Ancient Peoples

Ceramic vessel shaped like a boar, 5.7 in. (14.5 cm)...

Sun, 01 Apr 2018 19:00:12 +0100

Ceramic vessel shaped like a boar, 5.7 in. (14.5 cm) high

Proto-Elamite culture, south-western Iran, ca. 3100–2900 B.C.

The body of the boar is hollow, with a small round rimmed opening atop the center of the back and a hole pierced through the snout. The vessel could have been filled through the larger hole in the back while the smaller hole in the snout was held closed with a thumb, allowing the liquid to flow out once the snout was uncovered.

Source: Met Museum

Miniature pot (under 2″ / 4.6 cm high) Iran, possibly from...

Sat, 31 Mar 2018 19:00:18 +0100

Miniature pot (under 2″ / 4.6 cm high)

Iran, possibly from Tepe Giyan, early 2nd millennium B.C. (Middle Bronze Age)

Source: Met Museum

Cylinder seals with interesting creatures (modern...

Fri, 30 Mar 2018 19:00:22 +0100

Cylinder seals with interesting creatures (modern impressions)

Mitanni kingdom, modern Iran (possibly from Tepe Giyan), ca. 15th–14th century B.C.

Source: Met Museum (one) (two) (three)

Faience cylinder seals (modern impressions)Mitanni kingdom,...

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:00:28 +0100

Faience cylinder seals (modern impressions)

Mitanni kingdom, modern Iran (possibly from Tepe Giyan), ca. 15th–14th century B.C.

Source: Met Museum (one) (two) (three) (four)

Ivory furniture plaque: female sphinx with Hathor-style...

Wed, 28 Mar 2018 19:00:33 +0100

Ivory furniture plaque: female sphinx with Hathor-style curls

Anatolia, probably from Acemhöyük, ca. 18th century B.C. (Middle Bronze Age–Old Assyrian Trading Colony period)

Hippopotamus ivory, 3 in x 2 ¼ in. (7.3 x 5.7 cm)

This figure belongs to a group of carved ivories, mostly furniture elements, probably found at the site of a palace at Acemhöyük in central Anatolia. Most of the ivories depict imagery borrowed and transformed from Egyptian sources, such as the sphinx represented by this plaque, a fantastic creature that combines a human head with a lion’s body, with or without wings. Although the bottom of the plaque is broken away, parts of the creature’s leonine hind leg and tail are still preserved. The sphinx has a hairstyle of long, curled locks similar to that worn by the Egyptian goddess Hathor. She wears a fillet across the forehead, above which three additional short curls rise. One lock is tucked behind a large ear. The eye, hollowed out to receive an inlay (now missing), and nose are prominent, and the mouth and chin are small. The overall gray color indicates that the object was exposed to considerable heat, perhaps during the destruction of the palace.

Source: Met Museum

The Goddess Nekhbet, from the Temple of Hatshepsut Painted...

Tue, 27 Mar 2018 19:00:33 +0100

The Goddess Nekhbet, from the Temple of Hatshepsut

Painted scale copy (tempera on paper) of the temple painting by Charles K. Wilkinson, 1920s.

Original from Deir al-Bahri, Thebes, Upper Egypt. Dated to the New Kingdom,
Dynasty 18, ca. 1479–1458 B.C. (joint reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III).

Nekhbet is depicted as a vulture, often hovering over an image of the pharaoh and clutching a shen symbol (representing eternal encircling protection) in her talons.

Source: Met Museum

Drinking Cup of Glassy Faience (4″ high)Egypt, New...

Mon, 26 Mar 2018 19:00:15 +0100

Drinking Cup of Glassy Faience (4″ high)

Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Thutmose III, ca. 1479–1425 B.C.. Found at Thebes, Wadi Gabbanat el-Qurud,Tomb of the 3 Foreign Wives of Thutmose III.

