Top of standard with male figure and flanking ibexes attacked by dogs

Top of standard with male figure and flanking ibexes attacked by dogs

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

One of a pair, this cast bronze element was attached to a pole by the curved tang at the bottom. A hollow ring with ropelike ridges and incised rosettes in between is surmounted by a solid-cast striding male figure wearing a knee-length belted garment and boots with upturned toes. A snake supports his front foot. He holds an object, possibly an animal, at his chest while raising the other hand in a gesture of supplication. He has both a mustache and beard, and his hair projects slightly at the front. He is flanked by two solid recumbent horned animals whose haunches are attacked by crouching dogs. The style of the male figure and the snake point to Elam as the place of manufacture. The meaning of such an unusual composition is not known, but similar male figures are found among Elamite votive images.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Top of standard with male figure and flanking ibexes attacked by dogsTop of standard with male figure and flanking ibexes attacked by dogsTop of standard with male figure and flanking ibexes attacked by dogsTop of standard with male figure and flanking ibexes attacked by dogsTop of standard with male figure and flanking ibexes attacked by dogs

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.