Statuette of a Man
Artist
Sumerian
Date3000–2500 BCE
Mediumgypsum and shell
Dimensions29.8 x 12.1 x 11.7 cm (11 3/4 x 4 3/4 x 4 5/8 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number1937.91
Descriptionfrom Khafaji, figure of a bearded man, one inlaid eye missing; left half of base missingLabel TextIn the early third millennium B.C. the Sumerians lived in independent city-states on the vast, fertile plains of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The focal point of their settlements was the temple, the god's earthly residence and the city's economic center. Found beneath the floor of a temple at Khafaje, northeast of Baghdad, this imposing statuette of a bearded man stands in a posture of austere piety. His carefully patterned beard and fringed skirt identify him as either a high priest or a god. Typical of such votive statues, the figure is highly stylized with little reflection of musculature or naturalistic proportions, its head expressing devotion and power through the exaggeration of facial features. Enlarged, staring eyes made of shell inlaid in bitumen project a concentrated intensity, which is accentuated by crescent-shaped brows. Squared arms and tightly clasped hands add to the figure's strength.Provenanceexcavated at Khafaji, Iraq by the expedition of the University Museum, Pennsylvania
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