Five small African figurines, including miniature heads carved from rare ebony wood and bone, have been discovered in medieval-era graves of women and children at Tel Malḥata, an archaeological site in the Arad Valley of southern Israel. The finds, dated to around 1,500 years ago, are shedding new light on the cultural and religious diversity of the region during the early Byzantine period.
The research, published in ʻAtiqot, was led by Dr. Noé D. Michael of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the University of Cologne, in collaboration with Svetlana Tallis, Dr. Yossi Nagar, and Emil Aladjem, also of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The excavation area. Photo: Svetlana Talis, Israel Antiquities Authority
“The 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,” the researchers explain.
Carved in the likeness of men and women with distinctly African facial features, the figurines are made from bone and ebony – the latter a luxury material imported from southern India and Sri Lanka. The presence of a hole in each figurine suggests they were worn around the neck, possibly serving not just as ornamentation but as deeply personal items.
“It seems their purpose was not only decorative – but also as intimate personal items carrying with them a story of identity, tradition and memory,” the researchers note.
Burial Offerings and Cultural Memory
A figurine discovered in the excavation. Photo: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority
The figurines were found in tombs containing the remains of women and children, carefully positioned as burial goods alongside glassware, stone and alabaster jewelry, and bronze bracelets. The graves reflect Christian burial customs from the 6th–7th centuries CE, a time when the Negev was part of the Byzantine Empire.
The researchers suggest the figurines may have represented ancestors, serving as a connection to familial traditions that predated conversion to Christianity. “It is possible that the figures represent ancestors, and thus they reflect traditions passed down from generation to generation – even after the adoption of the Christian religion.”
Two figurines were found in adjacent graves of a woman and a child, leading researchers to speculate that they may have been mother and son.
A Crossroads of Peoples
Along with the figurines, glassware, alabaster jewelry, and bronze bracelets were also found. Photo: Svetlana Talis, Israel Antiquities Authority
Located on a major trade route during the Roman-Byzantine period, Tel Malḥata connected Arabia, Africa, and the Indian subcontinent. The discovery of figurines with African features in Christian graves is highly unusual and reinforces the idea that the region was a vibrant crossroads of cultures.
“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,” the researchers add.
Eli Escusido, Director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, emphasised the broader significance of the find. “The finds from Tel Malḥata are moving not only from an archaeological perspective, but also on a human level,” he says. “They serve as a reminder that the Land of 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.”
One of the figurines placed as a burial offering. The state of preservation of the findings is exceptional. Photo: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority
The figurines stand as a remarkable testament to the multicultural fabric of the medieval Middle East, where religious conversion and cultural continuity often existed side by side.
The article, “Bone and Ebony Figurines from Christian Burials in the Roman–Byzantine Necropolis of Tel Malḥata,” by Noé D. Michael, Svetlana Talis, Yossi Nagar and Emil Aladjem, is published in ʻAtiqot. Click here to read it.
Top Image: Heads of carved African figures discovered at the site may attest to the origin of the buried people. Photo: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority
Five small African figurines, including miniature heads carved from rare ebony wood and bone, have been discovered in medieval-era graves of women and children at Tel Malḥata, an archaeological site in the Arad Valley of southern Israel. The finds, dated to around 1,500 years ago, are shedding new light on the cultural and religious diversity of the region during the early Byzantine period.
The research, published in ʻAtiqot, was led by Dr. Noé D. Michael of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the University of Cologne, in collaboration with Svetlana Tallis, Dr. Yossi Nagar, and Emil Aladjem, also of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
“The 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,” the researchers explain.
Carved in the likeness of men and women with distinctly African facial features, the figurines are made from bone and ebony – the latter a luxury material imported from southern India and Sri Lanka. The presence of a hole in each figurine suggests they were worn around the neck, possibly serving not just as ornamentation but as deeply personal items.
“It seems their purpose was not only decorative – but also as intimate personal items carrying with them a story of identity, tradition and memory,” the researchers note.
Burial Offerings and Cultural Memory
The figurines were found in tombs containing the remains of women and children, carefully positioned as burial goods alongside glassware, stone and alabaster jewelry, and bronze bracelets. The graves reflect Christian burial customs from the 6th–7th centuries CE, a time when the Negev was part of the Byzantine Empire.
The researchers suggest the figurines may have represented ancestors, serving as a connection to familial traditions that predated conversion to Christianity. “It is possible that the figures represent ancestors, and thus they reflect traditions passed down from generation to generation – even after the adoption of the Christian religion.”
Two figurines were found in adjacent graves of a woman and a child, leading researchers to speculate that they may have been mother and son.
A Crossroads of Peoples
Located on a major trade route during the Roman-Byzantine period, Tel Malḥata connected Arabia, Africa, and the Indian subcontinent. The discovery of figurines with African features in Christian graves is highly unusual and reinforces the idea that the region was a vibrant crossroads of cultures.
“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,” the researchers add.
Eli Escusido, Director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, emphasised the broader significance of the find. “The finds from Tel Malḥata are moving not only from an archaeological perspective, but also on a human level,” he says. “They serve as a reminder that the Land of 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.”
The figurines stand as a remarkable testament to the multicultural fabric of the medieval Middle East, where religious conversion and cultural continuity often existed side by side.
The article, “Bone and Ebony Figurines from Christian Burials in the Roman–Byzantine Necropolis of Tel Malḥata,” by Noé D. Michael, Svetlana Talis, Yossi Nagar and Emil Aladjem, is published in ʻAtiqot. Click here to read it.
Top Image: Heads of carved African figures discovered at the site may attest to the origin of the buried people. Photo: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority
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