Stele with Bust of a Woman

Description This bust is part of a figure of a female participant in a ritual. The image is a variant of the well-known motif of a worshiper, which has a long tradition in the ancient Near East and was also popular in South Arabia. Such figures could serve as funerary monuments or votive figures, placed in a sacred shrine or temple. Their purpose was to ensure the continued close relationship between the individual and the worshiped deity.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
6/01/2008	Treatment	cleaned

Exhibitions

• Faces of Ancient Arabia: The Giraud and Carolyn Foster Collection of South Arabian Art. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2008.

Provenance Sale, Sotheby's, London, May 18, 1970, lot 69; Giraud and Carolyn Foster, Baltimore, May 18, 1970, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 2007, by gift.

Credit Gift of Giraud and Carolyn Foster, 2007