Barakat Gallery
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Home
  • Artworks
  • Exhibitions
  • About
  • Contact
Menu
  • Menu

Babylonian Art

  • All
  • Masterpieces of Near Eastern Art
  • Achaemenid Art
  • Assyrian Art
  • Babylonian Art
  • Bactrian Art
  • Cuneiform Tablets
  • Elamite Art
  • Hittite Art
  • Luristan Art
  • Parthian Art
  • Sassanian Art
  • Scythian Art
  • Sumerian Art
  • Urartian Art
  • Near Eastern Bronze Age
  • Near Eastern Iron Age
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Old Babylonian Clay Mould With Standing Deity, 2000 BCE - 1700 BCE
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Old Babylonian Clay Mould With Standing Deity, 2000 BCE - 1700 BCE

Old Babylonian Clay Mould With Standing Deity, 2000 BCE - 1700 BCE

Terracotta
height 14 cm
height 5 1/2 in
LO.1161
Enquire
%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EOld%20Babylonian%20Clay%20Mould%20With%20Standing%20Deity%3C/span%3E%2C%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2000%20BCE%20%20-%20%201700%20BCE%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3ETerracotta%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3Eheight%2014%20cm%3Cbr/%3E%0Aheight%205%201/2%20in%3C/div%3E

Further images

  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) Thumbnail of additional image
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) Thumbnail of additional image
The Old Babylonian period describes southern Mesopotamia in the period about 2000-1600 BC. The early years saw a number of important states dominating the region: Isin, Larsa, Eshnunna and, from...
Read more
The Old Babylonian period describes southern Mesopotamia in the period about 2000-1600 BC. The early years saw a number of important states dominating the region: Isin, Larsa, Eshnunna and, from 1894 BC, Babylon. Babylon was ruled by a dynasty of Amorite kings. The sixth ruler was Hammurapi, who defeated the other southern states and expanded his control into north Mesopotamia. On the death of Hammurapi the empire gradually shrank over about 150 years. Nonetheless, Babylon remained an important power until it was sacked by the Hittite king, Mursili I, in about 1595 BC. During the Old Babylonian period literary activity flourished with scribes composing and recording religious, poetic and 'scientific' works in Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform. Perhaps the most famous monument is the stele of Hammurapi, now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.

This mould depicts a standing naked female figure clasping her hands underneath her breasts, her hair reaching the shoulders, her neck adorned with necklace. Images of women are not generally common, though it has been possible to learn something about the status of women in ancient Mesopotamia from documents dating from 2400 BC until around 1700 BC. Queens often controlled their own estates, had their own administration and played an important role in the economic life of the state. Wives of governors were also active in the textile and other industries. Women could own land, orchards, slaves, oxen and silver. It is clear that women had the same legal rights as men, and that they could go to court to protect them. They could apparently act independently, buying and selling houses, and could act as guarantor for another person. Further down the social scale, the main occupation of women was weaving. Texts also mention the number of their children, who were probably taken to work, as many of them are suckling babies. Boys were separated when grown up and the girls raised to become weavers like their mothers. Many, but not all, were slaves (as a result of warfare). A great number were possibly connected with a-ru-a, an institution where objects, animals or people were donated to temples.

The iconographic subject of this mould finds an attractive comparable in a bust preserved at the British Museum and dated between 2000 BCE and 1750 BCE (inventory number 135680).
Close full details
Share
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Email
Previous
|
Next
6 
of  19

London

48 Albemarle Street,

London, W1S 4JW

info@barakatgallery.eu 

 

       


 

CONTACT | TEAM | PRESS 

 

Seoul
58-4, Samcheong-ro,
Jongno-gu, Seoul
+82 02 730 1949
barakat@barakat.kr
             

 

Los Angeles

941 N La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90069
+1 310 859 8408

contact@barakatgallery.com

  


 

 

Facebook, opens in a new tab.
Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Send an email
View on Google Maps
Manage cookies
Copyright © 2025 Barakat Gallery
Site by Artlogic


Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences
Close

Join our mailing list

Sign Up

* denotes required fields