Iberian Peninsula to the indus

pars pro toto
). eyes, the seat of life and 
identity, were in a different setting the focus of statuettes from iberia, egypt, Cyprus, 
Anatolia, syria, mesopotamia. the sexual triangle may appear discreetly, at the hem 
of a completely abstract disc as in the Kültepe disk idols or in the Cycladic Violin. or 
it may take over the whole body, as in the terracotta triangular idols from Central 
Asia, a triangle endowed with eyes and breasts. generally speaking, our abstract 
images belong to the feminine genre, albeit ambiguously: they may integrate another 
visual synecdoche: in phallic female image, whole or parts of a female body, the head 
or the arms, are made in the shape of an erect penis. Cyprus and Anatolia created 
masterpieces of this androgynous ideal: an impossibly complete nature? 
pregnant reclining figure
Early Spedos type
Cyclades 
Early Cycladic II period (2700–2300 BC)
Private Collection, UK
(cat. 14, detail)

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25
24
in contrast with the abstract aesthetic, a natural but idealized rendition of the 
human body appeared about the same period, the end of the fourth millennium. 
one major centre of this aesthetic was in southern mesopotamia. the uruk culture 
and its successors, named from the city of gilgamesh, where writing was invented, 
extended its cultural domination, over most of Western Asia. it marked significant-
ly the development of egypt at the birth of Pharaonic civilization. mesopotamian 
artists created masterpieces of idealized beauty, like the “uruk lady” (Baghdad). A 
type of idealized nude female figure created in the mid-third millennium spread to 
the levant and egypt, and remained immensely popular until the end of Antiquity. 
they were deposited in tombs and temples and may also have been part of domestic 
cults. most of these gracious figures were made of baked clay, with a few exceptions 
in ivory or stone. 
the comparison between the idealized aesthetic of mesopotamia and that of the 
Cyclades islands, in the Aegean, has not been often attempted: it opens new vistas 
about the art of the Bronze Age in the third millennium. Artists in the Cyclades 
made the best use of the quality of their local marble, as would their successors 
of the classic greek period. the iconographic types they created (ca. 2800 BC) en-
dured and evolved for several centuries: a nude body, arms crossed over the waist 
protecting the belly, often shown distinctly pregnant (
cat. n° 14-15
). Although mu-
seums exhibit them standing, these figures were originally reclining on the ground, 
their legs slightly bent, their feet pendent, their head tilted back, looking at heaven. 
Within the constraint of the type, individual sculptors like the prolific goulandris 
master or the sutton Place master (
cat. n° 18
) introduced infinite variations of 
proportions and style. the Cycladic statuettes were deposited in tombs, possibly 
after having served in public cultic places at the occasion of recurrent rituals: these 
involved their repeated manipulations which left traces of usage and breakage on 
the pieces, which were often carefully repaired. Cycladic figures were imported 
and imitated in Crete and Anatolia.
egypt: a World apart
egypt had its own original approach to the neolithic revolution. A small number of 
graceful figures in painted clay survive; both male and female were represented with 
explicit sex organs during the Badari (4400–3700 BC) and naqada (3700–3000 BC) 
periods. they never were quite as ubiquitous and quite as integral a part of ritual 
practices, as in the cultures of the mediterranean and Western Asia. Variously in-
terpreted as dancers, triumphant or bird figures, these uniquely expressive images 
elude us as to their significance, social function and usage in the course of funerary 
rituals (
cat. 43-44). 
they tend to disappear at the end of the predynastic period. then, around 3000–
2900 BC, at the dawn of History, when the state-controlled organization that was to 
become the Pharaonic civilization was in construction, the broadening of the social 
and economic network encouraged ties with the levant and mesopotamia. A nude 
1
Bearded figure carved from 
hippopotamus ivory
Egypt
V–IV millennium BC 
Museo Egizio, Turin

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27
26
statuette from Hierakonpolis (
cat. 45
), carved in lapis lazuli, a stone imported from 
Afghanistan, illustrates the extent of the far-reaching network of exchange and con-
tacts between egypt and Asia. 
the development of subsequent Pharaonic iconography introduced portraits of 
the worshippers, of the deceased and his family, at the time when mesopotamia 
was also opening the world of eternal images to simple mortal beings. the strongly 
original aesthetic of the egyptian artists influenced the levant, a neighbouring re-
gion over which Pharaohs ruled for centuries, but otherwise the egyptian art of the 
human figure followed an entirely different path from that chosen for this present 
exhibition. one single portrait of a slender, naked and idealized man (
cat. n° 46
) has 
been selected as an example of egyptian accomplishment. 
introducing iMageS 
of MortalS facing tHeir godS
the identity of the early anthropomorphic figures remained at best ambiguous. there 
is a general consensus to understand the female images as expressing cosmic and 
metaphysical concepts related to life, death or the Cycle of nature. early images 
of warriors armed with daggers and baldrics from Arabia (
cat. 52
) or the Cyclades 
were also ambiguous in their identity; it is unclear whether they represented real 
men in power or supra human beings, perhaps the male counterparts of the nude 
female figure.
With the development of urban societies in mesopotamia and egypt, in the late fourth 
millennium profound change introduced the images of simple mortals, unambiguous 
human beings. they are there, alive, as worshippers, humbly devoted to their gods. 
they are men, and also women, women as themselves, no longer as the incarnation 
of feminine divine principles (
cat. 73-74
). the clothes and ornaments they wear are 
the mark of their status, of their standing in society. their identity may be emphasized 
by a dedicatory inscription that preserves their name for eternity. 
As a corollary to the entrance of mortal humans in the world of images, new 
gods appear. they were created in the image of man, in a reversal of the Biblical 
saying. distinct deities, each with their individual personality and area of compe-
tence, emerged to take their place in fully organized pantheons. the development of 
literacy fixed in writing the mythology of these pantheons and the actions of these 
gods. to ensure that divine images would not be confused with those of the mortal 
worshippers, distinct costumes, emblems and attributes were assigned to the gods. 
in egypt, iconographic rules established at the dawn of the Pharaonic era remained 
almost unchanged until the end of Antiquity. in Western Asia, gods and goddesses, 
who ruled over Heaven and the underworld, were distinguished from humans by 
a special crown in the shape of a horned tiara and various attributes. next to the 
higher gods, heroes took part in the age-old cosmic confrontation that ensured the 
perpetual cycle of nature. they interacted with hybrid genies who combined in their 
body a double animal and human identity: the Bull-man (
cat. n° 67
) symbolized the 
torSo of feMale votive 
figure
Mesopotamia
Early Dynastic II period
(ca. 2500 BC)
Private Collection, Paris
(cat. 73, detail)
wild forces of the mountains as opposed to the rich valleys, the cities and civilization. 
the dragon genie of the oxus (
cat. n° 93-94
), his skin covered with serpentine scales, 
was the savage counterpart of the protective oxus goddess (
cat. n° 75-90
). 
narrative scenes would depict warfare and triumph, hunting, religious ceremo-
nies, social gatherings like the banquet feasts accompanied with music and dance. 
the exhibition presents elements of such narrative scenes, statuettes of female and 
male worshippers, gods, heroes and genies, focusing on the parallels between the 
figures from syria-mesopotamia and those from Central Asia at the time of the oxus 
civilization. to conclude the journey in space and time, a haunting terracotta statuette 
from Baluchistan (
cat. 100
) materializes the obscure communication between the 
indus and sumerian art at the end of the third millennium.
over the