southern Arabia / Incense Burner / mid-1st millennium B.C.

southern Arabia
Incense Burner
mid-1st millennium B.C.
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Creator Nationality: Asian; Middle Eastern; Arabian
Creator Name-CRT: southern Arabia
Title: Incense Burner
View: Principal view
Creation Start Date: 0
Creation End Date: 0
Creation Date: mid-1st millennium B.C.
Creation Place: Southern Arabia
Object Type: Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Materials and Techniques: bronze
Dimensions: H. 10 7/8 in. (27.6 cm)
Description: This bronze incense burner from southwestern Arabia consists of a cylindrical container set on a conical base. Seven spikes extend upward from a high front panel that resembles an architectural facade and bears a depiction in relief of two snakes flanking a round disk set within a crescent. The disk-and-crescent motif appears often on South Arabian votive plaques and censers. An ibex, separately cast and identifiable by its ridged horns, stands on a plinth that projects from the censer's front. The ibex serves as a handle for the censer and perhaps had cultic significance; both the ibex and the snake are frequently associated with South Arabian deities. The serpent, which had apotropaic powers, has been identified with the national god of the Macin kingdom, while the ibex may represent the god of the Sabaeans.
AMICA Contributor: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location: New York, New York
ID Number: 49.71.2
Credit Line: Gift of Dr. Sidney A. Charlat, in memory of his parents, Newman and Adele Charlat, 1949
Copyright: Copyright ? 2002 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All rights reserved.
Rights: http://www.metmuseum.org/education/er_photo_lib.asp
AMICA ID: MMA_.49.71.2
AMICA Library Year: 2002
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright (c) 2002 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All Rights Reserved

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