Amulet in the form of a lion with legs extended

Amulet in the form of a lion with legs extended

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This small object carved from a piece of shell depicts a lion in the act of leaping, with hind legs fully extended and front legs flexed and drawn up toward the head. All features, including the head, are only rudimentarily modeled and almost entirely without detail. The carver instead emphasized the three-dimensional form of the animal: two swellings indicate the haunch and shoulder, connected by a body whose curve underscores the animal’s dynamic motion. The forms of the legs are blocky and the features of the head difficult to make out. Lions were one of the most frequently represented animals in the art of Mesopotamia from a very early period on, and were often shown in combat with an adversary, either human or supernatural. This object may have been used as an amulet, harnessing the enormous power of this fearsome animal.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Amulet in the form of a lion with legs extendedAmulet in the form of a lion with legs extendedAmulet in the form of a lion with legs extendedAmulet in the form of a lion with legs extendedAmulet in the form of a lion with legs extended

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.