Votive Plaque Inscribed with a Sabean Dedication in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2011

Votive plaque inscribed with Sabaean dedication

Date:ca. late 1st millennium B.C.

Geography:Southwestern Arabia

Medium:Copper alloy

Dimensions:H. 10 7/8 × W. 6 × D. 1/2 in. (27.6 × 15.2 × 1.3 cm)

Classification:Metalwork-Reliefs-Inscribed

Credit Line:Pfeiffer Fund, 1993

Accession Number:1993.169

This votive plaque with a raised border around its edges has a Sabaean dedicatory inscription. While the worship of aniconic images was widespread among South Arabian cultures, the precise significance of the inscription as a cult object is uncertain. The practice of dedicating the inscription itself, as opposed to placing the inscription on an object intended for dedication, is a departure from the contemporary customs of greater Mesopotamia and Iran.

Text from: metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/327483