Lion head terminal, Iron Age II, 9th century B.C. Northwestern Iran; Excavated at Hasanlu Bronze

This powerful snarling lion has a slightly protruding tongue. The animal's muzzle is wrinkled and solid spheres form the eyes. The object is one of a pair (its partner is in Tehran). It is cast solid in the form of a lion's head, with a hollow cylindrical neck with four openings near the base and a solid tang below. When excavated, no other object or material was found near the pair to give a clue to their function, although they may have been placed on an article of furniture, perhaps at the top of the uprights of a chair.

Maps

• World, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.
• West Asia, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.

Timelines

• Iran, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.

Thematic Essays

• Hasanlu in the Iron Age

Works of Art by Collection

• Ancient Near Eastern Art

Index Terms

ART MOVEMENT/STYLE

• Iron Age in the Ancient Near East

MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUE

• Bronze
• Bronze from West Asia

OBJECT

• Adornment for Furniture
• Finial

SUBJECT MATTER/THEME

• Archaeology
• Archaeology from Asia
• Feline
• Trade (1000 B.C.–1 A.D.)

TECHNICAL GLOSSARY

• Bronze

Cup with a frieze of gazelles; ca. early 1st millennium B.C. Geography: Northwestern Iran

A number of vessels similar in form and technique to this one have been excavated in the rich burials at Marlik, a site southwest of the Caspian Sea in northern Iran; one is also known from Susa, in southwestern Iran. On the body of the cup, four gazelles, framed horizontally by guilloche bands, walk in procession to the left. Their bodies are rendered in the repoussé technique and are detailed with finely chased lines to indicate hair and musculature. The projecting heads were made separately, as were the ears and horns, and were fastened invisibly in place by a colloid hard-soldering, a process much practiced in Iran involving glue and copper salt. The hooves and eyes are indented, probably to receive inlays.

Period: Iron Age II Date: ca. early 1st millennium B.C. Geography: Northwestern Iran, Caspian region Medium: Gold Dimensions: H. 2 1/2 in. (6.5 cm) Classification: Metalwork Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1962 Accession Number: 62.84

Kneeling bull holding a spouted vessel, 3100–2900 B.C.; Proto-Elamite period Southwestern Iran

Soon after the political transformations of the Uruk period in southern Mesopotamia, similar innovations—including writing and cylinder seals, the mass production of standardized ceramics, and a figural art style—developed around the city of Susa in southwestern Iran, an area in which the predominant language was Elamite. While most of these innovations were adapted from Mesopotamian examples, they took on distinctive Elamite characteristics in Iran. This small silver bull, clothed in a garment decorated with a stepped pattern and holding a spouted vessel, shows a curious blend of human and animal traits. The large neck meets distinctly human shoulders, which taper into arms that end in hooves. Representations of animals in human postures were common in Proto-Elamite art, possibly as symbols of natural forces but just as likely as protagonists in myths or fables. The function of this small masterpiece remains uncertain. Traces of cloth found affixed to the figure suggest that it was intentionally buried, perhaps as part of a ritual or ceremony.
 What Metal (59,364) Vessels (21,921) Metalwork (14,716) Gold (12,457) Drinking vessels (6,032) Cups (3,861) Friezes (184)
Where Asia (68,071) Iran (7,061)
When 1000 B.C.-A.D. 1 (23,148) In the Museum Ancient Near Eastern Art (6,170) Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Iran, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D. MetPublications

Plate with a hunting scene from the tale of Bahram Gur and Azadeh, The Sasanian Empire (224 B.C.–651 A.D.) period

The great Iranian epic the Shahnama, or Book of Kings, as recorded by Firdausi in the late tenth to early eleventh century, includes a tale of the Sasanian king Bahram V (r. 420–38), who was challenged to feats of archery by his favorite lyre player, Azadeh. With great skill, Bahram "Gur" (Wild Ass) shot an arrow that removed the horns of a male gazelle, transforming his appearance into that of a female, and shot two arrows into the head of a female gazelle, transforming her appearance into that of a male. The story became a favorite theme in the arts of Islam but was unknown on works of Sasanian date until the appearance of this gilt-silver plate.

