CIRCA LATE 1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A SABAEAN ALABASTER INSCRIBED RELIEF
CIRCA LATE 1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
Showing a square panel carved in relief with a figure, wearing pleated robe, standing on a dais, hands outstretched before a spirally ribbed divine standard surmounted by a bud-like terminal, a sun disc above a crescent moon to the left, an egg-and-dart border above, with a six-letter inscription in Old South Arabian script on an upper tang reading: "brysms"
8 in. (20.3 cm.) high; 6½ in. (16.5 cm.) wide

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Lot Essay

The inscription is known from four other sculptures, all of them incense-altars. The phrase has been variously translated as "Cult-stone of Shams (the sun-goddess)", or a "Sculpture (of/for) Shams". The figure would appear either to be a worshipper or dedicant, or the sun-goddess herself.

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