Phoenix Ancient Art, owned by brothers Hicham Aboutaam and Ali Aboutaam, is constantly updating their offerings. One of their more recent additions is the Anatolian or Syrian Idol of the Steatopygic type. From the 6th Millennium B.C. in Syrian or Anatolian culture, this idol is carved from a small stone black and represents a seated woman.
This figure represents the Mother Goddess who would have protected human fecundity, fields and herbs fertility. The figure would have been worshipped quite widely, from the near East to Western Central Europe.
As the Phoenix Ancient Art website states, “Mostly modeled of terracotta (stone examples are rare), the figures of steatopygic women probably originated from Anatolia (Catal Hüyük, Hacilar), but they were largely spread over a vast area extending from northern Syria (Tell Bouqras) to the Aegean world.”