Tracing the Source of the Elephant And Hippopotamus Ivory from ...

The End of Ivory-working in the LBA Eastern Mediterranean
The ivory-carving tradition across the eastern Mediterranean suffered the same
fate as much else circa 1200-900 B.C.: it disappeared, and was not to be seen again in the
archaeological record until the ninth century when the renowned North Syrian and
Phoenician schools of ivory-working arose (see Winter 1973, 1976; Krzyszkowska 1990:
112-113). These schools certainly had their roots in the LBA ivory tradition, as
evidenced by some common motifs which transcended the intervening “dark” period
(Kantor 1956: 173; Winter 1981: 108). These schools, too, would see an eventual end in
the eighth century, which some scholars link to the depletion or extinction of the Syrian
elephant herds (Miller 1986: 32; Scullard 1974: 30; Barnett 1939: 18), but this seems to
ignore the fact that hippopotamus ivory could have been used in substitution.
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