The central tondo shows a winged deity of Assyrian type felling a rampant lion with a sword. The surrounding frieze presents a variety of animal and narrative motifs, including two specifically Egyptian subjects: a sphinx wearing the Egyptian double crown and a lion treading over a dead man, symbolizing the pharaoh dominating his enemies. The broad outer band features a variety of combats. Of greatest importance, however, are two inscriptions. At the top, above an Assyrianizing figure killing a lion, a Cypriot syllabic inscription reads, "I am [the bowl] of Akestor, king of Paphos." It was partly obliterated and replaced by "I am [the bowl] of Timokretes," presumably the next owner. The bowl is exceptionally significant for its excellent condition, high quality, and amalgam of Egyptian, Assyrian, and Phoenician features.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Silver-gilt bowl
Period:Archaic
Date:ca. 725–675 BCE
Culture:Cypriot
Medium:Gilt silver
Dimensions:H. 1 1/4 in. (3.1 cm) diameter 6 5/8 in. (16.8 cm)
Classification:Gold and Silver
Credit Line:The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76
Accession Number:74.51.4554
Inscription: [inside the bowl] "I am [the bowl] of Akestor, king of Paphos"; [within the medallion] "I am [the bowl] of Timokretes."
Said to be from Kourion, Cyprus (Cesnola 1877, p. 329).
Until 1874, Cesnola Collection, excavated by General Cesnola in Kourion, Cyprus; acquired 1874, purchased from General Luigi Palma di Cesnola.
Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1878. Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples. A Narrative of Researches and Excavations During Ten Years' Residence in That Island. pp. 328–29, New York: Harper & Brothers.
Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 4554, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Harper, Prudence. 1971. "Origin and Influence–Cultural Contacts: Egypt, the Ancient Near East, and the Classical World." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 29(7): p. 322.
Sophocleous, Sophocles. 1985. ""Atlas des représentations chypro-archaiques des divinités." Master's Diss.." Master's Diss. no. 1b, p. 175, fig. 22. Paul Aströms Förlag.
Matthäus, Hartmut. 1985. Metallgefässe und Gefässuntersätze der Bronzezeit, der geometrischen und archaischen Periode auf Cypern: mit einem Anhang der bronzezeitlichen Schwertfunde auf Cypern, Prähistorische Bronzefunde, Abteilung II Bd. 8. cat. 429, pp. 164–5, 376, pl. 37, 429, München: Beck.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1987. Greece and Rome. no. 4, pp. 16–7, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Masson, Olivier and Antoine Hermary. 1990. "Deux vases inscrits du Sanctuaire d'Aphrodite à Amathonte (1865-1987)." Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, 114(1): p. 198, fig. 14.
Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 299, pp. 182–3, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Lightfoot, Christopher S. 2000. "The New Cypriot Galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Minerva, 11(3): no. 3: 20–21, fig. 10.
Karageorghis, Vassos. 2002. Early Cyprus: Crossroads of the Mediterranean. pl. 321, Los Angeles, California: J. Paul Getty Museum.
Iacovou, Maria. 2003. "The Late Bronze Age Origins of Cypriot Hellenism and the Establishment of the Iron Age Kingdoms." From Ishtar to Aphrodite: 3200 years of Cypriot Hellenism, Treasures from the Museums of Cyprus pp. 79–85, fig. 7.
Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 279, pp. 240, 461, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Stylianou, Andreas and Patrick Schollmeyer. 2007. "Der Sarkophag aus Golgoi." Dynastensarkophage mit szenischen Reliefs aus Byblos und Zypern: Der Sarkophag aus Amathous als Beispiel kontaktinduzierten Wandels, 2. p. 151 n. 1246, pl. 38c, Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern.
Aruz, Joan, Kim Benzel, and Jean M. Evans. 2009. Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C. p. 446, fig. 143, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Satraki, Anna. 2013. "The Iconography of Basileis in Archaic and Classical Cyprus: Manifestations of Royal Power in the Visual Record." Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research, 370: pp. 128–29, 134, fig. 3.
Tassignon, Isabelle. 2013. "Le "Seigneur aux lions" d'Amathonte : étude d'iconographie et d'histoire des religions des statues trouvées sur l'agora." Études Chypriotes, 18: p. 37, fig. 20.
Aruz, Joan, Sarah B. Graff, and Yelena Rakic. 2014. Assyria to Iberia at the Dawn of the Classical Age no. 52, pp. 159–60, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Karnava, Artemis and Massimo Perna. 2020. Inscriptiones Graecae, Inscriptiones Cypri, XV 1, 1. no. 120, p. 49, Berlin/ Boston: Walter de Gruyter & Co.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2020. ART = Discovering Infinite Connections in Art History. p. 216, New York: Phaidon Press.
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