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© The Trustees of the British Museum

MODESTY MATTERS. Who did these figurines represent, and what was their function? Some argue that they represent the goddess Asherah. Whether they are naked or clothed is still a question. JPFs are in sharp stylistic contrast to Late Bronze Age fertility figurines, like this one from Susa. JPFs bear no indications of nipples or pudenda, and while their hands curve below their breasts, they do not support them. In contrast to the Susa figurine, JPFs were not rendered in a sexual style. While their function remains ambiguous, it seems unlikely that JPFs were fertility goddesses.