autel ; figurine

The statuette shows the god as a beardless youth wearing a kalathos, a basket-shaped hat, and an ependytes, a close-fitting dress, under ornate armor. This full body covering features busts of seven deities associated with celestial bodies, arranged in rectangular registers. From top left to bottom right, these are: Sol and Luna, the deities of the Sun and the Moon, respectively; Mars and Mercury in the next row down; followed by Jupiter and his consort Juno (replacing Venus, consistent with ancient Greek and Latin sources associating Venus' celestial light with Juno); and Saturn. Four-pointed stars are depicted beside Mars, Mercury, and Saturn to signify their planetary nature, whereas Venus is accompanied by two stars symbolizing her dual aspects as the "morning" and "evening star".

The statuette also features a winged solar disc above the armor busts and a lion's head above Jupiter's bare feet. On the front of the small pedestal stands Tyche holding a cornucopia, and stylized thunderbolt motifs adorn the sides of the armor. The Sursock bronze illustrates the syncretism and fusion of Canaanite, Greek, and Roman elements, showing how Jupiter Heliopolitanus evolved from the Canaanite Baal-Hadad into a cosmic deity associated with planetary order and prophecy.

The piece is named after Charles Sursock, its former owner. Originally gilded, it has lost much of its gold to wear. The bronze was likely damaged in antiquity, perhaps by Christian iconoclasts; it was later restored and is now the centerpiece of the Louvre's Roman Levant collection in Paris. In 1920, René Dussaud, Deputy Curator of the Department of Oriental Antiquities, selected it to inaugurate the first issue of Syria, the leading French journal of Levantine archaeology.