Pin with spherical head

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The gold head of this pin is modeled after a poppy capsule. Its rosette top and fluted globe contain loose objects meant to rattle like seeds when shaken. A separately made thin wire collar masks the join where the solid pin was inserted into the sphere. As the actual poppy produces abundant seeds from its seed capsule it may have come to symbolize fertility. It is also probable that the juice found in the outer layers of the unripe capsule of the opium poppy was exploited for pain relief and to induce sleep.

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