Portrait of a Palmyrene Priest
Unknown · Roman Imperial, second half of the second to first half of the third century AD
A clean-shaven man wears a tall cylindrical hat, the modius that marks the priests of Palmyra, encircled by a wreath of leaves. On the front of the hat is carved a small bust of a man in tunic and cloak, perhaps a relative or a divine patron. The head is thirty-eight centimetres high, broken from a statue at the neck, with large almond-shaped eyes and a calm, smooth face. Look at the crisp leaves of the wreath, which contrast with the plain surface of the hat.
Priests at Palmyra formed an elite of wealthy families who served the temples of Bel and Baalshamin, and they had themselves portrayed in this distinctive headgear on tombs and in sanctuaries. The head dates from the late second or early third century of our era, the last generation of the city's prosperity before its destruction by Rome. It was given to the Louvre in eighteen ninety, the same year the museum acquired the funerary relief of the priest Maliku displayed nearby.
Did You Know? The tall flat-topped hat is the modius, the badge of priesthood at Palmyra, and priests were the only men in the city shown without beards.
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