Canaanite God El, c. 1600 BCE

University of Chicago excavators at Megiddo found in the temple a bronze statuette of a seated male deity, covered from head to foot with gold foil and wearing a conical crown and earrings. In his left hand he holds a divine emblem. The discovery near the Megiddo temple of a clay model of a liver, used for divination, and finger cymbals to accompany music and dance is further evidence of cultic rituals in the area.

The Shechem Temple, Lawrence E. Stager, BAR 29-04, Jul-Aug 2003.