Domestic Cult at Tall Jawa

A domestic cult assemblage has been identified in several rooms at Tall Jawa. When excavated, the interiors of a number of buildings were found to have a thick layer of debris approximately 1.0 m thick in which a collection of items that parallel other known cultic assemblages in Israel and Judah

<sup>58</sup> On the model shrine see (Elkins 2017).

<sup>59</sup> For further bibliography see (Elkowicz 2012, p. 89).

<sup>60</sup> Another example of public cult just to the south of Ammonite territory in Moab comes from a room just inside the city gate at Khirbat al-Mudayna ath-Thamad. The cultic nature of this room is easily identified by the existence of three small stone altars, benches along the walls, two female figurine heads, and the naked torso of a third, two bronze rings, a Wadjet-eye amulet, carved limestone "pegs," and a ceramic assemblage of lamps, a spouted vessel, a juglet, a decanter, small bowls, a small jug, and some store jars (Daviau and Steiner 2000). The three stone altars provide the most specific evidence in terms of actual practice. Two of them (the unpainted altar MT-4/014 and the conical altar MT-4/015) had soot on the top indicating that something was burned there, probably some king of incense or aromatic substance (Daviau and Steiner 2000, pp. 10–11). The tall conical one also has an inscription on it that reads "The incense altar [*mqt.r*] that Elishama made for *ysp*, the daughter of ގ*wt*" (Dion and Daviau 2000, p. 5), and thus confirms the function inferred from the burning. The painted altar (MT-4/011) has a small hole that connects to a larger depression that is likely used for drainage of liquid offerings (Daviau and Steiner 2000, p. 10). Taken together with the other finds, one can imagine this shrine as a place in which inhabitants of the city made small offerings or left a votive and prayed for divine assistance.

<sup>61</sup> In this regard, Daviau builds on Holladay's essay on Israelite religion (Holladay 1987), which emphasized the importance of such an approach in identifying loci of domestic and other small-scale religious practices.

were found. This layer separated the cultic material from the pottery that was smashed on the floor, suggesting that this material came from the roof or upper story (Daviau 2001, p. 202).62 Among the assemblage were "male and female figurines, zoomorphic figurines or vessels, one-handled cups, chalices, tripod cups, lamps, strainer bowls, small vessels, miniature vessels and basalt trays", as well as unique items such as a possible *baetyl* (a sacred stone), a Tridacna dish (a dish made from a giant clam), imported vessels, and a libation table (Daviau 2001).

That the material came from the upper level is significant because texts from Late Bronze Age Ugarit (coastal Syria) and Emar (northern Syria), as well as biblical texts dating from the seventh century BCE and later, mention cultic acts performed on roofs (Daviau 2001, p. 201). The prophet Ezekiel issues this judgement on the people of Jerusalem: "The Chaldeans [i.e., Babylonians] who are fighting against this city shall come, set it on fire, and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal and libations have been poured out to other gods, to provoke me to anger." Far from being a full explanation of domestic rituals on roofs, this and other texts nevertheless provide some clues for the uses of such an assemblage as that found at Tall Jawa. Specifically, it indicates that offerings (probably of the plant or incense variety) and libations (fluid offerings) took place on the roofs of city-dwelling individuals. For the assemblage at Tall Jawa, Daviau proposes the following set of possible activities that took place in these domestic spaces:

... the setting up of a figurine or symbolic stone in a particular area on the roof or upper storey, food and drink offerings, use of scented materials, lighting of lamps, sprinkling of the figurine, the baetyl, or the sacred area itself, offerings in small or miniature vessels, casting of lots or divination, and libations. (Daviau 2001, p. 221)

Whatever set of rituals this assemblage represents, it is likely that they were designed to invoke or create closeness with the gods or otherwise amplify the experience and effectiveness of communication with the gods (Keel and Uehlinger 1998, p. 348; Zevit 2001, p. 274). Given the regular finds of some of these items at other sites—especially figurines—it is probably a good assumption that small-scale cultic practices were common in Iron Age II Ammonite homes.63
