Female Figurine

Female Figurine
Bone
H. 9.5 cm; W. 3.5 cm; D. 0.6 cm
Shiqmim, 4500–3600 BCE
Israel Antiquities Authority: 1996-3495, exhibited at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Photography by Meidad Suchowolski © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

This figurine was carved out of the scapula of a cow. The highly abstract body resembles violin-shaped figurines and is decorated with a dotted motif probably meant to imitate textile patterns. The head, with deep round eyes inlayed with shell (only one is still extant), prominent nose, and the absence of a mouth, is closer to the artistic tradition of the ivory figurines. This syncretistic melding of contemporary iconographic motifs is suggestive of active artistic interrelations between the Negev and the lower Jordan Valley.