tour 19 of 20
The kingdoms of ancient South Arabia
Calcite-alabaster stela
This is a beautiful example of a particular
style of South Arabian dedication or commemoration. It shows the
bust of a female in high relief against a rectangular plaque, with
an inscription on the base naming the person who is commemorated on
the stela. It reads 'Aban of the tribe of
Mahdhar'.
The
figure is shown in a characteristic pose, with a raised right hand
and the left hand holding a stylized sheaf of wheat, a symbol of
fertility. In similar examples, the right hand covers the left
hand, which holds the wheat, while others show the dedicant holding
a bird in the left hand. The holes in the ears were probably for
attaching earrings. The figure wears bracelets on each wrist and is
depicted in a short-sleeved tunic, but the neckline is not
gathered, nor does she wear an elaborate necklace as is sometimes
depicted on similar
examples.
The statue
finishes at the hairline and the top of the head and the hair is
not depicted, possibly because these details were rendered in
plaster, which has not survived, or the whole stela was set in some
sort of niche.