Chapter 18 Judith’s Victory Celebration and the Iconography of Twigs in Judith 15:12–13 Thomas Staubli Dedicated to Tal Ilan 1. Introduction As is evident in other chapters in this volume, iconographic exegesis ofers a pow- erful tool for interpreting biblical metaphors in poetic texts, especially the Psalms. However, the study of ancient art can also aid in the interpretation of various other types of biblical texts, including prophetic visions and accounts of rituals, festivals, and celebrations. Texts in this latter category ofer a potentially fruitful topic of study since they oten provide vivid descriptions of visual objects (cult vessels, cult stands, special garments, etc.) and/or visual practices (dance, processions, etc.). Decipher- ing the symbolic meaning of these objects and activities calls not only for a careful analysis of the text at hand but also an assessment of iconographic sources that dis- play similar themes. In this chapter, I use this procedure to help explain the signif- icance of twigs/branches (Greek: thyrsos; Hebrew: lûlāb [pronounced “lulav”]) in Judith’s victory celebration (Jud 15:12–13). My iconographic exegesis begins with a brief textual analysis of the book of Judith and then proceeds to a fuller evaluation of the background, development, and ongoing signiicance of twig imagery in the visual arts of the Levant. 2. Judith 15:12–13 and its Background he book of Judith was probably written during the irst century BCE (Ilan 1999:136) during the reign and under the protection of Salome (Shelamzion) Alexandra (76– 67 BCE), the wife and successor of Alexander Jannaeus (Rocca 2005). It is uncer- tain whether the book was originally written in Hebrew (Hanhart 1979:9) or Greek (Schmitz 2006). In either case, no ancient Hebrew manuscript survives and the old- est extant version is from the Septuagint. Not unlike Esther and Susanna, Judith features a female protagonist and is missing from the anti-Hasmonean library of the Qumran sect. For this reason, Ilan suggests that Judith was composed as “propaganda for Hasmonean queenship” (1999:141). According to Ilan, the historical background of Judith is the crisis at the end of Alex- ander Jannaeus’s life in a situation of civil war. Speciically, Ilan contends: