There was a time when thin wasn't in.

Ancient clay figurines of voluptuous women are but a few of the treasures on show in the Royal Ontario Museum's newly opened Wirth Gallery of the Middle East.

The heart of this region, Mesopotamia, is known as the cradle of civilization. The oldest objects in the gallery are around two million years old; the most recent, a mere 100.

The more than 1,000 ceramic, stone, and metal artifacts come as far west as Egypt and as far east as Afghanistan. They include vases, plates, tiles, jewellery, armour and funerary monuments -- and many figurines.

A small earthenware female figure, said to come from northern Syria, boasts a simplified and well-rounded body type.

Her small head sits atop a long neck. Facial features were probably painted on. Painted patterns can still be seen on the arms and legs.

This big-shouldered woman holds her arms above her waist and close to her body. This results in a compact body shape. She appears to hold her large breasts with her arms, creating the look of a circle within a circle.

She may be squatting, a pose that suggests she is giving birth. So this could be an image of an ordinary woman giving birth, a kind of good-luck amulet for women about to birth. Or she could be a fertility goddess, giving birth to the world and everything in it. Fertility goddesses were also associated with death.

The figurine was made between 4000 BC and 3000 BC. Early she may be, but she's no trendsetter. She resembles images of women and goddesses made about 20,000 BC.

Her long neck is especially interesting, since it recalls earlier images of bird goddesses who looked after life and death.

Birds of another feather gather on an alabaster relief sculpture from Nimrud in Mesopotamia. Made in the ninth century BC, the relief depicts winged beings flanking a sacred tree. Such trees were common in many ancient cultures, serving as a source of fertility, knowledge and eternal life.

The sacred tree is stylized, looking more architectural than natural with its columnar trunk, symmetrical branches and leafy clusters. This less-than-natural rendition contributes to the tree's holy appearance.

The two beings, almond-eyed and big-nosed, face each other in profile, down on one knee. Each lowers one long-fingered hand and raises the other with the palm open in a gesture of prayer toward the tree.

But the solemnity of the figures is balanced by the decoration that runs riot over the surface. Everything is lovingly detailed -- the curly beards, the dangling earrings, the layered feathers on the wings, the rounded pleats of the fabric, the ovals of the bulging calf muscles.

Contemplating human figures with avian characteristics might make you want to take in another great exhibition at the ROM. Darwin: The Evolution Revolution explores the life of Charles Darwin, a 19th-century scientist whose theories still court controversy. That exhibition runs until Aug. 4.

Regina Haggo, a former professor of art history at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, teaches at the Dundas Valley School of Art.

dhaggo@thespec.com

Showtime

What: Wirth Gallery of the Middle East

Where: Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto

Information: 416-586-8000 or www.rom.on.ca