Euphrates Handmade Syrian Horses and Riders

However, various other terms are also used in scholarly literature: The clay figurines are completely handmade and free standing.

These decorations are used to stress anatomical features and fabric patterns of the riders' clothing and the horses' harnesses.

The connection with the Neo-Assyrian pottery is further indicated by the surface treatments, usually a pale brown slip and, in a few figurines, a cast of blue-green glaze.

In the local ceramic assemblage, this surface treatment usually appears in imported pottery from Assyria and in some polychrome bricks.

[7] According to contextual data, these figurines are attested in some Middle Euphrates sites during the mature Iron Age.