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Title:Man carrying a box, possibly for offerings
Period:Early Dynastic I-II
Date:ca. 2900–2600 BCE
Geography:Mesopotamia
Culture:Sumerian
Medium:Copper alloy
Dimensions:H. 37.8 x W. 12.3 x D. 9.7 cm (14 7/8 x 4 7/8 x 3 7/8 in.)
Credit Line:Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1955
Accession Number:Formerly 55.142
[By 1950, Elias S. David, New York]; acquired by the Museum in 1955, purchased from Elias S. David, New York. Deaccessioned for return to Iraq in October 2023.
“The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Selections from the Collection of the Ancient Near East Department,” MOA Museum of Art, Atami, Japan, The Aiche Prefectural Art Gallery, Nagoya, Japan, The Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan, 1983.
“La Fundació de la Ciutat: Mesopotàmia, Grècia, Roma,” Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, April 6–July 23, 2000.
“Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, May 8–August 17, 2003.
“Before the Flood,” Fundación La Caixa, Barcelona, Madrid, 2012–2013.
“Founding Figures: Copper Sculptures from the Ancient Near East, ca. 3300-2000.” Morgan Library & Museum, New York, May 13, 2016–August 21, 2017.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1956. "Notes." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 15, p.1.
Crawford, Vaughn E. 1960. "The Third Millennium B.C." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 18, p. 248, fig. 6.
Crawford, Vaughn E. 1965. "Some Notes from an Excavation." Apollo 82, p. 213, fig. 4.
Crawford, Vaughn E. et al. 1966. Guide to the Ancient Near East Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 9, fig. 12.
Canby, Jean Vorys. 1968. "The Pedigree of a Syrian Bronze in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, and Some Stylistic Crosscurrents in the Late Third Millennium B.C." Berytus 17, p. 115f.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1972. Guide to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 43, no. 2.
Hansen, Donald P. 1975. "Frühsumerische und frühdynastiche Rundplastik." In Der Alte Orient, edited by Winfried Orthmann. Propyläen Kunstgeschichte, Vol. 14. Berlin: Propyläen, p. 170, pl. 10b.
Spycket, Agnès. 1981. La Statuaire du Proche-Orient Ancien. Leiden, Köln: E.J. Brill, p. 59, pl. 40.
Moorey, Peter R.S. 1982. "The Archaeological Evidence for Metallurgy and Related Technologies in Mesopotamia, c. 5500-2100 B.C." Iraq 44, p. 28
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1983. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide, edited by Kathleen Howard. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 51, fig. 15.
Imai, Ayako. 1983. "Man Carrying Box on His Head." In The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Selections from the Collection of the Ancient Near East Department, exh. cat. Tokyo: Chunichi Shimbun, no. 1.
Harper, Prudence O. et al. 1984. "Ancient Near Eastern Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 41 (4), Spring 1984, pp. 11, 13, fig. 7.
Pittman, Holly, in collaboration with Joan Aruz. 1987. Ancient Art in Miniature: Near Eastern Seals from the Collection of Martin and Sarah Cherkasky. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 22-23, fig. 10.
Muscarella, Oscar W. 1988. Bronze and Iron: Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 323-327, no. 464.
Invernizzi, Antonio. 1992. Dal Tigri All-Eufrate I: Sumeri E Accadi. Firenze: Casa editrice Le lettere, p. 306, fig. 474.
Calmeyer, Peter. 1995. "Buchbesprechungen: Muscarella, Oscar W., Bronze and Iron. Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 85 (1), p. 158.
Aruz, Joan. 2000. "Hombre Con una Caja en la Cabeza." In La Fundación de la Ciudad: Mesopotamia, Grecia, Roma, exh. cat. edited by Pedro Azara. Barcelona: Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, no. 11, pp. 74-76.
Lapérouse, Jean-François de. 2003. "Striding male figure with a box on his head." In Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus, exh. cat. edited by Joan Aruz, with Ronald Wallenfels. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 38, pp. 79-80.
Graff, Sarah. 2012. "Hombre Portando una Caja, Posiblemente de Ofrendas." In Antes del Diluvio: Mesopotamia 3500-2100 A.C., exh. cat. Barcelona: Obra Social "la Caixa", Polígrafa, p. 171.
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Includes more than 7,000 works ranging in date from the eighth millennium B.C. through the centuries just beyond the time of the Arab conquests of the seventh century A.D.
