Votive plaque inscribed with Sabaean dedication, late 1st millennium b.c.
Southwestern Arabia
Bronze
Technical Glossary
Southwestern Arabia
Bronze
H. 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm)
Pfeiffer Fund, 1993 (1993.169)
This votive plaque with a raised border around its edges has a Sabaean dedicatory inscription.
While the worship of aniconic images was widespread among South Arabian cultures, the precise significance of the inscription as a cult object is uncertain. The practice of dedicating the inscription itself, as opposed to placing the inscription on an object intended for dedication, is a departure from the contemporary customs of greater Mesopotamia and Iran.
