The Lapis Lazuli Lady

This rather lovely little figurine was found at Hierakonpolis and is now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. It was found in two pieces - originally the torso was found, then 8 years later the head was found at the same site!

It dates to the Predynastic or Early Dynastic Periods (anywhere between 4,000 BCE and 2,700 BCE), and is made entirely of lapis lazuli. It's quite odd by the standards of Egyptian art so it might well've been imported into Egypt. Certainly the lapis lazuli must've been, because that material is only found in modern day Afghanistan. A reminder that trade between far flung places is not a modern invention - modern tech means we can do this more quickly and cheaply, but goods were being traded across thousands of miles millennia ago.

EDITED: Kristin Thompson (on Facebook) tells me that there may once have been a third piece of this object – there is apparently a hole in the underneath of the legs (which are flat and don't have feet). This may've once been the fitting for a pair of lapis lazuli feet to complete the figure, or another suggestion is that it was once part of a spoon handle.

Jigsaw puzzles:
easier: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=3ba37022d219
harder: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=041b358a03e0

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Found at Hierakonpolis, in two pieces.

Predynastic or Early Dynastic Period, c. 4000-2700 BCE.

Acc. No.s: Ashmolean Museum E.1507 & E.1507a