An archaeological dig within the Israeli Negev’s Arad Valley has uncovered 1,500-year-old graves of ladies and kids.
Within the graves were the heads of African figures carved from rare black wood.
Researchers on the project said, “The figurines show that a Christian community lived within the south of the country about 1,500 years ago, possibly with a few of its members coming from Africa”
They continued, “Carved from bone, and from ebony wood – a rare raw material originating from southern India and Sri Lanka – the figurines were designed in the shape of men and women bearing distinguished African facial expression, and with a hole for the aim of wearing them across the neck.
“It seems their purpose was not only decorative – but additionally as intimate personal items carrying with them a story of identity, tradition and memory.”
The figures were well preserved, and the researchers have speculated that they might represent the ancestors of the deceased, noting that pre-Christian tribal customs and beliefs likely still endured despite the adoption of Christianity.
In the times before Islam, the region was still a component of the by-then Christian Roman Empire. It was also something of a industrial crossroads, with merchants from Arabia, India, Africa and Europe all passing through. The finding is a sign of the sort of cultural diversity that existed within the region and the Roman Empire more broadly 1,500 years ago.
As well as figurines, a big amount of glassware and jewellery created from stone, alabaster and bronze was found. The tombs suggest that those interred got the normal Christian funerary rites of the time.
A girl was found buried with a toddler, likely from the identical family and quite possibly mother and son.
Eli Escusido, Director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, described the finds as “moving not only from an archaeological perspective, but additionally on a human level”.
“They function a reminder that the Land of Israel has all the time 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,” he said.
