CSAI

Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions


By kind permission of British Museum

DEPOSIT INFORMATION

DepositLondon, The British Museum, BM 141566=1985,0223.35
NotesDonated by D.B. Doe, MBE.

SUPPORT INFORMATION

Support typeArtefact » Sculpture in the round » Part of human body
MaterialAlabaster
Measuresh. 18.5, w. 11, th. 7
Decoration
Figurative subjectHuman figure
      GenderWoman
      Part of human bodyHead
Notes on support and decorationsA carved orange and red veined calcite-alabaster female head with the eyes drilled out for inlay, long grooves for eyebrows, a large triangular nose and a coffee bean shaped mouth. The head ends at a straight hairline, which descends two steps on either side to the incised ears.
The head was originally displayed inside a niche.
In the hair area there are horizontal tool marks on either side of the face and vertical marks on the top of the head. The back of the head is the naturally flat bedding plane of the stone. Nose and brow damaged.

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

Origin and provenance. Conjectural
Modern siteḤayd Ibn ʿAqīl
Ancient siteUnknown
Geographical areaWādī Bayḥān
CountryYemen
Archaeological contextFunerary context: Necropolis
NotesThe probably provenance from the cemetery of Ḥayd ibn ʿAqīl is proposed by Antonini.
Link to site record

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Antonini 2001: 138-139, pl. 80Antonini, 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]