Palestine Exploration Fund - Quarterly Statement for 1894/Note on the Marble Fragment from Jebail
NOTE ON THE MARBLE FRAGMENT FROM JEBAIL.
By the Rev. D. Lee Pitcairn.
The marble fragment from Jebail, of which Mr. F. J. Bliss sends a photograph to the April number of the Quarterly Statement, bears a striking likeness to the image of the Ephesian Diana, of which there is an antique statue in the Naples Museum, engraved in Falkener's "Ephesus," Fairbairn's "Bible Dictionary," &c. This image has the form of an Asiatic idol rather than of a Greek statue. It has many beasts (quam Græci πολυμαστήν vocant. Jerome), to signify the All-Mother, Nature; and below is shaped like a mummy. The bands and panels, the few inches of drapery, and the protruding toes are found in the statue just as in the fragment from Jebail. The symbols of lions and oxen are also found on the statue, though not in the same positions as in the fragment.
Is it not likely that the fragment, instead of being a mere pillar or caryatid, is part of a similar statue of the Ephesian Diana?