Strata: Do You Remember?

Do You Remember Where This Was Discovered?

A. Northern Israel

B. Judah

C. Sinai

D. Moab

E. Edom

Answer: (A) Northern Israel

This bronze bull first appeared in the September/October 1983 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.^a Measuring seven inches long and five inches high, the bull is one of the largest ever discovered in Israel and dates to the Biblical period of the Judges, c. 1200 B.C.E. According to Amihai Mazar—of the famed Mazar archaeological family—the figurine was most likely used in a religious ritual, perhaps as a throne for a local god.¹

This bull comes from a cultic site—an open-air sanctuary—in northern Israel near Dothan and Tirzah. The cultic site rests on the top of a hill in what would have been the territory of the tribe of Manasseh.