The bust of Ummayat, in common with all other funerary reliefs of women in Palmyra, sheds valuable light on the jewellery prized by the women who lived in the city in the 2nd century CE.
Ummayat was the daughter of Yarhai, the inscription in Palmyrene informs us. She is portrayed with her hand on her cheek in a gesture of sorrow common in funeral images. Behind her, a length of cloth hung from two palm leaves symbolises, like the door in the Greco-Roman world, the boundary between life and death.
Nature: High relief in limestone
Dimensions: H.: 53 cm; L.: 43 cm; D.: 21 cm
Origin: Palmyra
Date: Late 2nd century CE.
Writing: Inscription in the Palmyrene alphabet
Language: Palmyrene, dialect derived from Aramaic
Inventory number: AO 2196
Learn more: Bust of Ummayat