Recently I discovered a new poet, Tishani Dosi. My reading of Tishani led to some of Homo sapiens’ oldest (6500 BCE) large sculptures.

The line which triggered my search left me puzzled " … I dreamed I had a body with two heads like those ancient figures from the Zarqa River … ".

I immediately Googled "figures" and "Zarqa." The most useful hit was a scholarly paper:

> Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. "’Ain Ghazal "Monumental" Figures." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 310 (1998): 1-17.

Luckily JSTOR.org allows 100 reads of papers during COVID. Seventeen pages later, I had a good idea of the statues’ construction – Plaster covered reed armatures. I also had the probable purpose for the statues. Exorcists used the figures in a ceremony for ridding a home of angry ghosts. However, the paper’s black and white photos were disappointing in the online reading tool.

My next Google added "Ain Ghazal" as a search term. This search yielded a Wikipedia article, "’Ain Ghazal Statues," which provided excellent photos.

All Photos by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg)

How did Tishani Dosi discover these statues? Did she visit a museum in Amman, Abu Dhabi, Paris, or London? Maybe Tishani read of Jacob seeing the face of God. Perhaps she wondered what else happened on the banks of the Jabbok (Zarqa).

Tishani Dosi is an author of both novels and poetry. Born in India, she writes in English. The poem which started this search is titled "Self" and is one of six in Granta 151. I plan to read Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods, her third book of poetry, next.