BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

African Figurines in Israel’s Negev

Early Christian graves link Africa, India, and the Holy Land

Heads of carved African figures discovered at Tel Malhata. Courtesy Dafna Gazit, IAA

Excavations of Christian graves in Israel’s northern Negev Desert have revealed signs of unexpected cultural connections 1,500 years ago. Within the graves, located at Tel Malhata, archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority discovered five small human figurines. The surprising part, however, was that while two were made out of ebony imported from India, all five were sculpted in unmistakably African styles.

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Africa, India, and Israel

A central settlement and administrative center in the Byzantine period, Tel Mahata was an important junction on several trade routes passing through the Negev Desert. During salvage excavations near the site, archaeologists uncovered a large necropolis, with many of the burials belonging to the Byzantine Christian population. However, not all of that population was local to the area. In particular, three tombs revealed that at least part of the Christian community had come from Africa based on the presence of the small figurines carved in Africa style.

Although three figurines were carved from bone, two were made from ebony imported not from Africa but from India. Despite the wood coming from India and being found in the Negev, the artistic style is African, most likely Ethiopian. According to researchers, “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.” The figurines likely did not represent deities, but rather were depictions of ancestors, similar to how family photographs are sometimes used in lockets today.

Close up of one of the figurines. Courtesy Dafna Gazit, IAA.

Historical texts record that the areas of Axum and Nubia—roughly coinciding with modern Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia—were subject to increased conversions under the Roman emperors Justin I (r. 518–527) and Justinian I (r. 527–565). As such, these individuals or their ancestors likely converted to Christianity at that time and moved to the Negev shortly thereafter, possibly along one of the trade routes that ran through Tel Malhata. The two graves containing the figurines both belonged to women, with one also including a child. Based on the findings and historical records, the researchers estimate that the graves date to the sixth or seventh centuries, only a short time before much of the region converted to Islam.

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