Stylized flat figure carved from bone, with a squared head and short fixed limbs; Egyptian; Coptic, 500AD

Flat figure, carved from a single piece of bone, with rigid legs and a hole at each shoulder to attach arms (these are missing). Any facial features it may once have had have been worn away. The top of the head is square and flat, with a square block on each side of the face which may represent an ear or the edge of a headdress. The back of the figure is unmarked and the grain of the bone is clearly visible.

Purchased from Lady Dale in 1992 as part of a collection of Egyptian and Syrian antiquities. See Misc.176 to 228-1992, RF 90/211. On entry to the museum its condition was noted as 'good.'

Flat, stylised figurines with vertical grooves that divide the body are not unknown from post-pharaonic Egypt. Similar examples have been dated to the seventh or eighth centuries (Catalogue Hamm 1996, no. 203) or to the seventh to ninth centuries (Catalogue Paris 2000, no. 268). Frequently, they are interpreted as children's toys. It has, however, been suggested that they have a different meaning and may represent fertility idols. Whatever their significance, they seem to have survived into the ninth to tenth centuries, therefore spanning both the Coptic and Islamic Periods (Catalogue Hamm 1996, 202). It is possible that the patterns cut into the surface may be significant, possibly for good luck or protection to its owner.

Flat, stylised figure carved from bone, thought to be a child's doll.

MISC.189-1992