Mosaic fragment

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Written sources state that in 540, the Sasanian emperor Khusraw I (r. 531–79) decorated his palace at Ctesiphon with mosaics commemorating the Sasanian army's siege of the Byzantine city of Antioch. Excavations at the site uncovered fragments of mosaics with vibrant colors and gilding in the palace precinct. The use of a medium associated with Byzantine imperial architecture at the Sasanian capital is an example of the complex cultural and political exchanges made between the two empires.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art cares for approximately 7,000 works ranging in date from the eighth millennium B.C. through the centuries just beyond the emergence of Islam in the seventh century A.D. Objects in the collection were created by people in the area that today comprises Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Yemen, and Central Asia. From the art of some of the world's first cities to that of great empires, the department's holdings illustrate the beauty and craftsmanship as well as the profound interconnections, cultural and religious diversity, and lasting legacies that characterize the ancient art of this vast region.

Metropolitan Museum of Art