*4.3. Celestial Bodies*

#### 4.3.1. Moon

The moon and its various phases played an important role in the profane aspects of ancient Near East life in the marking of time. The moon also enjoyed a lively sacred history as a part of ritual calendars and in association with a variety of lunar deities. Deification and worship of the moon is attested across the ancient Near East, most famously at the Mesopotamian sites of Ur and Harran (by the names Nanna and Suen [=Sîn] respectively), where traditions of moon-god worship span several millennia (Green 1992; Margueron 1992). In the West Semitic sphere, second and first millennium epigraphic texts, mid-first millennium biblical texts, and a variety of iconographic material underscore the importance of the moon and the moon-god, whose name is usually derived from the West Semitic word for the moon, *yrh.* (Schmidt 1999; Theuer 2000). In Ammon, there are a handful of items that make it clear that the West Semitic moon-god played an important role in Ammonite perception of nonphysical beings.

On the epigraphic side of things, two bits of evidence have come to light. A small statue, now generally called the Statue of Yarh.ގazar (*CAI*, no. 43), was found outside the Roman city wall on the north end of the Amman Citadel. The statue is carved from limestone and stands 45 cm high, and was found with traces of red paint on the body and garments (Barnett 1951, pp. 34–35, and pl. XI). Because the statue was not found in a secure archaeological context, it is usually dated to the late eighth or seventh century BCE, based on the script of the inscription on the pedestal base (*CAI*, p. 108). The partially preserved two-line inscription reads:

Line 1: [broken]*šwyrh.*ގ*zr* [broken]*šw* Yarh.ގazar Line 2: [broken]*kr br šnb*<sup>14</sup> [broken]*kr* son of Šanib

Despite the broken parts of the inscription, it appears to preserve a chain of three generations with only the last two letters (*kr*) of the middle generation being visible. Reconstructed, the names would most likely run as such: "Yarh.ގazar, [son of ?]*kr*, son of Šanib."

<sup>14</sup> This has been read as either a "b" or "p" (*CAI*, p. 210).

The grandfather mentioned at the end of the inscription is plausibly identified with "Šanipu of the House of Ammon," a king mentioned as paying tribute to the Neo-Assyrian monarch Tiglath-pileser III in 734 BCE (**?**, pp. 122–23, no. 47 [Summ. 7r. 10']B114-religions-432110) Whether this means that Šanipu's son and grandson were kings too, one cannot say for sure, but they were certainly related to one of the power-players in Ammon. Whatever Yarh.ގazar's specific status, his name includes the name of the West Semitic moon-god Yarah. , and means "Moon is help." As a representation of what must have been a member of the Ammonite elite, the inscription shows that the West Semitic moon-god had a meaningful place in the Ammonite pantheon.

Apart from the statue of Yarh.ގazar, only one other plausibly Ammonite inscription contains the *yarah.* element. A badly burnt ostracon from Tall al-Mazar, Ostracon IV, has only one partially legible word that appears to read *lyrh.* , "to Yarah. ." This could represent a sacrifice to the moon-god or something given to a person with the same name (*CAI* no. 145). The poor state of preservation of the ostracon precludes certainty.

Iconographic representations of the moon from the region of Ammon also attest to the worship of the moon-god. Two nearly identical architectural examples come from the site of Rujm al-Kursi, about 10 km west of the center of Amman, Jordan. There, on either side of the entrance to a building that is plausibly identified as a temple, are smoothed, nearly cubical blocks of limestone measuring slightly less than 1.0 m per side. On the front face of each block there is a relief presenting a lunar crescent standing on a table and supported by a pillar (Figure 3).15 Inside the crescent there is a disk which may represent the full moon (Keel 1998, p. 113). The pillar on the better-preserved block shown in Figure 3 has two rectangles inside it. The pedestal or platform on which the pillar rests has feet rather than the solid or stepped pedestals known on other stelae and seals. Inside the table are two crossing lines that look like an 'X.' The iconography of these reliefs is similar to the iconography of the crescent moon standard typical of the Mesopotamian moon-god Sîn of Harran. The main exception is that the standards here lack the tassels that are typical of the lunar crescent of Sîn of Harran (Hübner 2009, p. 150), but stelae depicting the crescent standard without the tassels are known, even from areas closer to Harran (Keel 1998, pp. 63–64, figs. 3–4). As Keel points out, the thickened pillar, and the style of the platform have parallels on seals from the region (Keel 1998, p. 113, especially figs. 36–37). One wonders whether the 'X' inside the platform is a simplified version of the more extensive cross-hatching visible on some seals (Keel 1998, figs. 33–34, 38–39, 42–49). While a full analysis of this site must await the final publication of the excavations, the reliefs have been dated on stylistic grounds to roughly the seventh century BCE, at the height of Assyrian power in the region. If the date is confirmed by the pottery, these reliefs will furnish evidence of the spread of the iconography of Sîn of Harran well into the Assyrian periphery. Whether this indicates the worship of Sîn of Harran in Ammon, or the adaptation of Sîn's iconography for application to the local moon-god Yarah. is difficult to determine (Hübner 2009, pp. 149–50). Given the relative popularity of the moon-god among the Arameans in Syria, including stelae with moon-god iconography at Bethsaida and the Hauran to the northwest and north of Ammon (Bernett and Keel 1998; Keel 1998, pp. 116–20), moon-god traditions from Harran were most likely mediated through the Arameans.16

