Five figurines – including heads of African figures carved in black wood – have been unearthed in 1,500-year-old graves of women and children during an digin the Negev’s Arad Valleyn in southern Israel.
Carefully placed in the tomb alongside women and children, the figurines were well-preserved and, according to researchers, it’s possible that the figures represent ancestors, reflecting traditions passed down from generation to generation – even after the adoption of the Christian religion.
The research on these findings was conducted by Dr. Noé D. Michael of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the University of Cologne in Germany, along with Svetlana Tallis, Dr. Yossi Nagar and Emil Aladjem from the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The group say that figurines show that a Christian community lived in the south of the country about 1,500 years ago, possibly with some of its members coming from Africa.
One of the figurines placed as a burial offering. The state of preservation of the findings is exceptional. Photo: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority
“Carved from bone, and from ebony wood – a rare raw material originating from southern India and Sri Lanka –the figurines were designed in the form of women and men bearing prominent African facial features, and with a hole for the purpose of wearing them around the neck. It seems their purpose was not only decorative – but also as intimate personal items carrying with them a story of identity, tradition and memory.”
Pottery bowls, probably used in a meal related to the burial. Photo: Svetlana Talis, Israel Antiquities Authority
Heads of carved African figures discovered at the site may attest to the origin of the buried people. Photo: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority
During the Roman-Byzantine period, Tel Malḥata served as a major crossroads, where merchants from southern Arabia, India and Africa passed, and the experts add that finding African figurines in local Christian graves “is a rare discovery, which deepens our understanding of the cultural diversity among the inhabitants of the country in this region about 1,500 years ago.”
Among the figurines placed as burial offerings were also glassware, stone and alabaster jewelry, and bronze bracelets.
Along with the figurines, glassware, alabaster jewelry, and bronze bracelets were also found. Photo: Svetlana Talis, Israel Antiquities Authority
The tombs themselves attest to a traditional Christian burial, from the 6th-7th centuries CE.
Researchers believe it’s likely that a woman and a child who were buried side-by-side, and in whose graves two of the figurines were discovered, belonged to the same family – and were perhaps even mother and son.
According to Eli Escusido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, the finds from Tel Malḥata “are moving, not only from an archaeological perspective, but also on a human level. They serve as a reminder that the Israel has always been a crossroads of cultures and peoples—individuals arrived here, integrated into the local population, and yet still carried with them traditions and beliefs from distant lands.”
