The Ain Sakhri figurine or Ain Sakhri Lovers is a
Natufian
The Natufian culture () is a Late Epipaleolithic archaeological culture of the Levant, dating to around 15,000 to 11,500 years ago. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentary or semi-sedentary population even before the introduction ...
sculpture that was found in one of the
Ain Sakhri
The Natufian culture () is a Late Epipaleolithic archaeological culture of the Levant, dating to around 15,000 to 11,500 years ago. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentary or semi-sedentary population even before the introduction ...
caves near
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
.
It is approximately 11,000 years old and thought to be the oldest known representation of two people engaged in sexual intercourse.
[A History of the World -7]
BBC.co.uk, accessed July 2010 It is held by the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.
Discovery
The sculpture was identified in 1933 by
René Neuville
René Neuville (30 October 1899, Gibraltar – 23 June 1952, Jerusalem) was a French prehistorian and diplomat posted to the French consulate in Jerusalem.
Diplomatic career
Neuville's father was the consul general of France in Gibraltar. He ...
, a French
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
and prehistorian, when looking through random finds obtained by the French Fathers at
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
. He found the stone whilst visiting a small museum with
Abbé Breuil
Henri Édouard Prosper Breuil (28 February 1877 – 14 August 1961), often referred to as Abbé Breuil, was a French Catholic priest, archaeologist, anthropologist, ethnologist and geologist. He is noted for his studies of cave art in the Somme an ...
.
A History of the World in 100 objects - Part 7
BBC Radio 4, 26 January 2010
transcript
accessed 23 July 2010 Neuville immediately identified it as important and was able to get an introduction to the Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...
who had made the finds at Wadi Khareitoun. He was led to a location within the Ain Sakhri
The Natufian culture () is a Late Epipaleolithic archaeological culture of the Levant, dating to around 15,000 to 11,500 years ago. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentary or semi-sedentary population even before the introduction ...
caves and it is from these caves that the sculpture gets its name. Excavations of the caves revealed that the cave had been used domestically during the later Epipaleolithic
In archaeology, the Epipalaeolithic or Epipaleolithic (sometimes Epi-paleolithic etc.) is a period occurring between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic during the Stone Age. Mesolithic also falls between these two periods, and the two are someti ...
(Natufian
The Natufian culture () is a Late Epipaleolithic archaeological culture of the Levant, dating to around 15,000 to 11,500 years ago. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentary or semi-sedentary population even before the introduction ...
). For this reason it is thought that the figurine was used domestically and had not been left there as part of a funeral.
After the death of René Neuville in 1952, it was purchased by the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
at Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
in 1958 from M. Y. Neuville.[figurine]
British Museum, accessed July 2010
Appearance
The sculpture was made by carving a single "calcite
Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...
cobble" which was picked away with a stone point to identify the position of the couple. Although it lacks details, such as faces, it is considered to be a clever piece of sculpture. Artist Marc Quinn
Marc Quinn (born 8 January 1964) is a British contemporary visual artist whose work includes sculpture, installation, and painting. Quinn explores "what it is to be human in the world today" through subjects including the body, genetics, ident ...
has noted that the figure looks different depending on the viewer's perspective, and may resemble a couple, a penis, breasts, or a vagina depending on this perspective,[ or two testicles when viewed upside-down, from the bottom. Quinn compared it to a modern pornographic film where the action may include close-ups and long shots. It is clear that the figures in the couple are facing each other, but the sex of the figures can only be presumed.][
]
See also
* List of Stone Age art
This is a descriptive list of Stone Age art, the period of prehistory characterised by the widespread use of stone tools. This article contains, by sheer volume of the artwork discovered, a very incomplete list of the works of the painters, sculpt ...
References
Bibliography
*B. Boyd and J. Cook, 'A reconsideration of the "Ain Sakhri" figurine', ''Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society'', 59 (1993), pp. 399–405
External links
{{British Museum
9th-millennium BC works
1933 archaeological discoveries
Archaeological artifacts
Prehistoric objects in the British Museum
Erotic art
Stone Age Asia
Prehistoric art
category:Sculptures of the British Museum
Israel–United Kingdom relations
Natufian culture