1929.228: Head of a Warrior

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1929.228

Title

Head of a Warrior

Classification

Sculpture

Work Type

head, sculpture

Date

c. 2340-2180 BCE

Places

Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia

Period

Akkadian period

Culture

Akkadian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/292037

Location

Location

Level 3, Room 3440, Ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Art, Ancient Middle Eastern Art in the Service of Kings

View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Dark limestone

Dimensions

7.51 cm (2 15/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Purchased by R. F. S. Starr from the dealer Thomas Meymarian in Baghdad in spring, 1929.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard-Baghdad Expedition Fund

Accession Year

1929

Object Number

1929.228

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

This stone statue, broken off just below the neck, represents the head of a man. The eyes are almond-shaped and ringed with thin lids. The eyebrows are rendered as thick arcs that meet on the bridge of the nose. The lower portion of the nose is broken off, along with the mouth. There is a prominent chin and high cheekbones. The face is clean-shaven, with a distinctly articulated jawline. The ears are precisely modeled in raised relief. The hairline is indicated by a row of curls. An incised wavy line runs from each curl to the top of the head. A large vertical crack runs from the hairline to the chin. Another vertical crack runs from above the man’s right ear to the jaw. A large chunk is missing from behind the right ear. The back of the head is marred by a blunt impact.

The closest parallel for this head occurs on an Akkadian stela (c. 2300 BCE) excavated at Susa in Iran (1), one of the many Mesopotamian objects taken to Susa by the Elamite king Shutruk-Nahhunte I around 1158 BCE. It is a victory monument showing a warrior armed with a glaive conducting a row of bound prisoners. The warrior’s hair is depicted very similarly to that of the this statue head; thus, this head may represent an Akkadian warrior, or perhaps a king or prince in the guise of a warrior.

NOTES:

1. Louvre Sb 3; see P. O. Harper et al. (eds.), The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre (New York, 1992) no. 105.

Publication History

• Richard F. S. Starr, "A Rare Akkadian Head", President and Fellows of Harvard College (Cambridge, MA, November 1939), vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 13-18, pp. 13-18, figs. 1-3
• Richard F. S. Starr, "A Rare Example of Akkadian Sculpture", American Journal of Archaeology, Archaeological Institute of America (New York, 1941), vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 81-86, pp. 81-86, figs. 1-3
• George M. A. Hanfmann and Benjamin Rowland, "Ancient Arts at the Fogg Museum", Archaeology (Autumn 1954), vol. 7, no. 3, p. 130
• Pierre Amiet, L'art d'Agadé au Musée du Louvre, Editions des Musées Nationaux (Paris, 1976), p. 13
• Agnès Spycket, La statuaire du Proche-Orient ancien, E. J. Brill (Leiden, 1981), p. 159, pl. 106
• Kristin A. Mortimer and William G. Klingelhofer, Harvard University Art Museums: A Guide to the Collections, Harvard University Art Museums and Abbeville Press (Cambridge and New York, 1986), p. 95, no. 104, ill.

Exhibition History

• 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
• 32Q: 3440 Middle East, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2016 - 01/01/2050

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