Israeli archaeologists find "very rare" 1,500-year-old ebony figurines at burial site

Archaeologists in Israel have uncovered three 1,500-year-old Christian burials containing highly unusual figurines carved from ebony and bone, which depict individuals of African descent.

These figurines, likely used as pendants, may represent the ancestors of those buried, according to a newly published study and reported on by LiveScience. Researchers suggest that the individuals interred—or their forebears—could have been African converts to Christianity who later migrated to the Negev desert.

“The figurines show that a Christian community lived in the southern region of the country about 1,500 years ago, possibly with members of African origin,” said the Israel Antiquities Authority in a public statement.

The remains—belonging to two women and a child—were discovered in a cemetery near Tel Malḥata, an archaeological site in the northeastern Negev desert. This burial ground dates to the Roman-Byzantine period and includes numerous cist graves, which are stone-lined burial chambers commonly used during that era.

Excavations at Tel Malḥata have been ongoing since the 1970s, and findings indicate intermittent occupation from as early as the Middle Bronze Age (2000 to 1500 B.C.). During the early Roman period, the site featured a fortress or fortified residence, which later developed into “a central settlement and an administrative capital” during the Roman-Byzantine era, the study notes. Previous research has highlighted the site's position at a major trade junction, through which luxury goods from Arabia and farther afield were transported.

Among the artifacts examined, five figurines were found—three carved from bone and two from ebony. While bone figurines have been common in domestic and burial contexts since the Neolithic period, the researchers emphasized the extreme rarity of ebony figurines. The ebony used in these items was identified as Ceylon ebony (Diospyros ebenum), a dense black wood native to southern India and Sri Lanka.

Despite the Christian style of the burials, the presence of such figurines may reflect enduring cultural traditions. “It is possible that the figures represent ancestors, and thus they reflect traditions passed down from generation to generation — even after the adoption of the Christian religion,” the researchers noted in their statement.

By Nazrin Sadigova