 New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plate with king hunting rams, The Sasanian Empire (224 B.C.–651 A.D.) period Iran

The king as hunter becomes a standard motif on royal Sasanian silver plates during the reign of Shapur II (309–79). The theme symbolized the invincibility and the prowess of Sasanian rulers and dominated the royal plates, which may have been used as gifts to neighboring courts. The king has various royal attributes: a crown and fillet, covered globe, nimbus with beaded border, and beaded chest halter with fluttering ribbons. The identity of the Sasanian king on this plate is uncertain. His crown identifies him as either Peroz (r. 459–84) or Kavad I (r. 488–97, 499–531). Sasanian silver bowls and plates were usually hammered into shape and then decorated in various complex techniques. On this plate, separate pieces of silver were inserted into lips cut up from the plate to provide high relief. The plate was then gilded using an amalgam of mercury and gold, which could be painted onto the surface, and niello—a metallic alloy of sulfur and silver—was inlaid. The result was an object of varied surface contours and colors.

 New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Faceted Bowl, 5th–7th century; Sasanian Iran, Glass, blown and wheel-cut

This hemispherical bowl may have been made by blowing molten glass into an open mold (though possibly it was free-blown); subsequently, four rows of oblong-to-round facets were wheel-cut and polished. The thick glass, originally pale green, has lost much of its surface color and gained extensive iridescence through weathering. Faceted bowls such as this one are characterized by uniformity of shape, size, and arrangement of the facets in four or five rows. They represent the most widespread type of late Sasanian glass vessel, found in excavations of Mesopotamian and Iranian sites dating from the fifth to seventh century A.D. Some examples—probably carried along the Silk Road to the Far East by Persian merchants and traveling embassies—have been found in Japanese contexts, namely in the sixth-century tomb of the emperor Ankan and in the Shoso-in Treasure at Nara, which was assembled by the emperor Shomu in the eighth century.

 New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ewer with dancing females within arcades; Sasanian style Iran, The Sasanian Empire (224 B.C.–651 A.D.)

Late Sasanian silver vessels, particularly bottles and ewers, often were decorated with female figures holding a variety of festal objects. On this silver-gilt vessel, floral arches, supported by low pilasters, frame four dancing female figures. Each holds a ceremonial object in either hand: grape and leaf branches, a vessel, a heart-shaped flower. Beneath one arcade, birds peck at fruit, and beneath another a tiny panther drinks from a ewer. Both the females and their decorative motifs recall representations of the maenads, attendants of Dionysus. However, it has been suggested that these figures have been adapted to the cult of the Iranian goddess Anahita. No texts survive to explain the appearance or function of these female figures, but it seems likely that vessels decorated with motifs such as these would have been intended to hold wine for court celebrations or religious festivals.

 New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

‪Mithraism came from Persia into Europe

‪Mithraism came from Persia into Europe, and was followed by Manichaeanism, which also came form Persia‬ ‪“…Mithraism came from Persia into Europe, and was followed by Manichaeanism, which also came form Persia … Professor [L.H.] Mills, of Oxford [early 20th c. prof. of Persian language and translator of the sacred Iranian text Avesta], says that … ‘everything which makes up the real value of our Christianity was there, in ancient Persia.’ Persia has been one of the most prolific religious centers in the world. It gave birth to Mazdeanism, Mithraism, Pharisaism, Manichaeanism, Essenianism, and the principal doctrines of Christianity. In our day it has given birth to Bahaism – a gallimaufry [hodgepodge] of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity” … Prof. Mills further writes “the Resurrection, the God-Unity, the Judgment, the Savior, Angelology, the Millenium, and Heaven and Hell were, in Persia, ‘Christianity before Christ’; that is, they are Mazdean [Iranian/Aryan, not Semitic] doctrines.” ~ excerpt from “Illuminate of Gorlitz Or [early 17th c. German mystic & original thinker in Lutheran tradition] Jakob Bohme's Life & Philosophy” (1923) by early 20th c. American philosopher and convert to Buddhism, Herman Vetterling [pic The Met: Zoroaster’s “the Gathas” (1700-1500 BCE) tells us that Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord, “placed the seeds in the bodies of the Man and the Bull so that there would be abundant progeny for men and cattle” … in that regard, the pic here is a pair of gold earnings in the shape of bulls’ heads from N.W. Iran dated to early 1st millennium BCE … for educational purposes only]

