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Medallion with a seated deity and a male worshiper

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Medallion with a seated deity and a male worshiper

Period:
Iron Age III
Date:
ca. 8th–7th century B.C.
Geography:
Urartu
Culture:
Urartian
Medium:
Silver, gold foil
Dimensions:
Diam. 2 3/8 in. (6 cm)
Classification:
Metalwork
Credit Line:
Gift of Norbert Schimmel Trust, 1989
Accession Number:
1989.281.20

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 404

  • Description

    The kings of Urartu ruled what is now eastern Turkey, Armenia, and northwestern Iran from their capital at Tushpa (modern Van, Turkey) during the early first millennium B.C. Urartian fortresses, strategically placed on high rock outcrops, dominated the landscape of their territories and protected the kingdom from their rivals, the Assyrians. Despite confrontations with the Assyrians, the Urartians also borrowed many images and iconographic elements from Assyrian art and made them their own.

    This silver medallion, partially covered with gold foil, shows a deity seated on a throne supported by lions facing a male worshiper whose arms are raised in supplication or respect. Both the deity with horned headdress on a throne supported by animals and the worshiper figure are common Assyrian motifs; the long fringed garments are widespread in the ancient Near East. Here, the scene is set on a ground line of paired zigzag lines between pairs of parallel horizontal lines, a decorative pattern characteristic of Urartian medallions. Such medallions in silver, gold, and bronze are thought to be insignias of rank and authority and have been found at sites in both Armenia and Turkey.

  • Provenance

    [By 1979, Nefer Antike Kunst, Zurich]; by 1984, on loan by Norbert Schimmel to the Museum (L.1984.27); acquired by the Museum in 1989, gift of Norbert Schimmel Trust.

  • Exhibition History

    “Urartu: a Metalworking Center in the First Millennium B.C.E.,” The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, May 28, 1991–October 7, 1991.

  • References

    Kellner, Hans-Jörg. 1989. "Ein Bemerkenswertes Medallion." In Anatolia and the Ancient Near East: Studies in Honor of Tahsin Özgüc, edited by K. Emre et al. Ankara, pp. 235-236, pl. 46.

    Merhav, Rivka, ed. 1991. Urartu. A Metalworking Center in the First Millenium B.C.E., exh. cat., p. 165, fig. 3.

    Muscarella, Oscar W. 1992. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 49 (4), Ancient Art: Gifts from the Norbert Schimmel Collection (Spring 1992), no. 18, p. 55.

    Seidl, Ursula. 1995. "Urartian Furniture." In The Furniture of Western Asia: Ancient and Traditional, edited by Georgina Herrmann. Mainz: Philipp Von Zabern, p. 182, pl. 55a.

    Bilgi, Önder. 2012. Anadolu'da Insan Görüntüleri: Klasik Çağ Öncesi. Istanbul: Aygaz, no. R249, p. 534.

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    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
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