Robin 1
By kind permission of British Museum
DEPOSIT INFORMATION
| Deposit | London, The British Museum, BM 139443=1983,0626.2 |
| Notes | Purchased from Spink & Son Ltd in 1983. |
SUPPORT INFORMATION
| Support type | Artefact » Sculpture in the round » Part of human body | ||||
| Material | Bronze | ||||
| Measures | h. 19.7, w. 11, th. 4, wt. 979.70 g | ||||
| Decoration |
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| Notes on support and decorations | The hand is realistic: the nails and phalanx are well defined, the veins raised. The hand may have been modelled on an actual hand, perhaps of the dedicant. Leaded bronze containing some traces of silver and nickel. The right hand is traditionally regarded as a powerful symbol of good fortune. Antonini suggests that the hand may have been fixed upright on a base (ʿAlī Aqīl and Antonini 2007: 156). The object was produced in the lost-wax technique. While the palm of the hand is hollow, the fingers seem to be of massive metal. |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Ṣanʿāʾ (from the region of) |
| Ancient site | Ṣnʿw |
| Geographical area | Sanʿāʾ |
| Country | Yemen |
| Link to site record |
| Modern site | Ẓafār dhī-Bīn |
| Ancient site | Ẓfr |
| Geographical area | dhī-Bīn |
| Country | Yemen |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of Tʾlb Rymm, ḏ-Qbrt |
| Link to site record |
NOTES
| Proposed dating: the relatively high content of lead seems to confirm the dating of the object to the 2nd-3rd century AD, as increasing amounts of lead can be observed from Roman times on. |
EPIGRAPHS
| Title | Robin 1 |
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic |
| Link to epigraph record |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| ʿAlī ʿAqīl and Antonini 2007: 156 | ʿAlī ʿAqīl,ʿAzza and Antonini, Sabina 2007. Bronzi sudarabici di periodo preislamico. Repertorio iconografico sudarabico. 3. Paris: de Boccard / Rome: IsIAO. [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres; Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente] |
| Gunter 2005: cat. 28 | Gunter, Ann C. (ed.) 2005. Caravan kingdoms. Yemen and the ancient incense trade. Washington: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. |