• r2-136-10
    Grave stele showing woman and child, frontal view. (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College)

Grave Stele Showing Woman and Child

Date
2nd C. BC, Hellenistic
Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
NoEx65.002
Material
Marble, Stone
Object Type
Sculpture
Sculpture Type
Funerary Relief, Draped Woman
Site
Sardis
Findspot
In a well, about 20 m. N of Sardis compound.
Description

Fragment A shows the outline of the head, the l. shoulder, and elbow of a child standing beside the woman in B. Although the woman’s face is gone, the head cloth can be seen coming down on both shoulders. Her himation is drawn across her body and supported by her bent l. arm. Just above it can be seen the belt of her high-girt chiton. The himation, which extends to below her knee, is transparent enough to reveal the heavier deep folds of the chiton. Her weight is on her l. leg, her r. is bent slightly to the side. Her r. arm is extended so that her hand rests on the child’s head. The smoothed background of the stele can be seen between the two figures, and also behind the woman’s l. shoulder. The framing border at the r. side has a smoothed surface on the front and side, but the back of the stele is quite rough. At the back there is a recess in the marble to bed a metal clamp and a piece of badly corroded iron is still showing. Below the metal there are deposits of mortar.

The border is so wide that one must assume a third person, the husband, standing on the other side of the child. The piece should be dated in the second half of the 2nd C. B.C. The piece is analogous to similar ones from Smyrna.

Condition

White marble.

There are two fragments: A, the badly battered upper portion of a child, and B, a standing woman, with feet missing and face badly battered. A portion of the r. side of the border preserved.

Dimensions
H. 0.37; W. 0.27; Th. 0.95. Figures stand out 0.065 from background. Clamp cut to bottom 0.145.
Comments
See Also
Bibliography
Published: BASOR182, 45, fig. 36. The third person was suggested by letter from H. Möbius (Apr. 26, 1971); the dating is also his. For Smyrna examples, see Aziz, Guide Smyrne, 46, ill. inv. no. 572.
Author
NHR