Unearthing Arabia: The Archaeological Adventures of Wendell Phillips

Statue of a Seated Woman

Carved of luminous alabaster, this seated female figure with clinched fists is a fine example of the funerary statues found at the cemetery near Timna. Her stiff torso is disproportionate to her delicate face with its deep-set eyes, which were originally inlaid with either glass or lapis lazuli. As is typical of the South Arabian sculptural tradition, the idealized facial features still lend a sense of individuality to the figure.


Statue of a seated woman
Timna cemetery, early 1st century CE
Calcite alabaster
LTS1992.6.180

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