Harvard Art Museums > 1954.34: Head of a Man from a Votive Statuette Sculpture Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Head of a Man from a Votive Statuette , 1954.34,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Nov 15, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/291440. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1954.34 Title Head of a Man from a Votive Statuette Classification Sculpture Work Type head, sculpture Date c. 2600 BCE-2400 BCE Places Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Mesopotamia Period Early Dynastic III period Culture Sumerian Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/291440 Physical Descriptions Medium Alabaster Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Purchase through the generosity of an Anonymous Donor and the Alpheus Hyatt Purchasing Fund Accession Year 1954 Object Number 1954.34 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description Head of a bald and beardless man broken irregularly at neck. Eyes are hollowed out for inlay. Eyebrows are deeply incised and join over nose. Sculpture was found at Tell Asmar (ancient Eshnunna), a Sumerian city located in the Diyala region of Mesopotamia. Apparently excavated in an Early Dynastic II layer, but it has been suggested that the stratification was confused and the sculpture is more likely from the Early Dynastic III period. The head is probably from a votive statue similar to those found as part of the sculpture hoard from the Abu-Temple at Tell Asmar. This statue is likely to have performed a similar function to others from the same site. The statues varied in size and shape and were placed in temples, buried under the floor or built into the shrine. The figures, often shown making a gesture of prayer, were intended to represent the worshipper before the god. Publication History George M. A. Hanfmann, "Acquisitions of the Fogg Art Museum: Sculpture and Figurines", American Journal of Archaeology (1954), Vol. 58, No. 3, 223-229, p. 224, pl. 37, figs. 3-4. Eva Andrea Braun-Holzinger, Frühdynastische Beterstatuetten, Mann (Berlin, 1977), p. 83. David Gordon Mitten and Amy Brauer, Dialogue with Antiquity, The Curatorial Achievement of George M. A. Hanfmann, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1982), p. 16, no. 65. Exhibition History Curator's Choice from the Ancient World, The Newark Museum, 01/30/1968 - 06/15/1968 The Art of Sumer and Akkad, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 04/03/1973 - 05/27/1973 [Teaching Exhibition], Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, 11/01/1972 - 01/01/1973 The Book and the Spade: An Exhibition of Biblical Art and Archaeology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 04/13/1975 - 05/04/1975 Dialogue with Antiquity: The Curatorial Achievement of George M.A. Hanfmann, Fogg Art Museum, 05/07/1982 - 06/26/1982 Verification Level This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
