Funerary Heads (Susa, Haft Tepe) (eahaa00252), Wiley's The Encyclopedia of Ancient History Asia and Africa

During the Middle Elamite period (ca. 1500-1000 BCE), certain inhabitants of the Elamite city of Susa introduced the use of modeled unbaked clay human heads into their funerary practices. The heads are near life-size and depict both men and women, often with carefully detailed and individualized hairstyles, adornment, facial features and expressions. These details were variously modeled, incised and painted on, and clay or bitumen eyes were inlaid. Modeled clay heads have been unearthed mainly in tomb chambers, but being unbaked and prone to disintegration, it is possible that others simply haven’t survived or been recognized in other burial types. Their vulnerability makes it difficult to judge the extent to which they had permeated the funerary practices of Susa’s society. According to current knowledge, the use of modeled clay heads was restricted to this city and did not extend more broadly through the Elamite world. Two well-made heads were found at neighboring Haft Tepe in an atelier close to an elite tomb complex, but the jury remains out on whether they would have been intended for funerary contexts.