Late Bronze Age Cypriot Terracotta Bilbil

In antiquity, there was a thriving trade between the peoples of Cyprus and Palestine. This charming vessel was perhaps exported from “the island of copper” carrying oil or wine. The bold, abstract geometry that decorates it seems to convey the lively spirit of the people through whose hands it passed so long ago. We remember that these were individuals who laughed and sang, talked, argued and loved. In appearance they were similar to us, though their vision of the world was vastly different. This pot links us directly to that ancient world. Our hands rest where other hands did in Biblical times; the energy, the bond, is there to be felt.