The Woman at the Window

The Woman at the Window






The Ivory inlays like the ones below have been found in the area of Israel, although the two here were found at Lachish in Judah and at Nimrud in Assyria. They were used to adorn furniture in wealthy households or in temples. Ahab King of Israel is credited with having a “house of ivory”, which would have been a building full of furniture and ornaments decorated in ivory like the ones below.


1Ki 22:39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, andthe ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?


Plaques like the ones shown here have been found all over Assyria, Syria and Israel. Their exact meaning is not known but they are often thought to represent some of the worst aspects of idol worship, that of a sacred prostitute. There is a reference to something similar in real life in the history of Israel. Jezebel the widow of Ahab when confronted by Jehu at Jezreel presents herself in a similar way.


2Ki 9:30 When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window.


The character of Jezebel is one to be avoided and is in keeping with the representation here. Jehu describes her to Joram the then King of Israel, Jezebel’s son, this way…


2Ki 9:22 And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, "Is it peace, Jehu?" He answered, "What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?"


Jezebel is vilified with good reason in the biblical record for turning both Ahab (who is given the greater responsibility in the bible record) and almost the whole of Israel to the worship of Baal.


1Ki 16:30-33 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.




Discovered at the Fosse Temple at Lachish.


Now housed in the British Museum, Levant Room.


Discovered at Nimrud.


Now displayed in the Levant Room at the British Museum