The Iconography of the Heroic Body

Abstract

Chapter 4 departs from the textually oriented studies in the rest of the book and explores the primary ways in which heroic bodies were iconographically portrayed in Israel’s historical and geographical environments, and more specifically, wherever possible, within the Levant and even Iron Age Israel. Texts describe visual aspects of the world in rich and subtle ways, but images have a distinct story to tell. Images function not as mere decorations but rather convey crucial information about their subjects. Specifically, the bodies of warriors in the common posture with arm raised—the “striking,” “smiting,” or “menacing” posture—come to the fore as the preeminent iconography of the heroic body in Egypt and the Levant, where striking heroic figures become a norm for warrior representations. This interaction with material culture allows glimpses into a lived world that texts obscure or simply cannot address.