<sup>15</sup> The Iron Age material from the site has not been published by the excavator, Abdel-Jalil ގAmr, who has since died. A brief note from ގAmr mentions Iron Age material in deep layers (Amr 1986). The material published from the site comes from the Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic periods. For bibliography see (Hübner 1992, p. 152, n. 121). The possible Iron Age temple and its reliefs were first discussed by Keel, who had been informed of the site by Ulrich Hübner (Keel 1998). Hübner later published an article on the site (Hübner 2009). Subsequent discussion of the possible temple can be found in (Elkowicz 2012, pp. 90, 114, Taf. 62, 66; Elkowicz 2014; Hübner 2015; Tyson 2014, pp. 37–39). The drawing from Keel (1998, fig. 105) was reproduced and mentioned briefly in Staubli (2003, p. 67).

<sup>16</sup> Aramean cultural influence on Ammon can be seen in other ways, for example, the adoption of the Aramaic script in Ammon sometime in the late ninth or early eighth centuries BCE (Tyson 2014, pp. 102–4), and artistic influences visible in Ammonite sculpture from the eighth century BCE (Dornemann 1983, pp. 156–59; Zayadine 1991, pp. 49–51).

**Figure 3.** Lunar crescent relief from one side of the entrance to the Rujm al-Kursi building. Photo courtesy of the author.

The images on seals from Ammon likewise contribute to the evidence for the moon-god. Three main categories of seals are typical of the Iron Age II in Syro-Palestine and are based on shape: cylinder seals, conoid stamp seals, and scaraboid stamp seals.17 By all accounts, the scaraboid stamp seals represent the indigenous tradition of sealing. The cylinder seals that are somewhat common in Syro-Palestine during the Neo-Assyrian Period (734–612 BCE), and the conoid stamp seals that become more common in Syro-Palestine in the Neo-Babylonian and first part of the Persian Period (ca. 600–450 BCE), have their home in Mesopotamia (Keel and Uehlinger 1998, pp. 367, 374; Ornan 1993, pp. 52–53).<sup>18</sup> As such, it is not always clear whether cylinder seals and conoid stamp seals found in Syro-Palestine represent local perceptions of the divine world. However, contemporary parallels in the iconography of the three main types suggest convergences of foreign and indigenous perceptions of the divine world.

Two cylinder seals from the region depict the standard of Sîn of Harran. On Nebo 1 (*CSAJ*, pp. 192–93),19 which dates to the 8th–7th centuries BCE, two worshippers approach a tasseled crescent moon standard of Sîn of Harran (Figure 4a). The worshippers carry what are probably instruments, and are separated by ankh symbols. On the opposite side of the crescent moon standard is a stylized tree. The seal also has other astral symbols, including the eight-rayed star of Venus, and three dots, likely representing stars (*CSAJ*, p. 192; Keel and Uehlinger 1998, p. 302). Another cylinder seal dating to the eighth–seventh centuries BCE (*CSAJ*, pp. 306–7, Tall al-Mazar 23) shows two falcon-headed figures, which attend the tasseled standard of Sîn of Harran (Figure 4b). The scene also contains the eight-rayed star of Venus and a schematic, seven-dot representation of the Pleiades. On the outside of each of the figures are what seem to be stylized trees.<sup>20</sup> An additional exemplar (*CSAJ*, pp. 356–57, Tall al-ގUmeiri 78) with a less clear image appears to portray a crescent moon standard, along with other astral symbols (Figure 4c). While the iconography on these cylinder seals probably does not arise from local sources, it does illustrate the full repertoire of symbols and figures that could appear in such a scene. On stamp seals, which have less surface area, one tends to find more limited representations of worship scenes.

