Female figure

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the middle of the second millennium B.C., the state of Elam in southwestern Iran achieved new levels of political and military power. Excavations at several important sites of this period uncovered distinctive objects that attest to the originality of artists and reflect an interest in elements of adornment. This mold-made female figure is depicted with a patterned headdress and wears crossed shoulder bands that hang thought a slip ring between her breasts and are incised with a herringbone pattern. She is adorned with a necklace, three bracelets on each wrist, and anklets. She holds her breasts in her hands, her enlarged pubic triangle is made up of rows of curls, and her flat but fleshy body and distended legs are characteristic of nude female figures of this period. The figure confronts the gaze of the viewer with her wide, rimmed eyes. Such nude female images have often been interpreted as fertility figures. However, due to their frontal poses, exaggerated body parts, provocative gestures, and richly adorned bodies, they could be interpreted as erotic images.

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