Among the bone materials coming from the temple of Astarte dig, there is a sketch image of the god Bes and a Phoenician type palm.

Fig. 1 - The "temple of Astarte" (photo Unicity S.p.A.)

The face of Bes, an Egyptian god, is a mask, with cuts under the eyes - according to the Gorgon pattern, with the classic pulling of a face with the tongue out. The bent arms held together at the fists, form a triangle with the top of the slab. The hands support the flaps of a dress (according to various interpretations), or two snakes, if they do not refer to the known icon of Osiris with two sceptres.

The palm, with the central petal longer and fourteen petals (seven to the right, seven to the left) slightly smaller, placed on a small lotus flower capital, and is a typical decoration of near East items.

Figs. 2-3 – Bes and palm in bone from the temple of Astarte (BARTOLONI 2004, fig. 22).

The bone slabs - found together with several other fragments in bone, some with animals designs, such as the sphinx, and plants - must have decorated the surfaces of items of worship. Dating may be from the Archaic age, around the 6th century B.C.

Fig. 4 – Bone sphinx (photo MVO).