Standing bull

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

By the middle of the first millennium B.C., kingdoms had emerged in southern Arabia based on a monopoly of two of the most prized materials of ancient times, frankincense and myrrh, which are native to the region. Every temple and wealthy home in the Mediterranean and Near East burnt these incense resins on altars. Saba was initially the most important kingdom but others, such as Qataban and Ma'in, grew to rival it in power. Bronze castings of large sculptures, as well as smaller objects, were made through most of the first millennium B.C. and the early centuries A.D. in southwestern Arabia. Among the types of animal images, bulls—a symbol of strength and potency—are the most common and can be found on funerary stelae, seals, and sculptures of the period.

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