Ancient Near Eastern. <em>Figure of a Pregnant Female with a Child on Her Back</em>, ca. 2000-1700 B.C.E. Copper, 3 3/4 x 1 1/8 x 11/16 in. (9.6 x 2.8 x 1.8 cm). Collection of Jonathan P. Rosen, L86.1.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, L86.1.9_PS2.jpg)

Ancient Near Eastern. Figure of a Pregnant Female with a Child on Her Back, ca. 2000-1700 B.C.E. Copper, 3 3/4 x 1 1/8 x 11/16 in. (9.6 x 2.8 x 1.8 cm). Collection of Jonathan P. Rosen, L86.1.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, L86.1.9_PS2.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Why are the female idols depicted as abstract figures?

Lots of people wonder that! These small female figurines and ones like them are some of the oldest art works known in the worlds today. They predate writing so we can only speculate.

One theory is that communication was more important than realism. You may notice that breasts and pubic regions are emphasized leading scholars to believe that these were symbols of fertility. As long as the viewer could tell that the figure was a fertile woman, it has done its job, it does not need to be realistic. To the same end, these were produced in great numbers and it was easier to make somewhat abstracted figures.

Figure of a Pregnant Female with a Child on Her Back

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

The majority of ancient Near Eastern female figures emphasize their fertility. Although the three terracotta (baked clay) figures here come from very different times and places, all are nude and two have overlarge, patterned pubic areas. Their faces are rudimentary, with little or no indication of a mouth. The copper figure, though very schematically modeled, suggests a real woman with pulled-back hair and a bulging belly, wearing a knee-length skirt and carrying an infant on her back. In contrast, the marble image, with its circular head, long neck, and U-shaped body, is reduced almost to abstraction.

CULTURES Ancient Near Eastern; Syrian

MEDIUM Copper

Place Made: Northern region, Syria

DATES ca. 2000-1700 B.C.E.

DIMENSIONS 3 3/4 x 1 1/8 x 11/16 in. (9.6 x 2.8 x 1.8 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

EXHIBITIONS

ACCESSION NUMBER L86.1.9

CREDIT LINE Collection of Jonathan P. Rosen

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

CAPTION Ancient Near Eastern. Figure of a Pregnant Female with a Child on Her Back, ca. 2000-1700 B.C.E. Copper, 3 3/4 x 1 1/8 x 11/16 in. (9.6 x 2.8 x 1.8 cm). Collection of Jonathan P. Rosen, L86.1.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, L86.1.9_PS2.jpg)

IMAGE overall, L86.1.9_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Why are the female idols depicted as abstract figures?

Lots of people wonder that! These small female figurines and ones like them are some of the oldest art works known in the worlds today. They predate writing so we can only speculate.