Head of a Worshipper

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Head of a Worshipper

Place of OriginIraq, reportedly found at Khafajah (ancient Tutub)

DateEarly Dynastic Period II-III, about 2600 BCE

Dimensions7 5/8 × 7 1/2 × 7 in. (19.4 × 19.1 × 17.8 cm)

MediumAlabaster

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1945.36

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionCarved alabaster head of a female figure with traces of black bitumen (?) on the fillet, hairline, eyebrows, and eye sockets. The eyes were originally inlaid with shell and lapis lazuli, and the figure likely wore gold or gold-and-lapis earrings.

Label TextThis carved head once belonged to a full-standing votive statue, dedicated in a Mesopotamian temple to represent a worshipper in eternal prayer. During the Early Dynastic period, temples housed numerous such figures, their clasped hands and wide, inlaid eyes symbolizing perpetual devotion before the gods. Archaeological excavations at sites like Tell Asmar and Khafajah have uncovered caches of these statuettes, often buried beneath temple floors during renovations, a sign of their sacred status.Published References

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Treasures, Toledo, 1995, p. 34, repr. (col.).

Comparative ReferencesSee also Stommenger, E., 5000 Years of the Art of Mesopotamia, New York, 1964, p. 29, pls. XX and XXI and pls. 85-111, esp. pls 92, 93, 95, 106 through 111.

cf. Lloyd, S., The Art of the Ancient Near East, New York, 1965, pp. 100-104, esp. p. 102, fig. 65.

cf. Amiet, P., Art of the Ancient Near East, New York, 1980, pp. 94-95, pls. 40-41 and p. 362, figs. 273-278, esp. figs. 273 and 275.