The Ingot God: The technological advancement and implementation of metallurgic ability on Late Bronze Age Cyprus

Abstract

On Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1650–1050 B.C.) the smiting pose of smiting figurines from the Near East was adapted from a stance of striding to a stationary one, and used to make the famous Ingot God from Enkomi. The Ingot God stands upon a miniature ingot and shows certain physical traits attune to the sociopolitical influences at Enkomi, and is an impressive example of metallurgic advancement on Cyprus at the end of the Late Bronze Age. The forerunners that led to the to the Ingot God in both an iconographic and technological sense can be seen in the Eastern Mediterranean with the progression of the cast-on technique, and the changes in particular attributes and flexibility of the smiting pose. As both the attributes of smiting statuettes and the technology used to create them changed, the ability of metallurgists on Cyprus to cast-on the Ingot God became possible.