Vessel with six animal friezes

Vessel with six animal friezes

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, was widely used throughout the Near East by the late third millennium B.C. It could be made into many forms by casting, in which molten metal was poured into a mold, or by hammering.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vessel with six animal friezesVessel with six animal friezesVessel with six animal friezesVessel with six animal friezesVessel with six animal friezes

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.