A set of rare and intricately carved figurines — including miniature heads of African figures fashioned from black wood and bone — have been discovered in 1,500-year-old Christian graves of women and children in the Arad Valley in Israel’s Negev Desert, archaeologists announced this week.
The findings, described in the latest issue of Atiqot (Bone and Ebony Figurines from Christian Burials in the Roman–Byzantine Necropolis of Tel Malchata), the academic journal of the Israel Antiquities Authority, shed light on the surprising cultural diversity and international connections of a little-known community that lived in the region during the Byzantine period.
The excavation at Tel Malchata, led by Dr. Noé D. Michael of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the University of Cologne, alongside Svetlana Tallis, Dr. Yossi Nagar, and Emil Aladjem of the Israel Antiquities Authority, uncovered five tiny figurines believed to have held deep personal and possibly spiritual meaning.
“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 said in a joint statement.
Carved from bone and ebony — a rare and valuable material that originated in southern India and Sri Lanka — the figures portray men and women with distinctly African facial features. Each had a small hole, suggesting they were worn as pendants.
“Their purpose appears to have gone beyond decoration,” the researchers said. “They likely served as intimate personal items that conveyed identity, memory, and tradition.”
The objects were remarkably well preserved, having been carefully buried alongside the deceased. The tombs, dated to the 6th and 7th centuries C.E., are consistent with Christian burial practices of the period. In one grave, a woman and a child were buried side by side with two of the figurines — a pairing that may reflect familial ties, possibly mother and son.
The graves also contained a variety of grave goods, including glass vessels, jewelry made of stone and alabaster, and bronze bracelets — all indicating a community of some affluence and cosmopolitan connections.
Tel Malchata, a key crossroads in the Roman-Byzantine era, sat along trade routes that linked the Levant to southern Arabia, Africa, and the Indian subcontinent. The presence of African-style figurines in Christian burials in this remote desert outpost suggests cultural and economic interactions far broader than previously understood.
“It is possible that the figures represent ancestors,” the researchers noted, “and thus reflect traditions passed down from generation to generation — even after the adoption of Christianity.”
The discovery marks a rare convergence of African, Asian, and local traditions in a small desert community, offering a vivid glimpse into the multicultural fabric of the ancient Near East.
