Edomite Three-horned Figurine

Head of a goddess,  Horvat Qitmit, Iron Age II, late 7th - early 6th century BCE, Pottery, H: 13 cm; W: 9 cm, Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Deities depicted with horns or antlers are found in many different religions across the world. In Egypt the mother goddess Hathor is commonly depicted as a cow goddess with head horns but this figurine is rather unique in that it has three horns which may represent a triune deity. Three horns generally indicate a goddess. This sculpture was unearthed at an Edomite shrine in the Negev.

The Edomites were a Semitic people established south of the Dead Sea. Edomites are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the descendants of Esau: the firstborn son of Isaac and the twin brother of Jacob. They are also included in a list of the Egyptian pharaoh Seti I from ca. 1215 BCE, and in the chronicle of a campaign by Ramses III (r. 1186–1155 BCE).