This jar was probably imported from western Asia and may have been brought to Egypt by one of the foreign wives of Thutmose III as part of her dowry. The form, which has a button-shaped base now masked by gold leaf over plaster restoration, has a long history in Mesopotamia. Fragments of glassy faience vessels with a similar variegated pattern have been found at the site of Nuzi (modern Yorgan Tepe, Iraq), which flourished in the kingdom of Mitanni during the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries B.C. Glass making appears to have originated in Mesopotamia and been imported into Egypt early in Dynasty 18. Egyptian artisans had been making faience, a substance related to glass, for more than a thousand years and they quickly mastered the art of glassmaking as well.

Source: Met Museum

Early blown-glass vaseEgypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, ca....

Sun, 25 Mar 2018 20:00:42 +0100

Early blown-glass vase

Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, ca. 1390–1353 B.C., reign of Amenhotep III. Found at the Palace of Amenhotep III, Malqata, Thebes, MMA excavations 1911-12.

Height: 10 cm (3 7/8 in)

This core-formed glass vase was assembled from fragments found at the palace of Amenhotep III at Malqata during the Museum’s excavations at the site. A large amount of waste glass as well as glass rods and other basic materials for making glass were also discovered, suggesting that glass was being manufactured nearby. By the reign of Amenhotep III, Egyptian artists had mastered the art of glass-making which had come to Egypt only a few generations earlier from the Near East where it was developed (see 26.7.1175).

Source: Met Museum

Griffin incised on a small ivory furniture inlay Anatolia,...

Sat, 24 Mar 2018 19:00:42 +0000

Griffin incised on a small ivory furniture inlay

Anatolia, probably from an Acemhöyük palace, ca. 18th century BC (Middle Bronze Age–Old Assyrian Trading Colony)

Dimensions: 1.61 x 1.04 in. (4.09 x 2.64 cm)

This fragment belongs to a group of carved ivories, mostly furniture elements, probably found at the site of a palace at Acemhöyük in central Anatolia. Incised on the small flat piece of ivory is a delicate rendering of a griffin, a mythological creature that combines the body of a lion with the wings and head of a bird of prey. The small hooked beak and facial markings indicate that this griffin has the head of a falcon. Its slender leonine body is seated with front legs extended and wings fully extended, giving the impression that the creature is poised to spring into action. Griffins of this type, with a spiral curl hanging down the neck and extended wings, are characteristic of Aegean art in later periods, such as the famous Minoan wall painting from the palace at Knossos on Crete that shows griffins flanking the royal throne. This object is the earliest known rendering of this type of griffin, suggesting that the motif was adopted by Minoan artisans after contacts with Bronze Age Anatolia.

Source: Met Museum

Quartz Ibex, 2.3cm high (7/8″)Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18,...

Fri, 23 Mar 2018 19:00:21 +0000

Quartz Ibex, 2.3cm high (7/8″)

Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, ca. 1390–1352 B.C., reign of Amenhotep III. Found at Thebes, Upper Egypt.

Source: Met Museum

Silver Tetradrachms of Alexander the Great Iran, Pasargadae, ...

Wed, 21 Mar 2018 19:00:42 +0000

Silver Tetradrachms of Alexander the Great

Iran, Pasargadae, minted ca. early 4th century B.C. (early Seleucid Empire)

Excavated by David Stronach in 1962-3 on behalf of the British Institute of Persian Studies; acquired by the Museum in the 1970s, as a result of its financial contribution to the excavations at Tepe Nush-i Jan, Iran.

(Met Museum 1978.93.21) and Met Museum 1974.105.10

Silver Tetradrachm of Seleucus I Iran, found at Pasargadae,...

Tue, 20 Mar 2018 19:00:42 +0000

Silver Tetradrachm of Seleucus I

Iran, found at Pasargadae, minted ca. 312–281 B.C.

