Yemen, ca. 1st millennium BCE. This is a pale brown limestone slab, a high-relief stela, with a carved abstract face with a triangular nose, deep set oval eyes, a small mouth, prominent brow ridge and well-groomed eyebrows, and the suggestion of a crown or headdress. At one time, this figure would have had inset eyes with pupils made of shell or some other soft material. Below the face is a worn inscription in the ancient Yemeni alphabet (also known as Old South Arabian), probably in the language of the Kingdom of Qataban. The deceased in this part of the world were often represented by anthropomorphic funerary stelæ like this one; however, the face is highly stylized and it is doubtful that this is a portrait of a known individual. They have been found in three areas, one of which was the cemetery at Tamna, the capital city of Qataban. The Kingdom of Qataban rose to prominence in the second half of the 1st millennium BCE because it controlled the trade in frankincense and myrrh, incenses required to be burned at altars during religious rituals further north and west. A haunting and quite unique object, certain to spark conversation, and a reminder of the deeper history of the Middle East. Custom stand included. Size: 5.25" L x 6.5" W x 14.5" H (13.3 cm x 16.5 cm x 36.8 cm)

Provenance: Ex-Alan Davis, Santa Fe, New Mexico

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#116809

Wear to edges with some dirt encrustation; inscription is worn and very difficult to read.