Ancient Near East, northern Arabia / southern Levant, Nabatean people, ca. 1st century CE. An incredibly rare bronze artifact, possibly a neo-Punic representation of the god Dushara, or maybe Baal. Made from two sections of hammered sheet bronze, the bearded man is shown seated on a throne, wrapped in a himation and holding a square object in one hand and a chalice in the other. He reclines, with his feet apart, and his throne has a stepped form. The two pieces are cast separately, and the figure can be removed from his throne, perhaps for worship or carrying in a procession. Both are hollow. The man himself is shown with small features on a round face with deep wrinkles across the forehead; his facial expression is partly obscured by his flowing beard, so it is difficult to tell if he is frowning or jolly. Size of both components together as shown in the photo: 6" L x 3.6" W x 7.75" H (15.2 cm x 9.1 cm x 19.7 cm)

The Nabateans controlled a string of oases that linked trade between southern Arabia (where many forms of incense required for religious worship were created) and the Greco-Roman world. Their capital, Raqmu (now Petra), is just one of their settlements strung out in an area with very limited resources. Their earliest known representations of the gods were featureless pillars or blocks. Through their contact with the Greco-Romans, they began to create anthropomorphic gods, represented with noticeably human and even naturalistic features, as this one here. The most likely figure this piece represents is the god Dushara, worshipped at Raqmu, and known as the "Lord of the Mountain". During the Greco-Roman period, he was associated with Zeus (Jupiter), and representations of the deity show him as a bearded figure with implements in his hands. His worship persisted through the Roman period, and a shrine to him has been found at the Italian harbor of Puteoli, where much trade between Rome and the Near East took place; he is even mentioned in the 9th century CE "Book of Idols" by the Muslim historian Hisham Iban Al-Kalbi. This incredibly rare figure may represent one of the most powerful of the pre-Islamic Arabian deities.

Provenance: ex-Mme. N. collection, Paris, France; published in J. Eisenberg, "Art of the Ancient World", 2006, no. 227.

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Piece has been heavily stabilized.