The “Iconographic-Historical” Approach

The iconographic-historical approach “employs iconography for the reconstruction of ancient Near Eastern history and cultural phenomena” (LeMon, “Iconographic Approaches,” 149). This approach has immense value for those who want to understand the religion of Israel and Old Testament religious texts in their ancient Palestinian context. An important scholarly work relating iconography to the Old Testament is Keel and Uehlinger’s Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God in Ancient Israel. This study seeks to “sketch out a general outline of the development of the religious history in Canaan and Israel” from about 1800 to 450 bc, using primarily iconographic sources (Keel and Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, 5). Another helpful scholarly work is Keel and Schroer’s Die Ikonographie PalastinasIsraels und der Alte Orient/ (IPIAO). These volumes organize religious images from the southern Levant chronologically, providing a helpful resource for understanding the religion of Israel in its ancient context.