<sup>17</sup> The term "scaraboid" as a description of the slightly oblong shape of these seals, comes from scarab seals, which have scarab beetles inscribed on the convex side of the seal.

<sup>18</sup> The shape of a seal affects the amount of space for images and the way in which the seal is used. Cylinder seals are typically carved all the way around the cylinder, and when used for sealing, they create an image that repeats if rolled more than one rotation. Conoid and scaraboid stamp seals on the other hand, have a single main, roundish stamping surface that has a smaller space than what is typical on a cylinder seal, hence limiting what can be carved on it.

<sup>19</sup> *CSAJ* = Eggler, Jürg, and Othmar Keel. 2006. *Corpus der Siegel-Amulette aus Jordanien vom Neolithikum bis zur Perserzeit*. Fribourg: Academic Press.

<sup>20</sup> Two other cylinder seals that were purchased in Amman, and are hence not from a secure archaeological context, appear to have a crescent moon along with other astral symbols (*CSAJ*, pp. 58–59, ގAmman 87–88).

**Figure 4.** Cylinder seals with crescent moon standards: (**a**) Nebo 1; (**b**) Tall al-Mazar 23; (**c**) Tall al-ގUmeiri 78.

A number of stamp seals from regions around Ammon depict the standard of Sîn of Harran. The elements that flank the standard of Sîn of Harran can be humans, plants, or some combination of the two (Keel and Uehlinger 1998, pp. 304–6). The total scene remains relatively stable, but the flanking figures alternate between a single person, two people, or a person and a stylized tree. One of the seals of this group seems to take the scene in yet another way. It appears to represent the deity in anthropomorphic form flanked by two stylized trees. This is arguably the moon-god, because the scene follows the pattern, and the figure is sitting on top of a low table or bench that is parallel to the bench on which the standard of Sîn of Harran usually sits (Keel and Uehlinger 1998, pp. 306–7).

In Ammon, two main variations appear on stamp seals. The first includes a worshipper with an upraised hand standing in front of several cult symbols, including a crescent moon. Four conoid stamp seals follow this pattern. In two of them with very similar styles from the 7th–6th centuries BCE (ގAmman 3, Meqabelein 1; Figure 5a,b), there is a worshipper standing with their hand raised before a platform that houses the symbols of two Mesopotamian deities: the stylus of Nabu and the spade of Marduk. Above stands the crescent moon (*CSAJ*, pp. 10–11, 190–91). These scenes clearly emphasize the roles of Marduk and Nabu, but at the same time, they include the crescent moon. Two conoid stamps from Tall al-Mazar display worshippers before cultic symbols (Figure 5c,d). In the case of Tall al-Mazar 1 (sixth century BCE), the image shows a worshipper with their hand upraised before the lamp of Nusku, with a crescent moon at the top of the scene (*CSAJ*, pp. 296–97). A relatively minor god for much of Mesopotamian history, Nusku became more important in Neo-Assyrian times through an association with Sîn of Harran (Black and Green 1992, p. 145). Tall al-Mazar 14 (seventh century BCE) has two worshippers standing in front of the symbols of Nabu and Marduk. The top of the scene is filled out by astral symbols: the eight-rayed star of Venus, the crescent moon, and the winged sun disk (*CSAJ*, pp. 300–1).

**Figure 5.** Stamp seals with worshipper and crescent moon: (**a**) ގAmman 3; (**b**) Meqabelein 1; (**c**) Tall al-Mazar 1; (**d**) Tall al-Mazar 14; (**e**) Tall al-ގUmeiri 51; (**f**) Tall al-ގUmeiri 52; (**g**) Umm Udeina 5.

