The Canaanite God of Healing is depicted in an upright frontal pose. An indeterminable object is held in his left hand and a long serpent-entwined scepter with the right. He wears what looks like a breastplate and a kilt. The head looks slightly upward and to the left. The face is framed by thick hair, roughly executed. A flat, cap-like object crowns the cranial vault.
The background of the relief is broken on the right side of the block, but the figure itself is preserved in its entirety, though chiseled in a crude manner. The top of the scepter is broken. The surface is coated with a thin, dark, bluish, opalescent patina with small patches of light brown incrustations.
Provenance: Šaqqā. Acquired by the Museum on July 20th, 1946.
Era: mid third century CE (?).
Substance: basalt.
Dimensions: H 119 cm, W 58-75 cm, D 34 cm.
Text: adapted from Weber (p 116). .
Collection: 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.
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