Stone relief plaque illustrating a banquet scene, its preparations and frolicking, Khafajah, Early Dynastic II – III A (ca. 2700 – 2600 BC), 20.4 x 20 x 4.2 cm.

Figural sculpture – Reliefs

Material: Rocks/Stones | Type: Plaques/Steles/Tablets Sculptures/Relief carving | Countries: Iraq

  • Period

    6th millennium BC – AD 632

  • Red List

    Emergency Red List – Iraq

Category

Figural sculpture – Reliefs
Carved reliefs or moulded plaques with figurative (kings and their entourage, animals, mythical creatures, deities with horned headdresses), floral or geometric motifs. Landscapes or religious, military or daily life scenes (feasts, hunts, sieges, construction).

Terracotta: Small plaques. Figures depicted with their heads and chests facing forward and legs sideways.

Stone (alabaster, marbkle):
Plaques: Pierced in the centre. Scenes depicted in horizontal rows. Min. height: 20 cm.
Slabs and steles: Fragments. May have cuneiform inscriptions. Size of the full slabs: 1-2 x 2-3 m.
© Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago