Mask, Pole, Scepter, Crown
Still processing yesterday's museum visit. At some point, after seeing few hundreds of artefacts, my curiosity level dropped a bit. It immediately rised when I encountered striking religious objects. Enormous power surged from them even in their current state: out of their cultic context and behind clean display glass.
A False-Face Iroquois Mask from the Wooldlands area in Northestern America, made of wood, horsehair and metal. Its red and black colors stand out in a display of mostly grayish wood items. Blood and darkness. But it's not only the colors. It's mostly the expression of the mask. Mocking. Terrible. It gave me the chill. For a few moments I was sucked into a dream world, full of spirits, demons, witches and alternative paths.
A Bis-Pole from the central Asmat region in New Guinea, made of wood and painted in magnificent patterns. At first I thought it was a totem pole. Apparently, though, it's something different. A bis-pole serves as a physical reminder and promise to avenge the death of a relative. The blood of the enemy would have to be spilled at its base. The bis-pole I saw yesterday was tall, impressive, awe-inspiring, almost frightening. I emitted an involunatry "wow" when I approached it. That the pole made it to a museum in Jerusalem instead of being left to rot in the Asmat swamps means that the specific dead person for whom that pole was erected was not avenged. This thought alone took my breath away.
A calcolithic copper Horned-God (Ram) Ritual Scepter from a cultic hoard in the Nahal Mishmar cave in the Judean Desert, and a matching Horned-God crown. They reminded me of the Summer King.
A False-Face Iroquois Mask from the Wooldlands area in Northestern America, made of wood, horsehair and metal. Its red and black colors stand out in a display of mostly grayish wood items. Blood and darkness. But it's not only the colors. It's mostly the expression of the mask. Mocking. Terrible. It gave me the chill. For a few moments I was sucked into a dream world, full of spirits, demons, witches and alternative paths.
A Bis-Pole from the central Asmat region in New Guinea, made of wood and painted in magnificent patterns. At first I thought it was a totem pole. Apparently, though, it's something different. A bis-pole serves as a physical reminder and promise to avenge the death of a relative. The blood of the enemy would have to be spilled at its base. The bis-pole I saw yesterday was tall, impressive, awe-inspiring, almost frightening. I emitted an involunatry "wow" when I approached it. That the pole made it to a museum in Jerusalem instead of being left to rot in the Asmat swamps means that the specific dead person for whom that pole was erected was not avenged. This thought alone took my breath away.
A calcolithic copper Horned-God (Ram) Ritual Scepter from a cultic hoard in the Nahal Mishmar cave in the Judean Desert, and a matching Horned-God crown. They reminded me of the Summer King.