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This Web feature is designed to complement "Art of the First Cities," on view at the Metropolitan Museum through August 17, 2003. The landmark exhibition surveys the flourishing of the world’s earliest civilizations in Mesopotamia and surrounding regions—stretching from the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean across Iran and Central Asia to the Indus Valley—during one of the most seminal and creative periods in history.
Select a theme below to explore a selection of rare and outstanding works of art that illuminate the thousand years in which the world's earliest cities were transformed into the world's first states and empires.
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"Great Lyre" with bull's head and inlaid front panel, ca. 2550–2400 B.C.; Early Dynastic IIIA. Mesopotamia, Ur, PG 789, King's Grave, U.10556. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia B17694.
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"Standard of Ur" (detail), ca. 2550–2400 B.C.; Early Dynastic IIIA. Mesopotamia, Ur, PG 779, U.11164. Shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone; H. 20 cm (7 7/8 in.); L. 47 cm (18 1/2 in.). Trustees of The British Museum, London BM 121201.
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Mohenjo-daro (detail), one of the great cities of the Indus Valley civilization.
Copyright © J.M. Kenoyer.
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Head of a ruler, late 3rd millennium B.C.; Akkadian (?). Iran (?). Copper alloy; H. 34.3 cm (13 1/2 in.); W. 21.3 cm (8 3/8 in.); Thickness 21.3 cm (8 3/8 in.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Rogers Fund, 1947 (47.100.80).
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Bull's head, late 3rd–early 2nd millennium B.C. Gulf region, Bahrain, Barbar temple IIA. Copper alloy; H. 18 cm (7 1/8 in.); Diam. of horns 15 cm (5 7/8 in.). Bahrain National Museum, Manama 517.FJ.
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Comb with incised concentric circles, late 3rd millennium B.C. Gulf region, Sharjah, Tell Abraq, Umm an-Nar–type tomb. Ivory; H. 10.2 cm (4 in.); W. 7.2 cm (2 7/8 in.), TA 1818. Sharjah Archaeological Museum, United Arab Emirates.
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Administrative tablet with seal impressions, ca. 3000–2900 B.C.; Jamdat Nasr. Mesopotamia. Proto-cuneiform inscription. Clay; H. 5.3 cm (2 1/8 in.); W. 4.8 cm (1 7/8 in.); Thickness 3.8 cm (1 1/2 in.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Purchase, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Gift, 1988 (1988.433.1).
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Cylinder seal of Ibni-sharrum, a scribe of Shar-kali-sharri, ca. 2183–2159 B.C.; Akkadian, reign of Shar-kali-sharri. Mesopotamia. Cuneiform inscription in Old Akkadian. Serpentine; H. 3.9 cm (1 1/2 in.); Diam. 2.6 cm (1 in.). Musée du Louvre, Département des Antiquités Orientales, Paris AO 22303.
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Puabi's headdress, ca. 2550–2400 B.C.; Early Dynastic IIIA. Mesopotamia, Ur, PG 800, Puabi's Tomb. A: Comb. U.10937. B16693. B: Hair rings. U.10890. B16992a,b. C: Wreaths. U.10935a, U.10936. B17709–11. D: Hair ribbon. U.10934. B17711a. E: Earrings. U.10933. B17712a,b. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia.
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The exhibition is made possible by Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman.
Additional support has been provided by The Hagop Kevorkian Fund.
An indemnity has been granted by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
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