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Base and feet of a standing figure, Early Dynastic III, 2500–2350 B.C.
Mesopotamia, Nippur, Room 179, level VIIA
Stone
Rogers Fund, 1959 (59.41.12)

Many Early Dynastic dedicatory statues stand with their left foot forward, but there are many exceptions to this rule, especially when the feet and legs are carved against a back support. This base for a missing statue depicts two feet side-by-side. However, they are carved in the round. The details of the toes and nails are very finely modeled. A mortise hole in the back of the base suggests that this was part of a composite statue in which the figure was constructed from separate pieces of carved stone fitted together with pegs and dowels.


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    Base and feet of a standing figure, Early Dynastic III, 2500–2350 B.C.
    Mesopotamia, Nippur, Room 179, level VIIA
    Stone
    Rogers Fund, 1959 (59.41.12)