Funerary relief of No'om, wife of Haira from Palmyra (PAL0110)

Funerary relief of No'om, wife of Haira from Palmyra (PAL0110)

Inscribed limestone funerary relief of No'om, identified in a Palmyrene inscription as the wife of Haira, son of Maliku. The relief depicts a woman facing front, draped, and wearing a headdress. The headband and edge of her robes are decorated with rosettes and geometric decoration. Her hair is pulled up and back beneath the headdress, with two tendrils spilling over her shoulders. She wears jewelry typical of funerary depictions of women in Palmyra, including necklaces, bracelets, earrings (decorated with a human bust), and a brooch topped with a lion, with a key attached below. With her right hand, she holds the edge of her veil, and in her left hand, she holds a spindle and distaff with two fingers and a thumb extended around them. Both gestures and attributes are found elsewhere at Palmyra.

Limestone

PAL0110

50.2 x 39.7 x 18.7cm

Upper right

Ackland Art Museum, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 79.29.1

Heyn, M.K. 2017. "Embodied Identities in the Funerary Portraiture of Palmyra." In Palmyra: Mirage in the Desert, J. Aruz, ed. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Heyn, M.K. 2012. "Female Portraiture in Palmyra." In A Companion to Women in the Ancient World, S. James and S. Dillon, eds. Malden, MA: Blackwell. 439-441.

Heyn, M.K. 2010. "Gesture and Identity in the Funerary Art of Palmyra," American Journal of Archaeology, 114 (4): 631-661.