The “Iconographic-Artistic” Approach. The iconographic-artistic approach is “concerned with interpreting images in their artistic contexts.… Each ancient Near Eastern artistic motif can convey different meanings depending on the contexts in which it is found” (LeMon, “Iconographic Approaches,” 146–7). This approach puts an emphasis on the context of an image and its multiple interpretations based on its geographic and historical setting. In employing this approach for biblical studies, the scholar begins with ancient Near Eastern images, first describing them chronologically, then linking them to biblical texts based on similarities (de Hulster, “Illuminating Images,” 144–45).

This brings up the question of influence—how does one know whether an Early Bronze image or motif from Egypt was known by the biblical authors? Here the general principle of proximity should be considered—the more an image is geographically and historically proximate to Israel, the greater its likelihood of influence. The scholar also cannot avoid discussions of dating biblical texts, giving preference to images from a similar era. However, this cannot be applied in a strict way, as de Hulster observes when he suggests an adjustment to this principle by adding “cultural” to geographic and historical proximity. Iconographic approaches must consider that cultural affinity can sometimes be detected between otherwise separated groups (de Hulster, “Illuminating Images,” 151). One should not exclude the possibility, for example, that ancient Israel may have had more cultural influence from Egypt than Ugarit during some periods, which would be reflected both in text and art.

One can observe the benefits of this approach in Strawn’s study on leonine imagery. In Amos 1:2, the Lord “roars” (שׁאג, sh'g), a verb typically associated with lions. A modern reader may conclude, based on modern notions of lions, that the Lord is brave or courageous. However, on studying images of lions in their ancient Near Eastern context, Strawn concludes that the ancient hearer would have judged that the Lord is dangerous and terrifying (Strawn, What Is Stronger). The iconographic-artistic approach, therefore, can uncover indigenous categories of meaning for biblical images or metaphors.

Accessing catalogs of images can be difficult since many volumes give preference to images related to the Bible (e.g., Pritchard, Ancient Near East in Pictures), famous images (e.g., Amiet, Art), or images housed in one collection. One must browse many volumes to gain broad exposure to all possible images during a certain historical period or from a specific geographic area. One study that attempts to do this for cylinder seals is Dominique Collon’s First Impressions. This volume organizes a large number of surviving cylinder seals around their geographic and chronological contexts, and themes.