Old Babylonian Terracotta Astarte Figure

Rectangular in profile with spur to each upper angle; high-relief reserved epigraphic text in ten lines with void at lower centre; dedicated to the god Dhu-Samāwī by Ẓabiyum Yarḥab, under the Reign of King Rabbīshamsum Nimrān; mounted on a custom-made stand. 2.03 kg total, 28 x 18.6 cm (34.5 cm high including stand)



Ex Robin Marshal-Carter, Adelaide, South Australia, 1970. Private collection, London, UK. Accompanied by a full transliteration and translation into modern English. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12697-235195. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

From the temple of Yaghrū consecrated to the god dhu-Samāwī, in the wādī 'l-Shudayf in northern Yemen.

The handle fragment from a Tufnell type 484 jar, bearing a stamp to the upper handle with a schematic two-winged solar disc with delineated rays, inscribed 'lmlk / ḥbrn'. 287 grams, 16 cm



Ex S.M. London collection, UK, 1970-1990s. Accompanied by a description from Peter Gert Van der Veen, senior lecturer of Levantine Archaeology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Representing a god with horned helmet, half animal and half man, standing on the left and holding a staff, near him the hero Gilgamesh killing Humbaba, and the hero Enkindu killing the celestial bull, followed by a mythological divinity depicted as half animal and half human; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 27 grams, 33 mm



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12577-232112. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

King Sargon of Akkad created political unity when he seized control of Mesopotamia, and carvings on seals from the time demonstrate his success by portraying the power the Akkadian gods had to legitimize both their domain and their rulers. Religious scenes on cylinder seals detail the spiritual beliefs and practices of the time. The deeply intertwined relationship between religion and state power in Akkad is also present in the decorations of some cylinder seals. Here the hero Gilgamesh, embodying the strength of royal power, kills the monster Humbaba, as the king of Akkad kills his enemies.