Statue of Warrior. Phoenicia

A male figure is represented dressed in a loincloth, with a cone-shaped cap on his head. His face, despite the wear and tear, displays his features and a characteristic pointed beard, giving the piece a marked Eastern aspect. This figure is thrusting a spear at another figure, which is missing, and with which it would form a set. We do not know if this is an animal or warrior. The set is supported on a very basic plinth. The piece reminds of some scenes from the Phoenician ivory pieces of Carmona (Sevilla), but its historical importance goes much further beyond this since the finding is the first significant evidence of stone Phoenician sculpture in the Iberian Peninsula. Everything indicates that it formed part of the decoration of some important building in Phoenician Cádiz, although we have no further information with respect to this, except that this structure was found abandoned in the Roman period; the piece was found broken at the bottom of one of the many wells in Cádiz. We do not know anything about the identity of the figure, but the pose seems to reflect a fighting scene, possibly mythical. Could this be one of Melqart-Heracles` labours at an archaic moment in the spread of the legend?