Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 2.djvu/49

ICONIC SCULPTURE. 27 hand, the Phoenicians followed the example of their oriental masters in chiselling the living rock, in cutting the figures of their gods on the faces of cliffs and the flanks of ravines. As models, they had the reliefs left by Egyptian and Assyrian conquerors in the pass of the Nahr-el-Kelb and on the cliffs near Adloun. 1 A few traces of these rock sculptures have been found ; but nearly all are in very bad condition owing to the poor quality of the rock ; those in which the figures can still be clearly made out belong to the Grseco-Roman period. 2 The only examples to which any great antiquity can be ascribed are so worn away by the weather that we cannot guess what they represent, still less determine their age. 3 Close to Tyre, in the neighbourhood of the ancient Cana, there is a very Egyptian-looking relief surmounted by the winged globe. Unfortunately it is in bad condition; for centuries it has served as a target to the passing Methualis. M. Renan took a squeeze from it, which he lost, so that his description is unaccompanied by a figure. 4 3. Iconic Sculpture. The condition in which the remains of Phoenician sculpture have come down to us makes it often difficult to distinguish between gods and mortals. Our chief help to a recognition of the latter are first, the absence of those attributes and sym- bolic animals which are reserved to gods and goddesses ; secondly, iconic statues are always standing ; the worshipper did not sit down in the presence of his deity ; finally, there is a strong resemblance, in certain particulars, between the iconic statues of Phoenicia and those of Egypt, a resemblance which 1 Art in Chaldaa and Assyria, Vol. II. p. 231. RENAN, Mission, pp. 661-662. 2 RENAN, Mission, p. 238, and plate xxxi. 3 These are in the neighbourhood of Tyre at Wadi-Kana, Deir-Kanoun, and El Akkab (RENAN, Mission, pp. 635-636 and 690). They are so rough that we have not cared to reproduce the sketch given by M. Renan. MR. SAYCE believes them to be very ancient (see his preface to Dr. Schliemann's Troja, p. xx. at the end of the note). 4 Mission, pp. 640 641. At Samar-Gebeyl M. RENAN thought he could distin- guish something like bas-reliefs in the Egyptian style; but he brought away no sketch.