Ancient South Arabia, Yemen, ca. early 1st millennium BCE. A fine cast-bronze statuette of a camel with an erect head and neck, a slight hump along the back, and short tail draped above the hind legs. The charming head has an almost conical profile boasting a near-spherical snout, perky ears, and small incised eyes. One front leg and both back legs stand atop integral tangs which were perhaps inserted into a separate platform. Size: 2.65" W x 2.2" H (6.7 cm x 5.6 cm); 2.75" H (7 cm) on included custom stand.
This camel is posed as if walking, a dynamic form for an animal whose ability to walk was prized above all else by the South Arabians. The camel was domesticated in South Arabia some time during the Bronze Age (ca. 3000 BCE), and rapidly became central to its economy. Camels allowed them to traverse the vast desert of the Rub' al-Khali, "the Empty Quarter", and were the main method of transport for long-distance trade north to the huge urban centers of the ancient Near East. In turn, South Arabia became famous as a source of perfumes and incense necessary to religious ceremonies in Mesopotamia and beyond. Bronze camel statuettes like this one seem to have been votive offerings, often presented as this one is without inscription. For example, many were found as funerary offerings in various necropoli.
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection
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#137296
Condition
Intact, with nicely preserved form. Pretty mottled patina on surface.