Fragment of a shell with a sculpted female head

Fragment of a shell with a sculpted female head

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The shell of a species of large clam (Tridacna squamosa), native to the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf, was used to carve a distinctive type of cosmetic container during a short period from the late seventh to the early sixth century B.C. More than a hundred containers of this type survive, and have been found throughout the Near East and Mediterranean, as far east as Iran and as far west as Italy. Unworked shells have been found in Palestine and Transjordan, suggesting that the workshops where these containers were manufactured were located in these regions. This fragment of a cosmetic container preserves the thick hinge of the shell, which was carved as the three-dimensional head of the figure whose body was incised on the shell’s outer surface. The figure’s very large eyes are outlined with double incised lines, and the pupils are highlighted with drilled holes. The other features are simplified, such as the small mouth represented by two incised lines. A ridge at the forehead suggests a headband, which wraps around the back of the head, holding back the hair which is represented as individual feather-like hatched locks. Traces of a decorative border can be seen at the lower edge of the hair, which would have continued on the figure’s garment when the container was complete.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fragment of a shell with a sculpted female headFragment of a shell with a sculpted female headFragment of a shell with a sculpted female headFragment of a shell with a sculpted female headFragment of a shell with a sculpted female head

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.