218 - Funeral stele from southern Arabia, circa the 4th–1st centuries B.C.

Funeral stele from southern Arabia, circa the 4th–1st centuries B.C. Stone. Measurements: 30 x 23 x 9 cm. Provenance: Family legacy of Ramon Martí Alsina and Ricard Martí Aguiló. Archaeological collection formed from the 1950s by successive generations of the family, through acquisitions in European galleries and auction houses. A funerary stele carved from stone and decorated with an incised depiction of a human face characterized by a pronounced frontal orientation and starkly simplified features. The composition is structured around basic geometric forms, with a nearly flat facial surface on which the nose—integrated directly into the plane of the forehead—and the simplified facial features stand out. This formal simplification gives the image a hieratic and solemn expression, characteristic of certain forms of funerary sculpture from pre-Islamic Arabia. The piece belongs to the tradition of anthropomorphic stelae developed in the ancient kingdoms of southern Arabia, particularly within the Sabaean cultural sphere. These pieces, generally rectangular in shape, incorporated schematic representations of the deceased using figurative conventions that prioritized symbolic identification and funerary presence over an individualized, naturalistic portrait. During the first millennium B.C., the kingdoms of southern Arabia, including Saba, developed their own funerary and religious traditions, linked to urban societies that maintained commercial and cultural ties with southern Arabia, the Horn of Africa, and various regions of the Near East. Anthropomorphic stelae constitute one of the most unique examples of this artistic world, in which human representation is achieved through a remarkable formal synthesis.