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Part of Ancient Near Eastern Art
Date: ca. 3100–2900 B.C.Accession Number: 1988.433.1
Date: ca. 3100–2900 B.C.Accession Number: 66.173
Date: ca. 3700–3500 B.C.Accession Number: 51.59.11
Date: ca. 3500–3100 B.C.Accession Number: 1981.53
Date: ca. 3800–3700 B.C.Accession Number: 59.52
Date: ca. 3300–2900 B.C.Accession Number: 50.218
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The objects in this gallery illustrate the rise of civilization in the Near East.
Works of art from the Neolithic period dating to the eighth through sixth millennium B.C. were produced at a time that permanent settlements were established and the first ceramic vessels were made. This is followed by the Chalcolithic period ("Copper-Stone Age," ca. 5500–4000 B.C.), characterized by the first experimentations in metallurgy and the production of highly decorated and skillfully made pottery. Fundamental changes followed during the Uruk period in Greater Mesopotamia (ca. 4000–3100 B.C.), which saw the rise of the first cities and states, significant royal and ritual architecture, the institution of kingship and administrative practices that ensued, with the invention of cuneiform writing and the use of cylinder and stamp seals.
