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Maker(s):Unknown
Culture:Roman
Title:Funerary figure of a man reclining at a banquet
Date Made:2nd-3rd century CE
Type:Sculpture
Materials:Limestone with pigment
Place Made:Asia; Syria; Palmyra
Measurements:Overall: 24 in x 16 in x 9 in; 61 cm x 40.6 cm x 22.9 cm
Accession Number:  MH 1932.2.C.OII
Credit Line:Purchase with the Nancy Everett Dwight Fund
Museum Collection:  Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
mh_1932_2_c_oii_v1.jpg

Description:
Half-length figure of a draped male facing forward (fragment of reclining figure)

Label Text:
The ancient Syrian city of Palmyra was a prosperous commercial center and an oasis for traveling caravans. The city continued to flourish after its incorporation into the Roman Empire at the end of the 1st century CE and its wealthier citizens displayed their riches not only in life, but also in death. A kilometer-long necropolis called the “Valley of the Tombs” bordered the city walls and housed over 150 tombs for the elite merchant class.
This fragment is an example of a funerary bust from an underground tombs. Each portrait would have sealed off a cubiculum, a compartment housing the mummified body of the deceased set into the tomb wall. The man, now missing his hips and legs, is in the banquet style, reclining on a cushion under his elbow and holding a glass.

- From Reconstructing Antiquity, Rachel G. Beaupré (Sept. 2016)

Tags:
ancient; archaeology; funeral rites and ceremonies; monuments

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+1932.2.C.OII

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.

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