Several scaraboid stamp seals also display a worshipper with a crescent moon. The best-preserved example is Tall al-ގUmeiri 52 (8th–7th centuries BCE; Figure 5f). There is a worshipper—whether human or not is hard to tell—with both hands out towards a crescent moon with a full moon inside. In front of the figure is a branch or stylized tree (*CSAJ*, pp. 340–41). The limits of space on the seal mean much of the larger scene could not be included. The seal cutter retained the moon and the tree or branch that would otherwise flank the scene. Two others (Tall al-ގUmeiri 51; Umm Udeina 5;

Figure 5e,g) seem to preserve a similar scene with a worshipper before a crescent moon, but both are worn and somewhat difficult to decipher (*CSAJ*, pp. 340–41, 476–77).21

The second main variation includes an animal along with a crescent moon, which often also has a full moon inside it. Two conoid stamp seals fit this variation. ގAmman 4 (Figure 6a), which comes from the 6th–5th centuries, depicts a sphinx-like animal with what is perhaps a stylized ankh, as well as a crescent moon above (*CSAJ*, pp. 10–11). Tall al-ގUmeiri 66 (Figure 6b), a seal from the seventh century, displays a quadruped with horns bending forward, a nursing child, and a very schematic set of celestial imagery above including what appears to be a lunar crescent (*CSAJ*, pp. 348–49). Several scaraboid stamp seals also fit this variation. Hisban 2, Tall al-Mazar 18, and Tall al-ގUmeiri 11, and 54 all pair quadrupeds with a crescent moon (Figure 6c–f). On Tall al-Mazar 18 and Tall al-ގUmeiri 11 the animals appear to be bovine, with bodies carved in three segments. Horns are clearly visible on the two bovines on Tall al-ގUmeiri 11, while they are less clear on Tall al-Mazar 18. The exact animal on Hisban 2 and Tall al-ގUmeiri 54 is a bit more difficult to discern, though both have horns curved backwards. All but Tall al-ގUmeiri 54 contain a full moon inside the crescent moon (*CSAJ*, pp. 168–69, 302–3, 318–19, 340–41). Tall al-ގUmeiri 4 (Figure 6g) is a seal impression on clay dated to the early sixth c. BCE, which combines lunar symbols with a scarab beetle (*CSAJ*, pp. 312–13; = *CAI*, no. 129). Flanking the beetle are two standards with a disc (perhaps a full moon) above which are downward facing lunar crescents.

**Figure 6.** Seals with an animal and crescent moon: (**a**) ގAmman 4; (**b**) Tall al-ގUmeiri 66; (**c**) Hisban 2; (**d**) Tall al-Mazar 18; (**e**) Tall al-ގUmeiri 11; (**f**) Tall al-ގUmeiri 54; (**g**) Tall al-ގUmeiri 4.

A number of stamp seals have astral symbols without any other attending imagery. The badly damaged conoid stamp seal ގAmman 53 (seventh–sixth centuries BCE; Figure 7a) shows the crescent moon and the eight-rayed star of Venus (*CSAJ*, pp. 40–41).22 The scaraboid stamps seals Tall al-ގUmeiri 39 (seventh–sixth centuries BCE; Figure 7b) and Umm Udeina 1 (eighth century BCE; Figure 7c) are both largely epigraphic, but ގUmeiri 39 has what appears to be a crescent moon with full moon at the bottom, and Umm Udeina 1 has a crescent moon and star (*CSAJ*, pp. 332–33, 474–75).

<sup>21</sup> Cf. also the scaraboid seal Tall Deir <sup>ގ</sup>Alla 28 from the nearby site of Tall Deir <sup>ގ</sup>Alla (*CSAJ*, pp. 406–7). <sup>22</sup> Cf. Tall as-Sa'idiya 8 (*CSAJ*, pp. 370–71).

**Figure 7.** Seals with astral symbols: (**a**) ގAmman 53; (**b**) Tall al-ގUmeiri 39; (**c**) Umm Udeina 1; (**d**) 5. Ammanގ

A variation of Sîn iconography that is common in Assyria and the northern part of Syria between the ninth and fifth centuries BCE is an anthropomorphic deity standing in a crescent moon with a hand raised in a blessing posture (Keel and Uehlinger 1998, p. 309). A conoid stamp seal from Amman (ގAmman 5) contains just such an image (Figure 7d). The seal, which probably dates to the seventh century BCE, has a deity standing in a crescent moon blessing a worshipper (*CSAJ*, pp. 12–13).23

