Abstract
Archaeological excavations of Early Chalcolithic (c. 5800 –4500 BCE) sites in Israel expanded our knowledge of the Wadi Rabah and other cultures of this period. Among the many finds, figurative art objects are of great value in understanding these cultures. Noteworthy in this regard are the schematic figurines of women that exhibit a triangle symbolizing their genital organ. An important addition to the corpus of figurative art displaying female images are figurines retrieved from two sites located on the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers in Ancient Mesopotamia. At these sites, 16 items (whole or broken) were found, all depicting the figure of a ‘big-eyed woman.’ Some of the figurines were found in layers dated to the Neolithic period of Mesopotamia and therefore, it seems that the entire group of figurines should be attributed to this period. This paper provides a description of these special items, according to the sites and layers in which they were found, followed by an interpretation of the figurines and a suggestion of their probable connections with the Levant in prehistoric times.
Recommended Citation
Getzov, Nimrod; Milevski, Ianir; Galili, Ehud; Yaroshevich, Alla; Vardi, Jacob; Paz, Yitzhak; and Koska-Horwitz, Liora
(2024)
"المرأة ذات العيون الكبيرة من العصر النحاسي المبكر / The ‘Big-Eyed Woman’ from the Early Chalcolithic Period in the Southern Levant,"
Cornerstone: Journal of Archaeological Sites (حجر الزاوية): Vol. 13, Article 3.
Available at:
https://publications.iaa.org.il/cornerstone/vol13/iss1/3
