This statue is made of one block of stone. It features a frontal view of a standing man holding an upright plant in his left hand. The right hand is reaching to the collar. The left upper extremity forms a right angle at the elbow. The disproportionately large left thumb points to the corresponding nipple. The person is clad in a tunic, the sleeves of which end proximal to the elbow. A himation is wrapped around the trunk and covers the lower extremities to a point midway between the knees and the ankles. The cloak's fabric forms numerous curved folds on the right and is thrown over the left shoulder to descend in vertical parallel folds on the back. The footwear consists of sandals with V-shaped straps fixed to the insoles in the interdigital spaces between the first and the second toes.
The pedestal is square in shape. It carries the following Greek inscription:
ΚΑΣΙΟΣ ΝΑΣΟΥ ΕΠΟ{Ι}ΗΣΕΝ
"Kasios, the son of Naṣr made it".
The head is missing, and the fingers of both hands have suffered damage. The statue is otherwise in good condition. The surface is entirely covered with a dark opalescent brownish to mauve patina. Traces of red paint remain in the incisions of the letters.
Provenance: al-Kafr, as per Bašīr Zuhdī (pp. 112-113), though the discrepancy in height, 125 cm per Zuhdī, is substantial, raising the possibility of the piece being confused with a different one that shares some similarities. Due to a lack of inventory documentation, this dilemma is still to be solved. Substance: basalt.
Dimensions: H 93 cm, W 34 cm, D 30 cm.
Era: second century CE.
Text: adapted from Weber (p. 99).
Catalogue du Musée National de Damas. publication de la Direction Générale des Antiquités et des Musées. Damas 1969.
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