Iberian Peninsula to the indus

a minima
, leaving the natural shape almost untouched, apart from the 
drilling of a large pair of eyes, beard and headdress, and leaving out the rest of the 
body. these tusks-figures are contemporaries with the eye idols of Western Asia and 
iberia, a reminder of the quasi-universal fascination of the eye symbol. unfortunately, 
international regulations on the circulation of ivory made it impossible to secure the 
loan of ivory pieces.
carefully deposited and placed in the graves, the naqada ii anthropomorphic 
objects had a specific relation with the dead. the clay figurines were placed close 
to the body in a personal connection with the deceased. they are found broken 
up, or fragmented in the grave, more than any other type of object, perhaps a sign 
of deliberate breakage of a personal object, with pieces distributed for the sake of 
memory. other items like the tusks, tags and combs, part of the numerous ivory ob-
jects deposited in graves, were laid out along the arm or tied together with leather 
straps. there is no clear association between these objects and luxury or rare items. 
As they are not found solely in wealthy graves, they had in themselves no special 
association to elite social status, power or authority. they were clearly important to 
the surviving individuals who arranged the burial and placed the artefacts with care.
in the naqada iii (3300–3000 Bc) period, an entirely new narrative style, mixed 
with fantastic elements, appeared on new types of artefacts, the monumental stone 
palettes, and the ivory knife handles. t
he themes of dominance and conflict are in 
evidence on famous artefacts, like the Battlefield palette (graywacke stone, British 
museum) where vanquished enemies, carefully depicted with the mark of their ethnic 
origin, are trampled by the royal lion, their cadaver left to be devoured by vultures. on 
the gebel el-Arak ivory handle (louvre), foreign conquerors come in high sea boats 
and overrule the reed-craft used on the nile. the fantastic elements are apparent 
in the elongated body parts of some animals, used as a decorative pattern to give 
them a heraldic force (the two dogs palette, oxford), a visual device familiar to the 
mesopotamian seal carvers.
By this time, the state-controlled organization that was to become Pharaonic civili-
zation was well in construction. the broadening of the social and economic network 
encouraged ties with the levant and mesopotamia. By 2900 BC, the extent of the 
far-reaching network of exchange and contacts between egypt and Asia is illustrated 
by the exquisite nude statuette from Hierakonpolis: it is carved in lapis lazuli, a stone 
imported from Afghanistan.
it is unclear whether the anthropomorphic objects depicted in predynastic egyptian 
art are “real” human beings or represent supra humans, endowed with shamanic 
powers. the raised arms, often interpreted as a dance movement, is argued by 
some scholars as a show of power and dominance, a forerunner to the later royal 
iconography of triumphant pharaohs of the dynastic ages, an iconography already 
evident in the last phases of the predynastic period and the narrative scenes on the 
palettes. the interpretation of the female terracottas, however, remains open. What 
is certain is the aesthetic concern and artistic achievement and appeal that ruled 
the creation of these dynamic and endearing images. 
C.A.
1
Figures raising their arms
in dance or triumph
Predynastic Egypt
Ca. 3700–3450 BC
Painted pottery jar
Musée Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, 
Brussels
2
A ship on the Nile and desert life
Predynastic Egyp
Ca. 3450–3300???
Painted pottery jar
Musée Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, 
Brussels
Bibliography
: ucko 1968; Patch 2011; stevenson 
2017; ordynat 2018.
Following pages
The Nile near Aswan, Southern Egypt

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43
feMale figure WitH raiSed 
arMS
Egypt, no provenance 
Naqada II period (ca. 3450–3300 BC)
Painted baked clay, H. 23.7 cm,
W. 15.1 cm
Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, 
Brussels, inv. E.3006
Bibliography:
Hornemann 1966, pl. 
914; Ucko 1968, p. 161, pl. XXXVI; De 
Roy, Rammant-Peeters 1985, pp. 4–5; 
Hendrickx 1994, pp. 26–27.
This charming predynastic female 
figurine was acquired by Jean Capart 
(1877–1947) in 1909 from Muhammad 
Mohassib (1843–1928), a well-known 
Egyptian antiquities dealer in Luxor, 
together with three other, less well 
preserved anthropomorphic figures 
(E.3005, E.3007 and E.3008). It testifies 
to the great interest of Jean Capart, 
the then curator of the Egyptian 
collection of the Musées Royaux d’Art 
et d’Histoire in Brussels, in prehistoric 
Egypt, which was manifested already 
in his pioneering and much acclaimed 
1904 monograph 
Débuts de l’art 
en Égypte
(translated in English in 
1905 as 
Primitive Art in Egypt
). As 
the figurine is unprovenanced and its 
archaeological context unknown, its 
age is uncertain. It is, however, likely 
that it originates in the late Naqada 
I or early Naqada II period (ca. 3450–
3300 BC).
The figurine, originally incomplete, 
was provided with a substitute left 
arm, undoubtedly modelled on the 
basis of the intact right arm. The 
whole restoration was executed in a 
rather awkward way, and it is highly 
likely that, originally, the posture of 
the arms was much more symmetrical. 
The upper part of the body tilts 
slightly forward and the back is 
markedly arched. The head of the 
figurine is provided with a downwardly 
curved beaklike protuberance, like 
several others figures of the period, 
hence referred to as “bird women”. 
Both arms, raised above the head, 
end in hands turned in towards the 
head, with fingers separately modelled 
(insofar as the reconstruction of the 
left arm is more or less correct). The 
breasts are large and pendulous, 
the stomach protruding, the hips 
wide and the buttocks, divided by 
an incision, firmly pronounced. The 
legs, also delineated by a central 
groove on the front and the back, 
are vertically extended. The feet are 
rudimentarily modelled and flexed 
upwards. No trace of any original 
colour survives.
Few examples of such figurines 
have actually been recovered from 
controlled excavations. Even though 
some have been found in habitation 
sites, such as Mahasna and Zawaydah 
(Naqada), it is highly likely that the 
majority come from tombs. Much 
has been written on their possible 
significance. They have been variously 
interpreted as mother goddesses, 
female fertility idols, concubines for 
the deceased, dancers, celebrants, 
wailing women and representations 
of the 
ka
or life force. However, 
most of these interpretations 
reason backwards in time from later, 
Pharaonic iconography. The fact that 
figurines of this type do not aim at 
imitating human reality, but combine 
human features with avian (the head) 
and bovine (the posture of the arms) 
elements, makes them an integrant