Statuette of a Man at Prayer

This statuette of a bearded man was lying on its side in the ante-room to the cella of the so-called Archaic Ishtar Temple at Ashur. The bald-headed man, naked to the waist, wears a heavy skirt whose several rows of substantial woolly locks suggest a sheepskin. He is holding his hands together in prayer. Together with other fragments of similar small sculptures and other objects, the small statue would have belonged to the cult inventory of the temple. Statuettes of persons at prayer probably stood on low benches around the cella, standing in for real persons in permanent prayer before the cult image of the divinity. That such figures may be understood as portrayals of members of the priesthood or of the royal household is suggested by the fact that the name and function of the person represented are sometimes found inscribed on the arm or the back. Although this statuette is partly damaged and incomplete, it must have represented a person of high rank. There is some disparity in artistry between the summary rendering of the animal skin and the careful execution of the head. The effect and expressive power of the statuette would at one time have been enhanced by eyes, brows and nipples in coloured inlay.