statue
- Museum number
- 122934
- Description
-
Painted fired clay statue of a seated god; head and bust; back of chair behind his shoulders; head-dress with 4 pairs of horns; cloak of fleece over left shoulder; collar round neck; face of exposed part of body and face is red, beard is black and head-dress buff; traces of weapon resting on left arm.
- Production date
- 2000BC-1750BC
- Dimensions
-
Length: 7.25 centimetres
-
Width: 5.25 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- This may have been intended to represent the sun god Shamash. There are remains of heavy red paint on the face and ears of the figure which scientific analysis proves to contain hematite, i.e. indicating that it had been coloured with red ochre. The hair of the figure and the chair on which it sits are coloured black and there are some faint traces of white in the folds of the cloak. The black proved to be coloured with carbon, probably lamp black (soot) whereas the white was identified as gypsum. Although traces of yellow were previously said to be present on the headdress, no traces of this could be seen when the object was analysed in 2004. Fully painted fired clay figures such as this are known in small numbers from other collections, including the National Museum in Copenhagen (one example) and a head of a female figure with red, black and white pigments passed through the London art market in 2002 (Bonhams, 7th November, p. 83, lot 230).
- Location
- On display (G56/dc23)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2008-2009 18 Nov-15 Mar, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 'Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C.'
- Acquisition date
- 1931
- Department
- Middle East
- BM/Big number
- 122934
- Registration number
- 1931,1010.2
- Additional IDs
-
Excavation/small finds number: U.16993 (excavation number)