Furniture plaque carved in relief with spear

Furniture plaque carved in relief with spear

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Excavations at Hasanlu in Iran yielded a large number of carved ivory fragments, many in a distinctive style found only at this site, which probably decorated wooden furniture or were used as small precious objects such as boxes. The citadel at Hasanlu was attacked and destroyed around 800 B.C., most likely by military forces of the powerful state of Urartu, centered in present-day Armenia, eastern Turkey, and northwestern Iran. In the fire that destroyed the citadel, many objects were crushed and shattered. The blackened appearance of most of the Hasanlu ivories is due to their exposure to high temperatures at the time of the citadel’s destruction. This fragment shows the lower legs of two barefoot warriors, advancing toward each other. The spear tip of the warrior at left touches the foot of the adversary at right. This piece may be part of another plaque in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection (65.163.8), or a similar plaque with the same type of decoration. It was probably attached to a wooden frame by means of dowels, to form a piece of furniture.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Furniture plaque carved in relief with spearFurniture plaque carved in relief with spearFurniture plaque carved in relief with spearFurniture plaque carved in relief with spearFurniture plaque carved in relief with spear

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.