Funerary Slab of a Male Bust in High Relief in the Princeton University Art Museum, August 2009

Funerary slab with male bust in high relief
ca. 200 – 250 A.D.

Roman

Hard white local limestone

h. 48.5 cm., w. 41.4 cm., d. 21.3 cm. (19 1/8 x 16 5/16 x 8 3/8 in.)

Place excavated: Syria / / Palymra

Gift of Mrs. W. Lester Glenney and her sister, Mrs. Field

Object Number: y1946-109

Text from: artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/collections/ancient/search/

In Roman times, Palmyra was a wealthy oasis on the trade route between Syria and Babylonia. Palmyrene tombs were in the form of towers or underground crypts with rows of slots (loculi) for multiple burials, each sealed by a slab with a portrait bust in high relief. The portraits were not true likenesses but rather acted as material abodes for the souls of the deceased. This loculus slab is typical, depicting the upper body of a man whose name is written in Aramaic script: "Yedi'bel, son of Mezzabana (son of) Baroqa. Alas!"

Text from the Princeton University Art Museum label.