https://urkesh.org/MZ/A/A12/D/I/0108.htm

Unit Book A12

The ābi (Version 1a)

A12.108

Processed on 2026-03-02

1. OVERVIEW

Roster Date Author Record
Category !! !! ceramic vessel
Best definition 2000-07-20 !! ceramic vessel [Input: K720JL.j]
Best image 2001-02-26 jl V13d1112 [Input: M815JL.j]
2001-02-26 jl V13d1635 [Input: M815JL.j]
2001-02-26 jl V13d1657 [Input: M815JL.j]
2001-02-26 jl W13c2504 [Input: M815JL.j]

2. IDENTIFICATION

Designation

Roster Date Author Record
Definition 2000-07-20 jl ceramic vessel [Input: K720JL.j]
Description (summary) 2000-07-20 jl a small tripod vessel, two legs intact, with a woman's face, arms, and body on one side, and what appears to be her hair surrounding the pot neck and continuing in a stripe down the other side. The neck was right next to the vessel, broken off, and the rim itself is missing. [Input: K720JL.j]
2018-03-15 yM naked female statuette. This figurine is one of the most important among the Urkesh corpus. The figure represents a woman with a small jar on the head and an elaborate hair style of long applied braids that drape on the back in gathered strands. The figurine is hollow on the inside, and it was probably used as a container for aromatic oils used in cult rituals. The assumption is that this figurine represents the lady of the Abi and it was used in the Abi rituals (Kelly-Buccellati 2002, Buccellati and Kelly-Buccellati 2001, Kelly-Buccellati 2019). Her features match this assumption. The eyes are big and wide. The nose is very well defined, even the nostrils are depicted with accuracy. The ears are large and leaning forward so she can hear what the spirits are saying (Collins, B.J 2004). The mouth is crooked, and her face is chubby, but the jaw line is defined. The head rests directly on the body, and the figure is wearing a necklace in the form of two bands decorated with small incised circles. The body is round and shaped like a jar with arms molded from the same piece of clay resting on the body and holding the small breasts between the thumb and the index finger. All five fingers on both hands are depicted accurately. The figure is wearing a bracelet on each wrist. The navel is a very shallow round incision, and the pubic triangle is depicted schematically with small incised vertical lines inside of it representing pubic hair. The legs are not represented, but instead, the figure has three knobs on the bottom to stands on. [Input: ZK226yM.j]

3. STRATIGRAPHY

Volumetric Localization

Roster Date Author Record
Locus 2000-07-20 ed k27 [Input: K720JL.j]

Axial Definition

Roster Date Author Record
Inclination 2000-07-20 jl lying on side, slightly tilted down to N, face down [Input: K720JL.j]
Orientation 2000-07-20 jl top of pot points NNE (spout), as does top of head [Input: K720JL.j]
Rotation 2000-07-20 jl one intact leg sticking straight up, person's face pointing down [Input: K720JL.j]

Contact Association

Roster Date Author Record
Type of contact: contemporary events/movable items 2000-07-20 ed i108 (ceramic vessel) sits in f343 (accumulation A) [Input: K720JL.j]

Spatial Aggregation

Roster Date Author Record
q-lot with which item is associated 2000-07-20 ed q709 (bones, items, pottery) [Input: K720JL.j]

Time Sequencing

Roster Date Author Record
Stratum (to which element belongs) 2000-07-10 !! s5 [Input: K710JL1.j]
2001-09-16 !! s6 [Input: L915JL1.j]
2024-08-11 !! s400A12A [Input: ZI811mS.j]
Phase (to which element belongs) 2024-08-11 !! h4tMZA [Input: ZI811mS.j]

4. TYPOLOGY

Items Field Record

Roster Date Author Record
Field definition 2000-07-20 ed ceramic vessel [Input: K720JL.j]
Field ware or material 2000-07-20 ed cl [Input: K720JL.j]
Notes on field record 2000-07-20 ed anthropomorphic vessel [Input: K720JL.j]

Morphology

Roster Date Author Record
Shape, form 2000-08-04 sb small vessel shaped as a woman [Input: K804SB.j]
Color 2000-07-20 jl greenish [Input: K720JL.j]
2000-08-04 sb dark grey [Input: K804SB.j]
Preservation 2000-08-04 sb almost complete; two of the three small feet at the base are partially broken; the small vase on top of the head was broken while digging, it is broken in 2 halves [Input: K804SB.j]
Notes on typology 2000-08-04 yt textual analysis - a. texture: clay body is soft(ash like). Since the clay had high viscosity, the surface is uneven. Several finger prints are observed. Light gray colour. It does not have enough oxidation firing. Chaff tempers remain as carbon in clay matrix. Particle size is uniform. b. inclusions: fibre remains(carbon) ++ (fairly), calareous ++ (fairly), pebbles - (few) [Input: K804SB.j]

Manufacturing

Roster Date Author Record
Notes on manufacturing 2000-08-04 yt technical examination - This small jar with a woman's figure was made by wheel-forming and hand-forming. The small pot on her head is located in the perfect center of jar. The hair, arms, face, breasts and legs were added on the ceramic body by hand. Three legs and top part of the small pot are partly missing. Her braied hair part, face details, necklace, bangles on both arms and triangle-shaped genitalia are incised with a sharp tool. The nipples, the genitalia and the necklace were decorated as round pressed pattern with cylindrical tools. The surface was carefully burnished. [Input: K804SB.j]

5. TREATMENT

Conservation

Roster Date Author Record
Current conditions 2000-08-04 sb the piece was completely covered by a thick hard layer of soil [Input: K804SB.j]
Procedures employed 2000-08-04 sb removed the soil by scalpel and brushes, reattached the small vase; one small fragment is missing [Input: K804SB.j]

6. REFERENCE

Analogical Record

Roster Date Author Record
Photo of individual elements (studio)

2000-07-24 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-07-24 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-07-24 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-07-24 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-07-24 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-07-24 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-07-24 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-07-27 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-07-27 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-07-27 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-07-27 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-07-27 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-07-27 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-07-27 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-02 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-02 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-02 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-02 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-02 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-02 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-03 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-03 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-03 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-03 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-03 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-03 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-03 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-03 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-03 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-03 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-03 gg [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2025-05-23 !! [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2025-05-23 !! [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2025-05-23 !! [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2025-05-23 !! [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2025-05-23 !! [Input: A12_VWX.j]
Drawing of individual element (studio)

2000-08-05 cw [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2000-08-05 cw [Input: A12_VWX.j]

2025-05-23 !! [Input: A12_VWX.j]
View/drawing of item

v122
2000-07-20 jl [Input: K720JL.j]

v122a
2000-07-20 jl [Input: K720JL.j]

v122d
2000-07-20 jl [Input: K720JL.j]

v122e
2000-07-20 jl [Input: K720JL.j]

v122f
2000-07-20 jl [Input: K720JL.j]

v122g
2000-07-20 jl [Input: K720JL.j]

v122h
2000-07-20 jl [Input: K720JL.j]