Roller

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This bronze openwork piece comprises a roller on a pin and a square frame that takes the appearance of two outstretched arms with bracelets at the wrists. Although the exact function of this object is unknown, the rotating roller suggests that a cord, strap, or other piece of fabric would have been fed through the opening. Objects like this roller may have been used as horse trappings, belt buckles, furniture elements, and implements used in the production of textiles.

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