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An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This small circular object with a central hole and two incised concentric rings on its upper face was excavated at the site of Tepe Nush-i Jan. Located in northwestern Iran, the site is built on a natural outcrop and dominates the surrounding plain. Three periods of occupation were identified: a Median level of about 750 – 650 B.C., which was the best preserved; a level of poor squatter structures; and, after a break, a Parthian-period level dated to the first century B.C. Four major Median mud brick buildings — the Central Temple, the Old Western Building, the Columned Hall, and the Fort Building — were in use for more than a century. Tepe Nush-i Jan was excavated by David Stronach on behalf of the British Institute of Persian Studies for five seasons between 1967 and 1977. The Metropolitan Museum provided support for all but the final season.

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