‪The Jiroft Game Boards (World’s Oldest Backgammons)

‪The Jiroft Game Boards (World’s Oldest Backgammons) قدیمی ترین تخته نرد های جهان در جیرفت

 As archeologist Jean Perrot noted in the Persian Journal article, the lay-out of the "holes" on the "eagle" game boards is highly suggestive of the twenty squares game boards excavated by Woolley in Sumer, the so-called "Royal Game of Ur." The lay-out of the "holes" on the "eagle" boards is also identical to the lay-out of some twenty squares boards used in ancient Egypt, where the game, known as "Aseb," was sometimes put on the other side of case-style Senet boards. Nine Ancient Game Board Identified Among Jiroft Relics Nine ancient game boards have been identified among the items taken back from illegal excavators of the historical site of Jiroft, Halil Rud area of Kerman, indicating that people of the area enjoyed playing games some five thousand years ago. Five of these game boards look like eagles, one looks like a scorpion with human head, one looks like a Scorpion, one looks like a long board with an extra square part attached to the handle and the other is a flat board, and all have 12 or 18 holes with similar sizes. According to head of the archeology team of Jiroft, Yusef Majidzadeh, the holes in the boards, which mostly count to 16 or 20 and their similarity in size indicating that they were most probably used as games by the ancient residents of the area. It is not yet sure how the boards were exactly used, Majidzadeh told CHN, however, the equal numbers of the holes and the holes all being in one size show that they were games most probably played with some sort of beads. Jean Perrot, a world-known archaeologist and a retired expert of Louvre Museum who has also studied the boards told CHN that boards similar to these, plus some beads, have previously been discovered in the historical sites of Mesopotamia, and their form and structure shows that ancient people used them as games to entertain themselves. The boards are right now kept in the archeology museum of Jiroft and Iranian and foreign experts are studying them further to find out how they were played.‬

‪Persian Zodiac - Scorpio

This image come form an egyptian manuscript from the 14th/15th centuries. It reproduces a persian astrological treatise from ~9th century - 'Kitâb al-Mawalid' - by Abû Ma'shar, said to have been the most influential document in the development of western astrology. Although produced in Cairo, the manuscript illustrations were almost certainly by a persian artist.‬

‪Persian Zodiac - Taurus

This image come form an egyptian manuscript from the 14th/15th centuries. It reproduces a persian astrological treatise from ~9th century - 'Kitâb al-Mawalid' - by Abû Ma'shar, said to have been the most influential document in the development of western astrology. Although produced in Cairo, the manuscript illustrations were almost certainly by a persian artist.‬

‪Mask with Earrings CIRCA: 1st Millennium B.C.

This striking, museum-quality mask represents a superlative example of the Luristan bronzeworker’s craft. Examples of this size and condition are exceptionally rare. Cast with exceptional attention to detail, the oval face has a rounded chin, commanding, pointed nose, and cut-away almond-shaped eyes with well defined lids and bowed eyebrows that meet the bridge of the nose. The small, slightly recessed mouth lends the face a serene, impassive expression. The focuses of the viewer’s attention, however, are the six silver earrings which adorn each ear, attached through circular piercings. They indicate that the mask represents a high-status individual; given that the reverse is hollow, it may have been intended to be worn, either during elaborate rituals or as a funerary mask.‬

