Standing bull

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This bronze bull stands on a double-based plinth. Its head is strongly sculpted with upright ears behind horns that curve up and slightly inward. Heavy brows arch over the eyes, which are inlaid with shell. The tail hangs straight down to the hooves and parallels those of southwestern Arabian statues of standing bulls sculpted in alabaster, suggesting that this piece dates to the late first millennium B.C. like the alabaster bulls. By the middle of the first millennium B.C., kingdoms had emerged in southwestern Arabia whose power was based on control of the trade in frankincense and myrrh, which are native to the region. The kingdoms' immense wealth is reflected in the use of bronze to cast large sculptures, as well as smaller objects, which were produced throughout most of the first millennium B.C. Bulls are commonly represented and can be found on funerary stelae, seals, and sculpture.

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