing females are of but one type, and very ^ Hist, of Art ^ torn. iii. pp. 257, 258. ^ See Wright, The Empire, Pt. I., second line in first and second Hamath stone.