The sands of time erode ancient art, and centuries of human conflict can be just as merciless. Although much of the art in an exhibit at the Walters Art Museum is in fragmentary condition, it's impressive to be able to make eye contact with the ancient people in "Faces of Ancient Arabia: The Giraud & Carolyn Foster Collection of South Arabian Art."

Most of the art in this exhibit comes from this Baltimore couple's recent donation of 61 alabaster sculptures and other objects produced between the sixth century B.C. and the fourth century A.D. Dr. Foster was the personal physician to the king of Yemen in the early 1960s, and the art he and his wife acquired in subsequent years offers insights into a culture that is little known to most Americans.

The majority of the sculpted heads in the show were originally used for funerary and ritual purposes. There usually are named inscriptions carved into the bases of these modestly sized, slab-shaped sculptures, so the realistic but rather generic-looking figures do possess at least the suggestion of a personality.

Facial features are beautifully simplified, and you get the sense that these people wanted to make a good impression in the afterlife. The long neck in "Head of Lady Helqeb," for instance, was considered a lovely physical attribute within her culture; the equivalent today would be to praise a woman for having a swan-like elegance.

It's both illuminating and frustrating to see the ancient figures in this show because so many of them are no longer intact.

A striking case in point is the "Figure of a Female Worshiper." Her arms once were extended as if to make a religious offering, but somewhere over time she lost her hands. She also lost the inlays of precious stones that once marked the pupils of her eyes. Such alabaster faces are now a shimmering white, but they would have been painted.

And yet what remains of this female worshiper is attractive, including her gently clinging garment. We can also be thankful that her head has been reattached.

Not every stone image represents a human being. The carved animals include numerous representations of a bull's head, associated with notions of regeneration.

One of the most impressive pieces is a carved relief depicting a lion and a leopard attacking a gazelle, an ibex and other animals. Birds perched in two trees quietly watch the attack. Although only traces of the original paint remain on the stone, this is such a strikingly detailed carving that it comes alive before your eyes.

The final galleries of the exhibit are given over to Walters-owned examples of ancient art from regions adjacent to Yemen, photographs and other didactic material, a family activities center, and a sampling of contemporary art from Yemen. Although this supplementary section is worthwhile, it feels like it's stretched thin to fill out the museum's special exhibition galleries.

"Faces of Ancient Arabia: The Giraud & Carolyn Foster Collection of South Arabian Art" runs through Sept. 7 at the Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St. in Baltimore. Call 410-547-9000 or go to www.thewalters.org.

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