Standing male figure

Unknown

ca. late 1st millennium BCE · Alabaster (gypsum) · Ancient Near Eastern Art

This standing male figure is a funerary or votive object intended to be placed in a tomb or temple. Dressed in a long, plain garment reaching almost to the ankles, the figure stands in a fully frontal pose. The base, which is carved in one piece with the figure, bears the name of the individual and his clan—Sadiqim Ma'ad. The eyes and eyebrows are carved to hold inlays, now missing, and the arms are bent at the elbows, extending out at right angles to the body. One hand is clenched in a fist, pierced vertically to hold some object, perhaps a scepter, now lost. The other hand is open. The undersurface of the base and the top and back of the figure's head are roughly carved. Such statues were often set in niches, and the surfaces not visible were consequently left unfinished on many examples. The placement of the ears high on the head, the aquiline nose, the small mouth, and the fully frontal pose are all characteristic of human images made in this region.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. late 1st millennium BCE

Medium

Alabaster (gypsum)

Department

Ancient Near Eastern Art

Credit line

Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Spear Jr. Gift, 1982