Dārayyā

Dārayyā, ancient Dara, is located southwest of Damascus. As is the case with numerous Syrian towns and villages, the settlement is quite ancient, dating at least as far back as the Roman age. It merited an honorable mention by several medieval scholars (ibn ʿAsākir and Yāqūt al-Ḥamwī, among others) as the resting place of more than one Muslim saint, notably ʾabū Sulaymān ad-Dārānī (757-830 C.E.).

Two reliefs were discovered at Ḥōš Blās, a location south of Dārayyā. Both were fashioned in the second or third century C.E. out of limestone with almost identical dimensions of 43-44 x 34 cm. The general configuration is also quite similar, with few differences:

The top relief represents a woman holding a baby in her left hand as her right hand is uncovering her breast for the purpose of nursing the hungry child. While the beauty, physical as well as symbolical, of this work is undeniable, the artist had paid little respect to dimensions and proportions. The infant is way too small relative to his mom, and the same criticism could be leveled at the size of its head compared with the rest of the body.

The bottom image resembles the top one to a great extent, though the hairstyle and its ornaments are slightly dissimilar, and the woman stares in this case to her right. The major difference is, of course, the absence of the child.

Collection of the National Museum of Damascus. 

Thomas M. Weber. Sculptures from Roman Syria in the Syrian National Museum of Damascus. Vol I, from Cities and Villages in Central and Southern Syria. Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft. Worms. 2006.