‪An Achaemenid Silver Rhyton in the Form of a Buck Protome

‪An Achaemenid Silver Rhyton in the Form of a Buck Protome Silver and silver gilt, Late 5th-early 4th century B.C.E., allegedly from the Black Sea Region In view of the vessel's length, it was back raised from about the middle. The vessel was then filled with either bitumen/pitch or with a mixture of powdered sulphur rock and fine sand, heated to render fluid. Once hardened the fluting was then hammered in or impressed from the outside. The mouth of the vessel is then hammered and annealed to shape and the lotus frieze is outlined by "tracing", the surface within the contours lightly grooved and thin gold sheet applied and burnished into place. The protome formed as the vessel and in keeping with its sophistication worked extensively and elaborately by the repoussé method from both sides. The ears and antlers shaped separately by cutting and hammering, the former inserted by means of a dowel, the latter, it would appear, by a sort of plate held in place by three dowels. The various thin gold sheet elements executed as the lotus frieze. The inlays for the rosettes, the legs and hooves would appear to be of electrum. A round hole in the centre of the muzzle to enable passage of the liquid through a spout.‬

Ancient Wind Power Designs

Wind for Cooling and Heating: Ancient Persian Wind Towers Persia is also the original home of one of the most complex passive ventilation and cooling systems that has ever existed – 2,000-year-old engineering that rival modern hi-tech equivalents with the simple and elegant effectiveness of their design. Using a combination of air pressure differentials, structural orientation and running water these windcatcher structures help regulate temperatures in the harshest of desert environments with cool nights and burning hot days.‬

‪The circular city of Darabgird

Aerial view of Darabgird, a circular city located in southern Iran, 9km south-west of modern-day Darab. It was thought to have flourished in the Sasanian period of the third to seventh centuries AD. The main structure of the city consists of the following elements: • circular fortifications comprising a rampart, ditch and other related features; • route systems, consisting of four gates and four main streets; • residential zones, the four areas are enclosed by the four main streets; • a government citadel, located on high ground at the centre of the city; • an irrigation network (an artificial channel has been located).‬

‪Manticore

The manticore is a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the face of a human. It has three rows of sharp teeth, like a shark, and a tail with poisonous spiked barbs that it can throw like javelins at its enemies. The mythology behind this strange creature began in Persia, where it was first known as the Martyaxwar which literally translates to “man-eater”. As the legend moved west, the name shifted to a more Greek pronunciation, and this creature became most famously known in Greek mythology as “Manticore”. Though it had the head of a human, it was considerably more monster than man. It could not speak any languages, and had a voice that was described as sounding like a trumpet. That’s not to say the manticore wasn’t clever. It’s favorite way to lure prey was to hide its red lion body in the tall grass so from a distance humans would see only the head of a man. Those who were fooled into coming too close were never seen again. And I mean never. In Greek mythology this beast would devour a human whole, including all of their clothes and all of their possessions, leaving nothing left for family or friends to find. Often people who had gone missing were assumed to have been eaten by one of these rarely seen monsters.‬

‪Jewel-Studded Globe of Iran

The jewel-studded globe stands 110 cm high and has a diameter of 45 cm. and is covered with over 51 thousand precious gemstones. The seas and oceans are shown with emeralds. Land masses are mostly displayed in rubies and spinels. Iran, Britain, France, and parts of South Asia are shown in diamonds. Approximately 35 kilograms of pure gold is used in the globe. According to legend, Nasseridin Shah (1848-1896) ordered the construction of the globe to help keep track of the loose gemstones in the treasury. The largest ruby used in the globe is approximately 75 ct. The largest spinel is approximately 110 cts. The largest emerald is approximately 175 cts., the largest sapphire is approximately 34 cts, and the largest diamond is approximately 15 cts.‬

‪Achaemenian golden vessel

The founding dynasty of the Persian empire a little more than 2500 years ago - were renowned for their highly skilled craftmanship.‬

