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Standing female worshiper

ca. 2600–2500 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 202
This statue of a standing woman with her hands clasped in front of her chest was found in the plasterings of a mud-brick bench located in one of the cellas of the Nippur temple of Inanna (Level VIIB), the Sumerian goddess of abundance. Her garment is draped over her left shoulder and falls in folds indicated by two incised lines along the border of the otherwise smooth fabric. The feet are carved in high relief against the back support and the toes and ankles are clearly indicated. The wavy hair is held in place by two plain bands, and curly locks hang down on either side of the face. Inlay of shell and lapis lazuli survives in her left eye. The best-preserved statues at Nippur are those that were buried within the temple furniture, like this example. Such deliberate burials suggest that temple offerings and equipment remained sacred even when no longer in use.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Standing female worshiper
  • Period: Early Dynastic IIIa
  • Date: ca. 2600–2500 BCE
  • Geography: Mesopotamia, Nippur
  • Culture: Sumerian
  • Medium: Limestone, inlaid with shell and lapis lazuli
  • Dimensions: 9 15/16 × 3 3/8 × 2 1/16 in. (25.2 × 8.5 × 5.2 cm)
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1962
  • Object Number: 62.70.2
  • Curatorial Department: Ancient West Asian Art

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