Peg

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This glazed ceramic peg has an Elamite cuneiform inscription reading ‘Untash-Napirisha,’ the name of an Elamite king who reigned ca. 1340-1300 B.C. The entire plaque has been glazed. It was excavated at Choga Zanbil, about 50 miles north of modern Ahvaz, Iran. Established by Untash-Napirisha as a new capital of the Elamite kingdom, the site boasts one of the best-preserved ziggurats in the ancient world. At least twenty-five different gods were worshipped there, and although the city was not completed by the time of Untash-Napirisha’s death, it continued to serve as a religious center until ca. 1000 B.C. Hundreds of similar pegs were discovered by archaeologists at the site, suggesting that they played a prominent role there. The exact function of these pegs remains uncertain. It is likely that they are an iteration of an earlier tradition in Mesopotamia and Iran, dating to the third millennium B.C., of dedicating votive plaques, which were literally affixed to temple walls with wooden pegs. In these later versions, however, the peg itself has become the main component. It is possible that the pegs were used to suspend some kind of attachment, such as a tapestry or other wall hanging.

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