The obverse of this tetradrachm displays an idealized portrait of Seleucus I (r. 312–280 B.C., previously one of Alexander the Great’s generals) wearing a helmet covered with a leopard skin and adorned with a bull’s ear and horns. Around Seleucus’ throat is another leopard skin, knotted in front by means of the beast’s forepaws. The features of Seleucus resemble those on coins showing Alexander the Great and with whom the new Macedonian rulers wished to be compared.
Under Seleucus I, coins were minted at a number of cities throughout his empire. This example was minted at Persepolis, the administrative center in Persia.

Source: Met Museum

Stone Mason’s Chisel and MalletAncient Egypt, Middle...

Mon, 19 Mar 2018 19:00:17 +0000

Stone Mason’s Chisel and Mallet

Ancient Egypt, Middle Kingdom, reign of Mentuhotep II, ca. 2051–2000 B.C.

From Upper Egypt, Thebes, Deir el-Bahri, MMA excavations, 1926–27

Source: Met Museum

Bronze bow fibula (safety pin) with four ducks Villanovan...

Sun, 18 Mar 2018 19:00:45 +0000

Bronze bow fibula (safety pin) with four ducks

Villanovan culture, Italy, ca. 900 B.C.

Source: Met Museum

Short Sword with Four Kulans’ Heads on the...

Sat, 17 Mar 2018 19:00:18 +0000

Short Sword with Four Kulans’ Heads on the Handle

Northeast China, 10th-8th century BC

Bronze, L. 9 5/8 in. (24.5 cm)

(The kulan is a species of onager or wild ass native to Central Asia).

Source: Met Museum

Spear head (mao) China, 6th–4th century B.C., Eastern Zhou...

Fri, 16 Mar 2018 19:00:37 +0000

Spear head (mao)

China, 6th–4th century B.C., Eastern Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period (770–476 B.C.)

Bronze with metallic inlay, H. 10 ¾ in. (27 cm); W. 2 in. (5.2 cm)

Source: Met Museum

Gold sanguisuga-type fibula (clothing pin) with patterns in...

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 19:00:41 +0000

Gold sanguisuga-type fibula (clothing pin) with patterns in granulation

Etruscan, 7th century B.C. (Geometric period)

Length: 2 ¼ in. (5.7 cm)

Source: Met Museum

Gold serpentine fibula (clothing pin) Etruscan, Geometric...

Wed, 14 Mar 2018 19:00:43 +0000

Gold serpentine fibula (clothing pin)

Etruscan, Geometric period, probably 7th century B.C.

Length 3 ½ in. (8.8 cm)

Source: Met Museum

Terracotta funerary plaqueAttic Greek, ca. 520–510 B.C. (Archaic...

Tue, 13 Mar 2018 19:00:22 +0000

Terracotta funerary plaque

Attic Greek, ca. 520–510 B.C. (Archaic period)

Prothesis (laying out of the dead); below, chariot race

In the latter sixth century B.C., the elaborate series of funerary plaques set into the walls of rectangular tombs were replaced by single plaques with holes for attachment. The chariot race, a recurring theme in Attic funerary art, may evoke the funeral games held in honor of legendary heroes, such as those in book 23 of the Iliad, when Achilles honored his deceased friend Patroklos.

Source: Met Museum

"No townsman, Perikles, will blame us for groaning with cares, nor will the city celebrate..."

Sat, 10 Mar 2018 19:18:02 +0000

“No townsman, Perikles, will blame us for groaning
with cares, nor will the city celebrate feasts:
Such men the waves of the thundering sea
washed under, that our lungs are swollen
with sorrow. But for incurable ills, my friend,
the gods created powerful endurance
as a drug. Pain strikes one, then another.
Now it turns to us and we groan over a bloody
wound; next it’ll turn to someone else. So now
endure, driving back womanly grief.”

- Verse by the ancient Greek woman poet Archilochos, fragment 6.
Tr. Diane Rayor, Sappho’s Lyre: Archaic Lyric Women Poets of Ancient Greece, pg 23 (University of California Press: Berkeley, 1991).