Sabaean statue
- Gallery: Room 53
- Culture: Sabaean
- Made in: Yemen
- Date: 1stC-2ndC (?)
- Object type: statue
- Materials: calcite
- Museum number: 134694
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
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About this object
Before you stands a Sabaean statue of a seated woman, carved from veined calcite-alabaster. Note the figure's smooth, polished surfaces and the single, long braid of hair that reaches down her back. She wears a plain, full-length garment, and her hands were once raised in a gesture of offering—though the hands themselves were lost long ago. The eyes feature drill holes to mark the pupils, while faint incisions around her neck suggest stylized rolls of fat, possibly symbolizing prosperity. This statue, thought to date to the 1st or 2nd century AD, was made in Yemen and acquired from Professor Robert Bertram Serjeant in 1965. Its careful carving, even on the back, suggests it was a freestanding piece, likely admired from all sides.
See it in person
Sabaean statue is on display in Room 53 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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