Photograph of Statuettes from Tell Asmar

1933 AD - 1934 AD
Photographic Paper
Tell Asmar
AsFN1095

Oriental Institute Museum

Artifact Description

Photograph of Statuettes from Tell Asmar

This photograph, created from a field negative, shows a workman squatting above a hole containing worshipper statuettes that once stood in the temple of Abu at Tell Asmar. Scholars believe that worshipper statuettes were placed in temples to stand in perpetual prayer, while their owners went about their daily lives. As sacred objects, these statuettes could not be discarded when the temple was rebuilt in ancient times. Instead, they were buried under the floor of the new temple, where they were discovered by Oriental Institute archaeologists during the 1933-1934 season.

Multimedia

The Mystery of Archaeology
Dr. Gil Stein, Director of the Oriental Institute, talks about archaeology in this video.

How Do We Care for Ancient Artifacts?
How do artifacts survive over time? Oriental Institute Museum conservator Laura D'Alessandro tells us how they are cared for in this video.

A Worshipper Statue
What is a worshipper statue and why did the ancient Mesopotamians use them? Learn the answer to this question and more with this interactive.

Suggested Readings

McIntosh, Jane. Archaeology. Eyewitness Books. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1994.

Renfrew, Colin and Paul Bahn. Archaeology: Theory, Methods, and Practice. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1991.

Wenke, Robert. Patterns in Prehistory: Humankind's First Three Million Years. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.

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