Pre-Dynastic Figures

These gold figurines discovered at Tell el-Farkha’s Eastern Kom, were unearthed by the Polish Archaeological Expedition to the Eastern Nile Delta, in 2006, during ongoing excavations that began in the late 1990s.

Believed to date to the Naqada IIIB period (c. 3200–3000 B.C.), these figures are considered the oldest known depictions of Ancient Egyptian rulers (believed to represent a ruler and his heir).

Discovery

Excavations at the Eastern Kom have revealed a series of cemeteries with 143 burial structures dating from the Protodynastic to the Old Kingdom periods (c. 3300–2600 B.C.). These graves provide a wealth of information on burial customs, social structures, and material culture, highlighting the site’s importance as both a settlement and a ceremonial centre.

The gold figurines were found in a cache alongside ceremonial items such as knives and necklaces, suggesting a ritualistic or votive purpose. Their craftsmanship and context imply a significant role in the religious or political practices of the time. Once the crushed and contorted fragments of gold sheet were meticulously reconstructed and conserved, they revealed themselves to be the remnants of two male figurines.

The taller figure, stands 60 cm high, and the shorter, a delicate 30 cm. The cores of these statuettes, now lost to time, were likely crafted from a perishable material such as wood, which was overlaid with sheets of radiant gold, affixed by minuscule gold rivets (a testament to the artisans’ meticulous skill). Accompanying the larger statuette was a necklace, its beads composed of ostrich eggshell and carnelian, both undoubtedly imported materials.

Their flesh, a gleaming gold, evokes the colour of divinity itself, gold being the hue of the eternal and imperishable Ancient Egyptian gods. The eyes, fashioned from lapis lazuli, gaze forth with a piercingly lifelike brilliance, while the arched eyebrows (though their original inlay is now lost – possibly bitumen from the Near East or ebony from Nubia) would once have added depth and character to these regal visages. Both figures, nude save for the subtle indication of an either oversized phallus or sheathed phallus, suggest notions of fertility, virility, and divine potency, while their prominent ears may hint at a heightened attentiveness, symbolising a ruler’s role as a vigilant guardian of his realm.

These diminutive yet masterful sculptures demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of craftsmanship and aesthetic form in this formative period of Ancient Egyptian history. Carved out of a wooden core and overlaid with gold sheet, adorned with eyes of lapis lazuli, such figures showcase the grandeur and aspirational artistry of a civilisation poised on the threshold of dynastic glory, where even the smallest artefacts reflect the burgeoning complexity, spiritual devotion, and regal ambition of early Ancient Egypt. The presence of lapis lazuli inlay, a luxury material imported from afar, hints at a figure of significant importance and provides evidence of international connections very early on in Ancient Egyptian history.

Who are they?

No inscriptions accompany these figurines, leaving their precise identity cloaked in mystery, however archaeologists and Egyptologists have speculated that these figures could represent either a local chieftain or proto-king (and heir) of the Nile Delta, predating the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. The fact that they were found in a cache alongside ceremonial items suggests a ritual or symbolic role, possibly representing a real or mythical ruler. This leads to the second theory that the figures could represent divine or ancestral figures, embodying the emerging ideology of rulership that would soon crystallise in the First Dynasty.

Evidence for Pre-Dynastic rulers is fragmentary. Pre-dynastic rulers of Upper Egypt, such as Scorpion II, Ka, and Iry-Hor, are attested through inscriptions on pottery and tags, primarily from Abydos and Hierakonpolis. In Lower Egypt (the Delta), fewer names survive, though some scholars propose figures like “Fish” or “Double Falcon” (based on serekh signs) as early rulers. Alas, as yet, there is not enough evidence to associate these figurines definitively to these known rulers.

The statues do however tell us that Delta polities were developing complex social hierarchies, with rulers or elites commissioning elaborate representations of authority and ritual. These figurines therefore stand as silent witnesses to the formative stages of Ancient Egyptian kingship, preceding the great dynasties and the names inscribed in stone.

Tell el-Farkha

Tell el-Farkha is an archaeological site located in the Eastern Nile Delta of Egypt, specifically within the modern-day Dakahlia Governorate (In Feb 2020, Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced that Egyptian archaeologists had uncovered 83 tombs dating back to the Naqada III Period 4,000 B.C.) It lies near the village of Ghazala, close to the town of el-Simbillawein, in the area historically associated with Lower Egypt.

Tell el-Farkha was once a thriving settlement during the Pre-dynastic period, particularly from around 4000 to 3000 B.C., and has yielded remarkable finds, including these gold-covered figurines, as well as evidence of complex social structures, craft production, and early religious practices. Its location in the Delta region places it at the northern edge of Egypt’s ancient cultural landscape, highlighting the significant role of the Delta communities in shaping early Egyptian civilisation.

The figures’ discovery at Tell el-Farkha, a key settlement in the Eastern Nile Delta, is particularly illuminating. This site, long overshadowed by the grand narratives of Upper Egypt, emerges through these finds as a centre of sociopolitical complexity and ritual sophistication during the formative stages of the Egyptian state.

The presence of such luxurious objects in a Delta context challenges earlier assumptions of a primarily southern genesis for kingship, suggesting instead a dynamic and interconnected landscape where emerging elites in the north actively participated in the cultural and political developments that would one day coalesce into dynastic Egypt. These golden figures therefore are not merely artefacts; they are shimmering echoes of a moment when Egypt’s future was being forged in both Delta marshes and desert highlands alike.

Summary:

Gold-Covered Figurines (gold sheet over now missing wooden core; lapis lazuli inlay)

Naqada IIIB Period, c. 3200–3000 B.C.

From Tell el-Farkha, Eastern Nile Delta, Egypt

Now at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.