South Arabia, Yemen, Kingdom of Qataban, ca. 1st millennium BCE. A pale yellow marble slab carved into a high-relief stelae, with an abstract face presenting a triangular nose, deep set oval eyes, a small mouth, a prominent brow ridge, well-groomed eyebrows, and the suggestion of a crown or headdress. Unusually for these stelae, this example also has ears. At one time, this figure would have had inset eyes with pupils made of shell or some other soft material. This example does not appear to have any added pigment - at least none that survived. The full stelae would have had an inscription in the ancient Yemeni alphabet. Size: 5.5" W x 6.5" H (14 cm x 16.5 cm); 8" H (20.3 cm) on included custom stand.

The deceased in this part of the world were often represented by anthropomorphic funerary stelae 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 rare artifact, certain to spark conversation, and a reminder of the deeper history of the Middle East.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#136971

Fragmentary with losses as shown. Generally quite good