Funerary relief
Not on view
Inscription:
1 Zabda‘ateh,
2 son of Wahba,
3 son of Zabda‘ateh.
4 (This is) what made for him Wah-
5 ba, his brother.
6 Alas!
Transliteration:
1 zbdʿth
2 bṙ whbʾ
3 bṙ zbdʿth
4 dy ʿbd lh wh
5 bʾ brh
6
This relief is a type of funerary monument characteristic of the prosperous caravan city of Palmyra during the first three centuries A.D. Reliefs with a representation of the deceased and a short identifying inscription were used to seal burial niches in elaborately decorated communal tombs; those with a half-length or bust format became prevalent sometime after A.D. 65.
Shown here is the upper body of a bearded man in high relief, head turned slightly to his left, dressed in a Greek cloak known as a himation, worn over a chiton, or tunic, and wrapped around the right arm like a sling. His left hand holds a looped fold of the himation. The background of the relief is blank except for an inscription in Palmyrene Aramaic to the left of his head giving his name, his father and grandfathers’ names, and the name of his brother, who commissioned this monument. Traces of red paint remain in the letters of the inscription. His eyelids are carefully outlined, with tear ducts indicated at the inner corners, although the eyeballs themselves are left uncarved. The arched, thick eyebrows and furrowed brow give a pensive quality to the distant, impersonal gaze. The man’s short hair is depicted as a mass of wavy locks, slightly receding at the temples to suggest middle age, while his beard is made up of individual diamond-shaped tufts. Carved with remarkable skill, this relief is unusual for eschewing the direct frontal posture of most Palmyrene funerary portraits and for the remarkably individualized depiction of the deceased’s careworn features. It can be stylistically dated to around 200-273 A.D. because of the figure’s beard, the treatment of the eyes, and the manner in which he holds his himation in the left hand.
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