A SOUTH ARABIAN LIMESTONE PILLAR STELE

CIRCA 2ND-1ST CENTURY B.C.

Details

A SOUTH ARABIAN LIMESTONE PILLAR STELE
CIRCA 2ND-1ST CENTURY B.C.
Rectangular in form, sculpted in high relief with a male head with short beard, a narrow, pursed mouth, almond-shaped eyes with white stone inlays, recessed for pupils, now missing, curving brows merging into the long triangular nose and protruding ears, a five letter inscription below reading: 'Rathad-il', with remains of red pigment
12¾ in. (32.5 cm.) high

Provenance

U.A.E. art market.
Private collection, UK, acquired 1986.

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Lot Essay

For more on South Arabian funerary stelae cf. St. J. Simpson, Queen of Sheba, Treasures from Ancient Yemen, British Museum, 2002, pp. 192-197; cf. J. Schiettecatte et al., San'a' National Museum, Part III Collection of Funerary Stelae from the Jawf Valley, Sanaa, 2008, nos 409 and 411 for similar.

The name of the dead recorded on this stele, 'Rathad-il', was relatively common, borne mainly by Mineans, a kingdom located in South West Arabia in the 2nd-1st Centuries B.C. It probably means '(one) consecrated to God' as suggested in G. L. Harding, Index and Concordance of Pre-Islamic Arabian Names and Inscriptions, Toronto, 1971, p. 269.

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