Akhot-melek, seated upon an elegant throne, with her feet upon a footstool, and dressed in a long robe which envelops the whole of her figure, receives at the hands of a female attendant a bowl or wine-cup, which the latter has just filled from an oenochoe of elegant shape, still held in her left hand.  The attendant wears a striped robe reaching to the feet, and over it a tunic fastened round the waist with a belt.  Her hair flows down on her shoulders, while that of her mistress is confined by a band, from which depends an ample veil, enveloping the cheeks, the back of the head, and the chin.  We are told that such veils are still worn in the Phoenician country.[7105] An inscription, in a late form of the Phoenician character, surrounds the two figures, and is read as {...} or l’Akhot-melek ishat Joshua(?)—­i.e. “(the seal) of Akhot-melek, wife of Joshua."[7106] No. 4 contains the figure of a lion, cut with much spirit.  MM.  Perrot et Chipiez say of it—­“Among the numerous representations of lions that have been discovered in Phoenicia, there is none which can be placed on a par with that on the scarab bearing the name of ’Ashenel:  small as it is, this lion has something of the physiognomy of those magnificent ones which we have borrowed from the bas-reliefs of the Assyrians.  Still, the intaglio is in other respects decidedly Phoenician and not Assyrian.  Observe, for instance, the beetle with the wings expanded, which fills up the lower part of the field; this is a motive borrowed from Egypt, which a Ninevite lapidary would certainly not have put in such a place."[7107] The Phoenician inscription takes away all doubt as to the nationality.  It reads as {...}, or ’Ashenel, and no doubt designates the owner.  No. 5 is beautifully engraved on a chalcedony.  It represents a stag attacked by a griffin, which has jumped suddenly on its back.  The drawing is excellent, both of the real and of the imaginary animal, and leaves nothing to be desired.  The inscription, which occupies the upper part of the field to the right, is in Cyprian characters, and shows that the gem was the signet of a certain Akestodaros.[7108]

There are some Phoenician gems which are interesting from their subject matter without being especially good as works of art.  One of these contains a representation of two men fighting.[7109] Both are armed with two spears, and both carry round shields or bucklers.  The warrior to the right wears a conical helmet, and is thought to be a native Cyprian;[7110] he carries a shield without an umbo or boss.  His adversary on the left wears a loose cap, or hood, the {pilos apages} of Herodotus,[7111] and has a prominent umbo in the middle of his shield.  He probably represents a Persian, and appears to have received a wound from his antagonist, which is causing him to sink to the ground.  This gem was found at Curium in Cyprus by General Di Cesnola.

Another, found at the same place, exhibits a warrior, or a hunter, going forth to battle or to the chase in his chariot.[7112] A large quiver full of arrows is slung at each side of his car.  The warrior and his horse (one only is seen) are rudely drawn, but the chariot is very distinctly made out, and has a wheel of an Assyrian type.  The Salaminians of Cyprus were famous for their war chariots,[7113] of which this may be a representation.