{"id":252200,"date":"2025-05-22T15:00:38","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T15:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/archaeologists-unearth-two-rare-african-figurines-in-1500-year-old-christian-burials-in-israel\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T15:00:38","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T15:00:38","slug":"archaeologists-unearth-two-rare-african-figurines-in-1500-year-old-christian-burials-in-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=252200","title":{"rendered":"Archaeologists Unearth Two Rare African Figurines in 1,500-Year-Old Christian Burials in Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The artifacts were buried in the graves of a young woman and child, who may have converted to Christianity in Africa before traveling to the region, researchers say<\/h2>\n
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\n \"Sonja\n <\/div>\n
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Sonja Anderson<\/a><\/p>\n

– Daily Correspondent<\/span><\/p>\n

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This ebony figurine was found in a child’s grave.
\n Dafna Gazit \/ Israel Antiquities Authority<\/span>
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Archaeologists in Israel have found two tiny African figurines buried in early Christian graves. Dating back roughly 1,500 years, the artifacts are carved from rare ebony wood that originated in India or Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

The burials are located in a necropolis in Tel Malhata<\/a>, an archaeological site in the Negev desert. Humans have occupied Tel Malhata since the Middle Bronze Age<\/a>, and hundreds of graves have been found in the cemetery.<\/p>\n

According to new research published in\u00a0\u2018Atiqot<\/em><\/a>, the journal of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), three of those graves belonged to two women and a child who died in the sixth or seventh century C.E. These burials contained a trove of grave goods\u2014including bronze jewelry, alabaster jars and five carved figurines.<\/p>\n

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The ebony figurines are quite rare, while the bone figurines are more common for the region.<\/p>\n

Dafna Gazit \/ Israel Antiquities Authority<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt is a very special find,\u201d No\u00e9 D. Michael<\/a>, an archaeologist at the IAA and the University of Cologne in Germany, tells\u00a0Haaretz<\/em><\/a>\u2019s Ruth Schuster.<\/p>\n

Three of the five figurines were made from bone, and the researchers say that bone artifacts of this kind were commonly used in domestic rituals and burials in the region. However, the two others are quite rare. They were carved from ebony, and they depict a man and woman with \u201ctypical African features,\u201d per the study. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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This ebony figurine was found in a young woman’s grave.<\/p>\n

Dafna Gazit \/ Israel Antiquities Authority<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAs far as we know, no such figurine had ever been identified in Israel, Jordan [or] our region,\u201d Michael tells the\u00a0Times of Israel<\/em><\/a>\u2019s Rossella Tercatin.<\/p>\n

During the sixth and seventh centuries, Tel Malhata stood at the intersection of major trading routes \u201cwhere merchants from southern Arabia, India and Africa passed,\u201d according to a\u00a0statement<\/a> from the IAA. The grave goods reflect this international exchange.\u00a0Ebony<\/a>, a kind of dark wood, was a valuable import.<\/p>\n

\u201cExperts at Tel Aviv University tested the wood and confirmed it came from India or Sri Lanka,\u201d Michael tells the Times of Israel<\/em>. \u201cAn ebony trade between Asia and Egypt and the Horn of Africa is attested starting from the fourth century C.E.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two ebony figurines were found in the graves of a woman who died between the ages of 20 and 30 and a child who died between the ages of 6 and 8. In the statement, the researchers explain that the artifacts could have been \u201cintimate personal items carrying with them a story of identity, tradition and memory.\u201d Each figurine features a small hole through which a cord might have been threaded, allowing the owner to wear it around their neck.<\/p>\n