The varied evidence available for the moon-god in Ammon—epigraphic and iconographic demonstrates the active role that the moon-god played in Ammonite society. The cylinder seals that portray the standard of Sîn were most likely imported or came to Ammon with a trader or official from Assyria. The depiction of the lunar crescent on the six conoid stamp seals discussed above appears invariably alongside the symbols for other identifiably Mesopotamian gods (Marduk, Nabu, Nusku). Since the tradition of conoid stamp seals generally emanates from Syria and Assyria, it is possible to regard them as imports similar to the cylinder seals. The scaraboid stamp seals are, on the other hand, a distinctly Levantine tradition. The exemplars from Ammon preserve three main variants: a worshipper before a lunar emblem, a lunar emblem with an animal (bovine or other quadruped), and a lunar emblem with an inscription (in one case also including a star). Absent from the scaraboid stamp seals are Sîn's standard and the symbols of other Mesopotamian gods, and this fact makes the scaraboid stamp seals the most potentially polyvalent of the three types of seals found in Ammon. A crescent moon is a nearly universal emblem of moon-gods across the ancient Near East and thus could invoke any locally or more broadly known moon-god. Is there a way then to specify which moon-god is referenced in a specific context such as Ammon?

Given the occurrence of Yarah. as a theophoric element in an elite Ammonite name, the default should be that these lunar emblems represent this local deity. However, the iconography of Sîn of Harran used on the reliefs at Rujm al-Kursi suggests a more complicated situation. Was Sîn worshipped in Ammon alongside Yarah. ? Was Sîn's iconography applied to the West Semitic moon-god Yarah. ? Or were Sîn and Yarah. identified or otherwise thought to be the same deity? There is at present no way to answer the question definitively. Nonetheless, we do know that Sîn of Harran played a special role in Neo-Assyrian expansion and management of the western part of the empire. In part, this seems to be related to the location of Harran as a kind of gateway to Assyria's western periphery, but also because of the ease with which one moon-god could be identified with another (Holloway 1995, pp. 279–308). This reality favors the conclusion that some kind of identification took place between Sîn of Harran and the West Semitic Yarah. .

Along different lines, iconographic analysis of the representation of deities in the first millennium BCE ancient Near East shows significant overlap and mixing of the iconographic attributes of the various local versions of the weather god and the moon-god. A particular point of similarity is their common attribute animal, the bull (Novák 2002; Ornan 2001, pp. 19–26). The mixing of such attributes is visible on seals, and reliefs on stelae and orthostats. Closest to Ammon is the stele from Bethsaida (Figure 8) that combines weather god, bull, and lunar symbolism in one figure (Bernett

<sup>23</sup> An unprovenanced seal that may be from the region of Ammon seems to incorporate the boat motif, the stylized tree, and the anthropomorphic deity sitting on a bench facing an ankh (Keel and Uehlinger 1998, pp. 307, illus. 305a; Avigad and Sass 1997, p. 446, no. 1177).

and Keel 1998; Ornan 2001). The apparent amalgamation or merging of weather god and moon-god iconographic features might well have taken place in Ammon given the connection between a lunar crescent and bovine figures on Tall al-Mazar 18 and Tall al-ގUmeiri 11 (Figure 6c,d). Finally, as Keel and Uehlinger have shown, the night time celestial powers in general—the stars, Venus, and the moon—were popular in the iconography of Iron IIC seals from the Levant, similar to the way in which the sun and its iconography had been popular in the preceding Iron IIB (Keel and Uehlinger 1998, pp. 287–323). In this broad iconographic context, it is possible to see a further amalgamation of deity attributes in which state gods such as Yahweh and Milkom, who had already been identified with ގEl, took on the additional imagery of the moon (Keel and Uehlinger 1998, pp. 306–16). Along these lines, Theuer has called attention to the seal of Milkomގor as highlighting the connection between Milkom and the moon. On the seal (Tall al-ގUmeiri 4; *CSAJ*, pp. 312–13), the central register displays a four-winged scarab beetle flanked by two poles or standards with a ball (probably a full moon) inside a downward facing moon crescent. In addition to the clear lunar aspects of the iconography, Theuer notes that the second part of Milkomގor's name, which means "light," is a known epithet of the moon-god (Theuer 2000, p. 414). While we cannot reach a definitive conclusion on the amalgamation or identification of ގEl, the weather god (which was usually the state god), and the moon-god in Ammon, the evidence is suggestive that some such process did take place. In addition, the imperial context of the evidence, with all of its pressures and opportunities for cultural exchange, was ripe for such processes.24

**Figure 8.** Stele from the gate area of Bethsaida from (Keel 1998, fig. 107). Note the bull head and horns that form a crescent moon.
