CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


By kind permission of British Museum

DEPOSIT INFORMATION

DepositLondon, The British Museum, BM 134693=1965,1011.
NotesPurchased from Professor Robert Bertram Serjeant (1915-1993), collected by D.B. Doe, MBE in 1965.

SUPPORT INFORMATION

Support typeArtefact » Sculpture in the round » Human figure
MaterialAlabaster
Measuresh. 74.5, w. 33, th. 24
Decoration
Figurative subjectHuman figure
      GenderWoman
      Part of human bodyComplete figure
      Human gestureStanding, Arms stretching out
      Human clothes and attributesTunic, Sandals
Notes on support and decorationsThis statue shows a woman standing in a plain garment reaching to her calves, wearing heavy-soled sandals with open toes and a single strap running between the big and second toes. She is depicted with her hair hanging down her back in a single long plait, implying that this sculpture was intended to be viewed from all sides. The hands are outstretched in an attitude of offering, which survive intact.
The hollow eye sockets were originally inlaid; the inlaid left eye survives, originally set with a separately inlaid circular pupil, now missing. A gentle swelling indicates second chin; pair of diminutive breasts.
Hands broken off near the elbows when acquired, later restored; missing finger tips and inlays in right eye and eyeball in left eye.

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin
Modern siteUnknown
Ancient siteUnknown
Geographical areaUnknown
CountryUnknown
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Doe 1971: fig. 25Doe, D. Brian 1971. Southern Arabia. London: Thames and Hudson.
Philby 1981: 70Philby, Harry St John B. 1981. The queen of Sheba. London: Quartet books.
Robin and Vogt 1997: 160, 233Robin, Christian J. and Vogt, Burkhard (eds) 1997. Yémen, au pays de la reine de Saba. Exposition présentée à l'Institut du monde arabe du 25 octobre 1997 au 28 février 1998. Paris: Flammarion, Institut du Monde Arabe.
Seipel 1998: 403Seipel, Wilfried (ed.) 1998. Jemen. Kunst und Archäologie im Land der Königin von Sabaʾ. Eine Ausstellung des Kunsthistorischen Museums Wien in Zusammenarbeit mit der Generalinstitution fur Altertumer, Museen und Handschriften, Ministerium fur Kultur und Tourismus der Republik Jemen. Wien, Kunstlerhaus, 9. November 1998 bis 21. Februar 1999. Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien.
Gribaudo 2000: 50Gribaudo, Paola (ed.) 2000. La regina di Saba. Arte e leggenda dallo Yemen. Torino, Palazzo Bricherasio (26 settembre 2000 - 7 gennaio 2001). Milan: Electa.
Antonini 2001: 98, pls 50-51Antonini, Sabina 2001. La statuaria sudarabica in pietra. Repertorio iconografico sudarabico. 1. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: IsIAO. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente]
Simpson 2002: 118, cat. 127Simpson, St John (ed.) 2002. Queen of Sheba. Treasures from the ancient Yemen. London: British Museum Press. [Catalogue of an exhibition held at the British Museum, London]
Gunter 2005: cat. 24Gunter, Ann C. (ed.) 2005. Caravan kingdoms. Yemen and the ancient incense trade. Washington: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.