221 - Seated figure; Southern Arabia, 7th–6th centuries B.C.

Seated figure; Southern Arabia, 7th–6th centuries B.C. Carved stone. Measurements: 22.5 x 8 x 6.5 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 small-scale stone sculpture depicting a seated human figure rendered in a schematic and synthetic formal style. The composition is characterized by its frontal orientation, the rigidity of the posture, and the simplification of anatomical features. The hands, positioned parallel to the body, and the fixed gaze reinforce the impression of solemnity and immobility, while the reduction of individualizing details gives the figure a distinctly hieratic character. The work is stylistically related to the sculptural tradition of pre-Islamic Southern Arabia, where human representations in stone served votive, funerary, or commemorative functions. In the ancient kingdoms of Saba, Qataban, Hadramaut, and Ma’in, figurative art developed its own conventions, often characterized by frontal orientation, the geometrization of forms, and restrained expressiveness. During the first millennium B.C., the Arabian Peninsula was home to diverse cultures and polytheistic religious systems. In southern Arabia, deities associated with fertility, protection, celestial phenomena, and social order were worshipped. Among the principal documented deities are Almaqah, associated with the kingdom of Saba; Athtar, a deity widely worshipped throughout the region; and Shams, linked to the sun.