Statuette of a Woman: "The Stargazer", c.3000 BC (marble)

Executed in translucent marble this is one of the oldest sculptures of the human figure in the museum. The incised triangle at the pelvis indicates that this is a female figure. Her head is sculpted fully in the round while her body is reduced to an elegant profile. The figure’s meaning and context are unknown, though it probably carries religious connotations related to fertility and abundance. This Kilia-type figure, named for an excavation site in what is now Turkey, is one of about 30 such figures known, and is especially rare because it is complete. She is a “stargazer” because her eyes look to the stars above, home of powerful divine forces.