Door Handle Knocker

Door Handle Knocker

Door handle knocker with lion's head motif

This bronze door knocker features a hollow lion's head. Surrounding the lion’s head are nine knobs radiating outwards. Possibly made in Constantinople between the years 300-1100 CE, the door knocker was found on the Island of Cyprus. It is pierced in four places for the purpose of attachment to a door. While there is no religious affiliation known, the lion’s head is commonly associated with the city of Jerusalem. Excavated in Beth-Shean, Israel, now in the collections of the Penn Museum.

Beth Shean

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

300-1100 CE

Emily Feyrer

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/250675

Bronze cast

Door knocker

29-108-104