Panel fragment
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
This object is one of three related fragments in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, said to be from Ziwiye, which depict hunting and battle scenes (51.131.9; 51.131.11; 51.131.12). Stylistic differences suggest they were carved by different artisans, but all three show a familiarity with the scenes depicted in the stone reliefs that decorated Assyrian palaces. Because of their similarity to the Assyrian reliefs, they have been classified as Assyrian style ivories. They were likely used as furniture decoration. On this piece, a mounted hunter aims a spear towards a fleeing animal at right, perhaps a deer. The hunter wears a garment with a fringe that runs along the thigh, and a long earring or feather hangs from his ear. Details such as the horse’s harness and the coat of the hunter’s prey are incised. In 1947 a treasure was reputedly found at a mound near the village of Ziwiye in northwestern Iran. Objects attributed to Ziwiye are stylistically similar to Assyrian art of the eighth and seventh centuries B.C. as well as to the art of contemporary Syria, Urartu, and Scythia. Many objects of gold, silver, bronze, ivory, and ceramic have since appeared on the antiquities market with the provenance of Ziwiye, although there is no way to verify this identification.
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.