Silver gilt bowl

Silver gilt bowl

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Elaborate bowls and vessels were highly valued in ancient Near Eastern society. During the pre-Achaemenid, Achaemenid, Seleucid and Parthian periods, examples made of bronze, silver, gold, and clay were used throughout a vast area extending both to the east and west of Iran. In the later periods the monetary value of many silver vessels was calculable in part according to the corresponding coin weights. Floral and vegetal decorative motifs were popular: this elegant silver gilt bowl is decorated with a chased interior concentric pattern and a central multi-petalled rosette within a wreath, encircled by a floral scroll and wave-patterned bands.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.