Rare Syrian basalt stone altar. Near Easter, Chalcolithic period, IV millennium BC. Stone. Good condition. Provenance: Elisenda Barbié Art-Archaeology, Barcelona, 2015; Exhibited: Ifergan Collection, Malaga (2018-2020). Measurements: 29 x 28.5 cm. Altar carved in basalt stone with a cylindrical shape, elegant and notched, also known as pillar image, with the upper part lowered forming a shallow basin and one of the sides with an anthropomorphic face with a large beak-shaped nose, small round protruding eyes and ears in the shape of ears. This is an extremely rare piece of visual culture that was probably used as a domestic altar. Altars of this type have been found in the Golan region of western Syria and eastern Israel, and appear to be carved from local basalt. It has been suggested that these altars represent domestic gods. In the Chalcolithic period a nose was often added to non-anthropomorphic cult objects, suggesting that the nose was identified as being related to the breath of life and thus capable of imbuing an object with anthropomorphic qualities.