‪Oxus chariot model - Achaemenid Persian, 5th-4th century BC

The Oxus Treasure is the most important surviving collection of gold and silver to have survived from the Achaemenid period. The model chariot is pulled by four horses or ponies. In it are two figures wearing Median dress. The Medes were from Iran, the centre of the Achaemenid empire. The front of the chariot is decorated with the Egyptian dwarf-god Bes, a popular protective deity. The chariot can be compared with that shown being ridden by the Persian king Darius on a cylinder seal also in the British Museum. A second fragmentary gold chariot now in the British Museum was acquired by the Earl of Lytton, the Viceroy of India, about the same time that the Oxus treasure was discovered and is thought to have come from the same source.‬

‪Sheikh Bahai Public Bath

The Sheikh Bahai Public Bath is located in Isfahan in a small street named after him which leads northwest off of the southern section of the old bazaar close to the Masjed’e-Jomeh. The bath derives it principal fame from the story that they were heated by a single candle which never needed renewing. The English are widely credited with destroying this unlikely phenomenon. This miracle of this bath was constructed under Sheik Bahai’s skilful supervision. The special feature of the bath was that the water in it used to be lukewarm in all seasons although there was no apparent heating arrangement there. The bath was providing warm water to the bathers, even during the peak of winter seasons for some 250 years. When the English arrived there during the period of Fath Ali Shah, they were very much surprised. Trying to understand the mechanism behind the bath’s heating system, they demolished the water reservoir of the bath and found that at the bottom of the structure only a small wax candle was burning. The candle was rather larger than the ones we use on tables and the clay pipes which circulated the water became unusable many years ago. According Sheikh Bahai’s own instructions, the candle's fire would be put out once disclosed. This happened during the restoration and repair of the building and no one could make the system work again. It is believed that the reason for the constant warm water was due to the particular construction of connecting pipes from the sewage system which enabled the extraction of energy in the form of gasses such as Methane which in turn manifested themselves as heat.‬

‪The Cup of Jamshid

The Cup of Jamshid is a cup of divination which, in Persian mythology, was long possessed by the rulers of ancient Greater Iran. The cup has also been called Jam-e Jahan nama, Jam-e Jahan Ara, Jam-e Giti nama, and Jam-e Kei-khosrow. The latter refers to Kaei Husravah in the Avesta, and Sushravas in the Vedas. The Cup of Jamshid has been the subject of many Persian poems and stories. Many authors ascribed the success of the Persian Empire to the possession of this artefact. It appears extensively in Persian literature. Examples: For years my heart was in search of the Grail (Cup of Jamshid) What was inside me, it searched for, on the trail Divan of Hafez The cup ("Jām") was said to be filled with an elixir of immortality and was used in scrying. As mentioned by Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda, it was believed that one could observe all the seven heavens of the universe by looking into it. It was believed to have been discovered in Persepolis in ancient times. The whole world was said to be reflected in it, and divinations within the Cup were said to reveal deep truths. Sometimes, especially in popular depictions such as The Heroic Legend of Arslan, the cup has been visualized as a crystal ball. This Picture is a Famous Ancient Persian Cup, possibly representing the Cup of Jamshid‬

Embossed ornament

‪

Embossed ornament in the form of a lion-griffin, from the Oxus treasure Achaemenid Persian, 5th-4th century BC This embossed ornament is part of the Oxus treasure, the most important collection of silver and gold to have survived from the Achaemenid period. The treasure is from a temple and dates mainly from the fifth and fourth centuries BC. This piece, in the shape of a winged stag with a horned lion's head, is decorated with hollows for inlay. There are two long pins at the back for attachment, though it is unclear what the ornament originally decorated. This composite creature reflects the 'Animal Style' of South Russia and demonstrates the close relations between the Persians and the nomadic people of the northern steppe lands. The Persian kings had indirect access to the wealth and artistic traditions of northern Central Asia and Siberia, and some contacts are illustrated by this piece.‬