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Votive or funerary stele

ca. late 1st millennium BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 202
This highly polished alabaster stele is made of two pieces. A smooth undecorated slab sits in a socket carved into a stepped base. Inscribed in Sabaic letters in two rows on the base is “DRMT SFLYN.” This name, "Dhurmat (of the clan) Safalin” identifies the person, perhaps a woman, who dedicated the monument. The shapes of the letters allow us to date this object to the late first millennium B.C.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Votive or funerary stele
  • Date: ca. late 1st millennium BCE
  • Geography: Southwestern Arabia
  • Medium: Alabaster (calcite)
  • Dimensions: H. 13 1/8 × W. 6 3/8 × D. 2 3/4 in. (33.4 × 16.2 × 7 cm)
    Base: H. 4 1/16 in. × W. 6 3/8 in. × D. 2 3/4 in. (10.3 × 16.2 × 7 cm)
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Spear Jr. Gift, 1982
  • Object Number: 1982.317.2a, b
  • Curatorial Department: Ancient West Asian Art

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