The Goddess of Sha'ar Hagolan: Excavations at a Neolithic Site in Israel

The finding of some 300 art objects at the ancient settlement of Sha`ar Hagolan makes it the most important center of prehistoric art in Israel and one of the most important in the world. Approximately 70 figurines, make of fired clay and stone, were found in one of its structures; this is the largest find ofr prehistoric figurines made in a single structure. The members of Kibbutz Sha`ar Hagolan have built a museum that exhibits finds made at the site. Since 2000, five-year exhibits of objects from Sha`ar Hagolan have been mounted at both the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre Museum in Paris. Among the special art objects from Sha`ar Hagolan are figurines in human form made from fired clay and river pebbles. The most striking of these portray a goddess with wide hips and rolls of fat, seated comfortably and surveying the world through diagonal grooved eyes. The figurines are designed with a wealth of detail, and the features are exaggerated, giving them a surrealistic appearance. The eyes are also emphasized on the pebble figurines, though the design approach to these is minimalist and abstract.