Ain Sakhri lovers
- Audio guide stop: 431
- Gallery: Room 51
- Culture: Natufian
- Object type: sculpture
- Materials: calcite
- Museum number: 1958,1007.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is "The Ain Sakhri Lovers," a remarkable sculpture made by the Natufian culture in ancient times. Carved from a single piece of calcite cobble, this tender scene captures two people in a loving embrace. The figures face each other, seated in a close, intimate position. Despite the absence of facial features, their touching lips and the placement of their arms and legs clearly suggest deep emotional and physical connection.
The artist used the natural shape of the stone, a heart-like form, to enhance the composition, suggesting both love and a more symbolic phallic imagery. Using a picking technique with stone tools, the sculptor carefully shaped low relief lines that emphasize the figures’ curves.
This is believed to be the oldest sculpture ever made to depict lovers. It resonates across time, inviting you to reflect on how love and touch have always mattered to people.
See it in person
Ain Sakhri lovers is on display in Room 51 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 431, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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