JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—According to a Live Science report, the intricately carved head from a statue estimated to have stood between eight and ten inches tall has been uncovered in a large building situated on the highest point of the ancient city of Abel Beth Maacah, in northern Israel. Robert Mullins of Azusa Pacific University said the glazed ceramic head depicts an elite bearded man with long, black hair held with a yellow and black headband. He thinks the statue may have represented a king, since it was found in a possible administrative building. Radiocarbon dating of organic material found in the same room as the sculpture suggests it is about 2,800 years old. Mullins explained that at that time, different kingdoms, including Israel, Tyre, and Aram-Damascus, controlled the site of Abel Beth Maacah, so there are many possible royal candidates for the portrait. To read about recent discoveries of mosaic inscriptions in Israel, go to “Gods of the Galilee.”
