Archaeologists working beneath the Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem have identified a small clay mould used to cast the face of a First Temple-period figurine, the first production mould of its kind ever documented in the city. The find, announced by the Israel Antiquities Authority in late July 2026, gives researchers their first direct evidence that at least some of the thousands of figurines found across ancient Judah were actually made in Jerusalem rather than imported from workshops elsewhere.
A Mould Recovered While Sifting Soil at the Kishle
The mould turned up during the long-running excavation at the Kishle, a former Ottoman-era compound within the Tower of David complex, as archaeologists sifted soil removed from fills and accumulated deposits dating to the First Temple period. Excavation directors Dr Amit Re’em and Dr Ayala Zilberstein, who have led the dig on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority for several years, said the site “continues to surprise time and time again.” The Kishle project is tied to construction of the new Schulich Wing for Archaeology, Art and Innovation at the museum, and its excavators have already traced Jerusalem’s history from the era of the kings of Judah through later periods up to the British Mandate.
Casting a Judean Pillar Figurine’s Face
Once conservator Tamar Gonen finished cleaning the object, the mould revealed a finely detailed female face, and a second specialist, Sviatoslav Klindukhov, used it to produce a physical cast. The resulting reconstruction shows clearly defined facial features and an elaborate hairstyle of curls. That manufacturing method matches how these objects were typically made: the body was shaped by hand, usually as a simple pillar, while the head was formed separately in a mould and then attached, which is also why so many surviving examples turn up with the head broken away from the body.
Three Types of First Temple Figurines
Researchers recognize three main categories of clay figurines from the period, dated broadly to the eighth through sixth centuries BCE: female figures known as Judean pillar figurines, horse-and-rider figures, and zoomorphic figurines representing animals, chiefly horses. The female examples typically stand between roughly 10 and 20 centimetres tall, with prominent hairstyles and hands positioned beneath the breasts. Some surviving figurines retain traces of a white coating overlaid with pigments in yellow, red and black, suggesting the finished objects were brightly decorated rather than left as plain fired clay.
Why the Manufacturing Question Mattered
Clay figurines from the First Temple period turn up in nearly every excavation across Jerusalem and the wider region of Judah, yet no mould used to produce them had previously been found in the city itself. That gap left open a real possibility that Jerusalem’s supply of figurines was imported from production centres elsewhere in Judah rather than made locally. IAA researcher Dr Amit Re’em said the discovery at the Kishle closes that gap directly, since a mould only makes sense at or near an actual production site rather than a place where finished figurines were simply used or discarded.
Fertility Goddess, Toy, or Household Amulet?
What these figurines were actually for remains unresolved. IAA Iron Age researcher Debi Ben-Ami noted that their presence in ordinary houses, streets and tombs points to everyday objects rather than items reserved for temples or elite burials. Scholars have proposed several competing explanations over the years: that the female figures represent a fertility goddess such as Asherah, that they functioned as children’s toys, or that they served as household amulets meant to bring protection, blessing or good fortune. Ben-Ami said researchers hope the newly documented mould will eventually help narrow down which of those explanations, if any, fits the evidence.
A Public Dig Beneath a Working Museum
The Kishle excavation has also become a hands-on attraction rather than a closed research site. During its summer programme, the Tower of David Museum opened part of the sifting process to visiting families, letting participants sift soil from the Kishle for pottery, bullae and other small finds before museum staff sort and examine the material. Museum director and chief curator Eilat Lieber said the institution is built on the idea that Jerusalem’s past continues to shape its present, and that visitors taking part in the sifting effectively become partners in uncovering the city’s history rather than spectators to it. The mould itself, however, stands apart from the routine pottery fragments recovered during that public programme, offering archaeologists a rare, physical link to how a widely found class of ancient object was actually produced.
Beyond the archaeological detail, the discovery drew comment from Israel’s political leadership on cultural heritage. Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu framed the mould as a tangible connection to the world described in Jewish religious texts, noting that Jewish tradition holds the First Temple was destroyed over three principal transgressions, including idolatry, and arguing that an object tied to figurine production offers a physical glimpse into the spiritual and cultural pressures of that era. Researchers involved in the excavation were more cautious, stressing that the figurines’ exact religious or symbolic role is still unsettled scholarship rather than a closed question, and that the mould’s value lies chiefly in confirming where production happened, not in confirming any single interpretation of what the figurines meant to the people who made and used them.
The Kishle dig is expected to continue as work on the Schulich Wing progresses, and excavation directors have said the site has repeatedly produced unexpected finds across its multi-year run. Whether future seasons turn up additional moulds, workshop debris, or other direct evidence of figurine production in Jerusalem remains to be seen, but the current find already shifts the working assumption among researchers away from imported figurines and toward local manufacture, at least for some share of the thousands of examples catalogued across the city and the surrounding region of Judah.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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