This sculptured head, carved from a fine calcite-alabaster, belongs to a type of portrait head produced in South Arabia (present day Yemen), from about 6th-4th century BC until 1st Century AD. It shows the refinement of art from this period. Originally it would have been secured with gypsum into a niche at the top of a stone funerary stele and place within a family tomb. The top of the head and the back are unfinished as they would not have been visible in the original setting. An inscription around the niche would have identified the deceased whom the portrait commemorated.The face is long and delicately tapered, with a neatly trimmed beard encircling the chin. The nose is prominent, as are the large eyes, and the long slender neck. The features are recessed and would have been inlaid, indeed there are traces of blue inlay in the right eye, most probably blue glass, (cf. A head in the British Museum, ANE 2002-1-14,2). Other extant examples contain more of the original inlay suggesting the vivid, colourful appearance these heads would have had.
