A SYRIAN COPPER FIGURE

MIDDLE BRONZE AGE, CIRCA EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.

Details

A SYRIAN COPPER FIGURE
MIDDLE BRONZE AGE, CIRCA EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
Depicted seated, with a slender flat body and a narrow torso separated from the thin arms, which are held forth and bent at the elbows, the clenched hands once likely holding attributes, with thin legs, the feet pointed down, a tenon below the heel, wearing a robe with a hatched border diagonally across the lap and broad plain borders around the upper arms, a conical cap with a fringe of hair below, the triangular face with deeply recessed almond-shaped eyes, a long nose and articulated ears; some traces of silver overlay on the neck and body
8¼ in. (20.9 cm.) high

Provenance

Dr. Bach, Germany, 1968.

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Lot Essay

The now-missing inlaid eyes and the robe with its stylized thick border are typical features on depictions of Syrian kings and deities of the Middle Bronze Age. While the gold- or silver-plated decoration adorning the robe and headdress and the symbolic objects in the hands are now missing, it seems possible that this type represents a royal personage or foreign dignitary. For a similar example found in the "Hurrian" temple at Ugarit, see no. 21, p. 47 in Aruz, Benzel, and Evans, eds., Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C.

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