QUICK FACTS
Name: Idol of Pomos
What it is: A carved figurine
Where it is from: Pomos, Cyprus
When it was made: Circa 3000 B.C.
During the Middle Chalcolithic (circa 3400 to 2800 B.C.), ancient Cypriot artists began producing a wide variety of human-shaped sculptures. The most common of these figurines that archaeologists have found are cruciform, or cross-shaped.
Chalcolithic cruciform figurines from Cyprus share a few characteristics: The body and the arms form a cross shape, and the figure’s knees are depicted slightly drawn up or bent. Many of the figurines have small breasts, and some have another figure carved horizontally in the figure’s arms, leading scholars such as archaeologist Edgar Peltenburg to suggest that they might be birth charms or fertility deities.
The Idol of Pomos is unusual because its face includes eyes, a nose and a cap-like covering with ears, unlike other examples that are faceless. Although this statuette does not have protruding breasts, it is assumed to represent a female figure. The figurine also wears a miniature version of herself around her neck, suggesting that these small idols may have been worn as jewelry 5,000 years ago.
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Given the abnormally long neck and the flat back, the Idol of Pomos originally may have been suspended or hung on a wall, according to Joan Mertens, who wrote about the figurine while she was an assistant curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But many details about the cruciform figurines and their meaning remain a mystery.
Today, the Idol of Pomos is on display at the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia. The figurine, which has come to represent Cyprus’ contribution to prehistoric civilization, has also been featured on the country’s 1- and 2-euro coins since Cyprus’ adoption of the euro in 2008.
For more stunning archaeological discoveries, check out our Astonishing Artifacts archives.
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