Statue Fragment
Object Number: | 38-10-51 |
---|---|
Current Location: | On Loan |
Provenience: | Iraq Khafaje |
Archaeology Area: | P 45/52 under altar |
Period: | Early Dynastic III |
Date Made: | 2600-2450 BCE |
Early Date: | -2600 |
Late Date: | -2450 |
Section: | Near Eastern |
Materials: | Alabaster Bitumen |
Iconography: | Woman |
Height: | 8.5 cm |
Width: | 6.5 cm |
Depth: | 5.5 cm |
Credit Line: | Khafaje Expedition; E. A. Speiser and Charles Bache, 1938 |
Other Number: | KH 9-177 - Field No SF |
Description
Alabaster. Female head that is broken from statue; bitumen at break in neck and boring for dowel. Elaborate coiffur; long tresses on each side of face. Right eye contains shell and bitumen inlay.
This stone head of a woman is a portion of what is typically known as a Diyala statue (coming from the region around the Diyala river in central Iraq). The dowel hole at the base of the neck shows that the head was originally slotted into a stone body to make a complete statuette. The woman has an elaborate hair-do and hollowed-out eyes that originally held inlays to add a more life-like character. In fact, a portion of a shell inlay for the white area of one of the eyes is still preserved. These statues range in size but appear to have been dedicated in temples as continual stand-ins for the worshipper/donor.
Current & Past Exhibitions:
Iraq's Ancient Past: Rediscovering Ur's Royal Cemetery ( Oct 2009 - Jan 2017) | View Objects in Exhibition |
Tokens to Tablets: Glimpses into 6000 Years of the History of the Ancient Near East (14 Nov 1987 - Aug 2006) | View Objects in Exhibition |
Middle East Galleries (21 Apr 2018) | View Objects in Exhibition |
Bibliography:
[Catalogue] Horne, Lee C., and Zettler, Richard L. 1998. Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur.. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Actual Citation : Page/Fig./Plate: Page 89/Figure 47 | View Objects related to this Actual Citation |
[Article] Legrain, Leon. 1944. "Khafaje and Tell Asmar". The University Museum Bulletin. Philadelphia. The University Museum. Vol. 10. no. 3-4. pg. 44-47 Actual Citation : Page/Fig./Plate: p. 46, fig. 33 | View Objects related to this Actual Citation |
You may also be interested in these objects:
Report problems and issues to digitalmedia@pennmuseum.org.