Half of a mold Steatite Syria, excavated at Dura-Europos, block H2, priest's house, 2nd century AD.
Joint expedition of Yale University and the French Academy of Inscriptions and Letters, 1928-37
On loan to the Metropolitan Museum from the Yale University Art Gallery, Accession # L.1999.66.2
One side of this matrix has a boss with a fine pattern showing a female figure, probably a divinity, surrounded by a laurel wreath; on the lower, flattened surface is an ivy vine. This side may have been employed in the creation of a vessel of gold or silver. At a later period, the other side of the matrix was cut to form half of a two-part mold for casting a small vessel.
Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.
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