Male Worshiper

Description Conservation Exhibitions Provenance Inscription Credit

Description The shaven head, a sign of ritual purity, may identify this figure as a priest. A partially preserved inscription on one shoulder states that he prays to Ninshubur, the goddess associated with the planet Mercury.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
12/31/1969	Examination	examined for condition
2/17/1998	Treatment	cleaned; loss compensation
5/01/1998	Treatment	cleaned; loss compensation

Exhibitions

Highlights from the Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1998-2001.

Provenance [Found at Bismya]; Sale, Sothebys, December 13, 1928, no, 41; Edgar J. Banks, January 4, 1931, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1931, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Translation] Seven line inscription on shoulder and back: (For) Ninshubur / [...] / [...] / [...] / His statue, / for his life, / may it stand (praying to Ninshubur).

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1931

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Creator

Sumerian (Sculptor)

Period

2500-2250 BCE (Early Dynastic IIIb)

Medium

calcite-alabaster
(Sculpture)

Accession Number

21.5

Measurements

H: 7 11/16 x W: 5 1/4 x D: 3 15/16 in. (19.5 x 13.3 x 10 cm)

Geography

Iraq, Bismaya (Adab) (Place of Discovery)

Location Within Museum

Centre Street: Second Floor: Ancient Near Eastern Art