Spycket,Agnès. — La statuaire du Proche-Orient Ancien.

Leiden & Köln, E.J. Brill, 1981. XXIX,474 pp. B./w. photographs (numbered 1 - 284) on [97] plts & 1 fold. b./w. map. Orig. hardcover (blind stamped light green cloth with dark green lettering). 8vo. - Very slightly discoloured spine with a small dent. (Handbuch der Orientalistik. VII. Abt. Kunst und Archäologie, 1. Der Alte Vordere Orient, 2. Abschnitt: Die Denkmäler, B: Vorderasien, Lfg. 2. / Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 7: Art and Archaeology, The Ancient Near East 2, B, 2). [ISBN: 978-90-04-06248-1].This French-language book by the French archaeologist Agnès Spycket is a standard scholarly work on ancient Near Eastern sculpture and statuary. It traces the history of free-standing statues and larger sculptures in the ancient Near East over a vast timespan-roughly from the 8th millennium BC to the conquests of Alexander the Great around 323 BC. It covers regions such as Mesopotamia (Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, Assyria), Syria, Persia, and adjacent areas. Many sculptures from the ancient Near East-crafted from stone, metal, ivory, and wood-served religious or political functions; examples include images of deities, votive figures (statues placed in temples on behalf of individuals), and royal portraits. - Sold out at the publisher.