South Arabian Alabaster Statuette of A Queen

This exceptional sculpture is the most complete alabaster statuette known, with bronze hair and jewelry preserved, from South Arabia. The standing female figure wearing a crown, a necklace, earrings, and snake bracelets on each arm.  She is most probably a person of high importance or a queen. She is adorned with a necklace which is carved in relief and the hair with crown, earrings and snake bracelets are made separately in bronze. The arms are bent at the elbows and projected forward. The woman is wearing a long dress, a kind of a chiton with a “V” shaped neckline and short sleeves. It stands firmly with both bare feet on the ground which shapes a kind of a small base.

The head’s simplified shape is distinguished by the two large shell-like ears adorned with bronze earrings; the hair, also made in bronze is intricately designed on the front with a crown and on the back with a long long braid modeled with several short incised lines. The features, especially the eyes, are carefully indicated, so the expression becomes very prominent. Indeed, the large eyes have deep incised eyelids inlaid with dark material, probably bitumen; the eye whites were carved separately from shell or limestone and received additional carving for the pupils also filled with the same dark material. The incised thin brows set high above the eyes and the high cheek bones outline the eyes. The long straight nose has narrow nostrils, the thin lips are firmly pressed.

The serene gaze and the outstretched arms characterize the person as a worshipping queen. The hands have a characteristic position: one palm is outstretched, another is pressed as it holds something (in some cases it holds a stylized sheaf of wheat, a symbol of fertility, or a bird). The notable contrast between the face, with its precise and detailed forms, and the body, which is characterized by shortened proportions and by a dearth of anatomical details, constitutes one of the traits that mark all South Arabian sculpture from this period. The great variety of human representations (masculine and feminine) in South Arabian art is remarkable; aside from statuettes (both seated and standing), one finds stelae in low and high relief and heads with long necks mounted on a base. Their exact significance is unknown. The fact that the great majority of these objects come from necropoleis and the frequent but by no means obligatory presence of inscriptions on their bases clearly indicate that they were portraits of the deceased, placed near the tomb. The inscriptions, in the South Arabian script, always document the name of the person represented and that of the clan that he/she belonged to. Among the statues found, there have also been portraits of kings, recognizable thanks to the inscriptions.

The art of South Arabia was produced as early as the 8^th century B. C. by several ancient kingdoms located in the area of modern-day Yemen. Figurative and decorative art of the region includes indigenous types and styles that are, in earlier times, influenced by the arts of Egypt or Mesopotamia, and later by Hellenistic Greece and Rome. South Arabian art is well-known for its distinctive statues of human figures and sculptures of animals such as bulls, antelopes, and ibexes. These were carved both free-standing and in relief, and usually made of alabaster or limestone. Ancient civilizations may have associated alabaster, a translucent and cream-colored stone, with sunlight. The ancient Arabian kingdoms flourished until the 5^th century A. D. as a result of agricultural wealth and trade of precious commodities, most importantly frankincense and myrrh, with the civilizations of Egypt, the Near East, and the Hellenistic and Roman empires. Incense played a vital role in many ancient religions as well as in the domestic life of the upper classes. Other commercial goods, such as spices and fragrances, were produced in South Arabia, and the region played a key role in the trade of products from Africa, the Persian Gulf, and India.

Surface weathered; some deposits; oxidation in places; fingers of the right hand damaged; a few chips on base; natural cracks of stone; parts of base recollected.

Formerly R.Z. private collection, Montluçon, France, prior to 1970; ex- Jean Lions collection, Switzerland, acquired ca. 1970.

PAD London, Berkeley Square, 2-8 October 2017.

CLEVELAND R. L., An Ancient South Arabian Necropolis, Objects from the Second Campaign (1951) in the Timna’ Cemetery, Baltimore, 1965.

DE MAIGRET A., Arabia Felix: un viaggio nell’archeologia dello Yemen, 1996.

Faces of Ancient Arabia, The Giraud and Carolyn Foster Collection of South Arabian Art, Baltimore, 2008, pp. 37-75; 102-115.

Queen of Sheba, Treasures from Ancient Yemen, London, 2002, pp. 192-201.

Yémen, au pays de la reine de Saba’, Paris, 1997, pp. 150-173.