English
Silk Road Collection
West Asia

Portrait of a Lady(Statue of the Dead)

  • West Asia
  • Palmyra, Syria
  • from the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD
  • Palmyra
  • limestone
  • 46.0cm in height

The city of Palmyra in central Syria achieved great prosperity in the period from the 1st to 3rd centuries as a trade center connecting the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire. On the wall shelves of the Palmyran tomb, there was a coffin, on which we could see a portrait of the dead. The portrait of a lady wearing a veil and dressing luxuries reminds us of the prosperity of Palmyra in the past. Inscribed on the back is the Arabic sentence "Arab daughter Akuma, are you sad?"