Zoomorphic Sculpture With A Fertility Goddess

There is a hypnotic, mysterious quality about this clay votive. The head of the fertility goddess Astarte rises from the back of a horse with one body and tail, but two heads. This seems an image endowed with magical powers. What does it mean? Is it a reflection of some forgotten myth? A record of some freak double-headed birth, considered an omen from the heavens? A whimsical abstraction on the part of the artist? The answers to such questions are lost in the mists of time. What remains is a sculpture of enduring fascination and power. – (PF.2159)