Ain Sakhri Lovers

This calcite figurine (c. 9000 BC) from Bethlehem is the oldest known depiction of two people in an intimate embrace. The forms are deliberately abstract: the curved backs and interlocked shapes read as a couple when viewed one way, but from another angle the piece appears phallic. This intentional ambiguity—shifting between human and sexual imagery—reflects early symbolic views of intimacy, fertility, and the generative power of union.