CC BY 4.0
The above license applies to the data in this record, but not to any images displayed. The images are the property
of third parties and are either used with permission or reproduced from publications (see the credits below each image).
BM 132909
By kind permission of British Museum
By kind permission of British Museum
By kind permission of British Museum
DEPOSIT INFORMATION
| Deposit | London, The British Museum, BM 132909=1960,1212.1 |
| Notes | Donated by Dr Sidney E. Croskery. |
SUPPORT INFORMATION
| Support type | Artefact » Incense burner | ||||||
| Shape | With splayed foot | ||||||
| Material | Bronze | ||||||
| Dimensions | h. 23.9, w. 18, d. 13.5; wt. 2388 g; capacity 320 ml | ||||||
| Decoration |
| ||||||
| Decoration |
| ||||||
| Decoration |
| ||||||
| Notes on support and decorations | Cast bronze incense-burner in the form of a bowl with a splayed foot. One wall raised to form a sort of heat-shield surmounted by spikes/ears of corn, with the front decorated with the standing figure of an ibex below star and crescent moon, now missing. Petaled motif on the right hindquarters of the ibex and a star on its right shoulder. Traces of the clay core, resulting from the original lost-wax casting, visible within the bowl and on the underside of the footed base. |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Maʾrib |
| Ancient site | Mryb / Mrb |
| Geographical area | Maʾrib |
| Country | Yemen |
| Link to site record |
NOTES
| Comparisons: University Museum, Philadelphia; Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (Muscarella 1988: 35, no. 476); Aden National Museum (Antonini 2007: 196-97, II.B.a.2.2 and II.B.a.2.3); miniature version from Tmnʽ (Antonini 2007: 197, II.B.a.2.4); British Museum, miniature version (BM 1985,0223.143). A similar ivory container has been excavated in a 9th century BC context at the site of Hama in central Syria and interpreted as an early South Arabian export to the Levant (Barnett 1964). Exact provenience and function are uncertain because of the material (Scigliuzzo 2004). dating: According to Avanzini (2005: 148) the incense burner should be dated to the eighth-seventh centuries BC and can be attributed to the Sabaean-Madhabaean culture (see the presence of ibex on plinth). |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Simpson 2002: 96-97, cat. 104 | Simpson, 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] |
| Avanzini 2005: 148, fig. 9 | Avanzini, Alessandra 2005. Some thoughts on ibex on plinth in early South Arabian art. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 16/2: 144-153. |
| ʿAlī ʿAqīl and Antonini 2007: 196 | 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] |
| Muscarella 1988 | Muscarella, Oscar W. 1988. Bronze and Iron. Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in The Metropolitan Museun of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
| Barnett 1964 | Barnett, R.D. 1964. A South Arabian ivory vessel. Eretz-Israel, 7: 4-5. |
| Scigliuzzo 2004 | Scigliuzzo, Elena 2004. A South Arabian ivory vessel from Hama reconsidered. Ugarit Forschungen, 35: 629-647. |