Roundel with head of a "hero" surrounded by caprids

Roundel with head of a "hero" surrounded by caprids

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This roundel, carved out of bitumen, was originally overlaid with silver and gold foil. Finely incised in the center is the head of a hero figure with long hair parted down the middle, ending in three curls on each side. The figure is separated from a row of seven recumbent rams by a double rope pattern band. The outer border is the same rope-pattern. The roundel would have been attached to another object as a decorative element. Several similar roundels were excavated at the Middle Elamite sites of Haft Tepe (ancient Kabnak) and Susa. The style of the hero's face and delineation of his features are seen in Elamite art as well.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Roundel with head of a "hero" surrounded by capridsRoundel with head of a "hero" surrounded by capridsRoundel with head of a "hero" surrounded by capridsRoundel with head of a "hero" surrounded by capridsRoundel with head of a "hero" surrounded by caprids

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.