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The Nahal Mishmar Treasure

• 
  Cylindrical stand or crown, early 4th millennium b.c.; Chalcolithic period
  Levant, Nahal Mishmar
  Copper alloy

  H. 3 5/8 in. (9.1 cm)
  Lent by Israel Antiquities Authority (L.1994.74.9)

• 
  Standard, early 4th millennium b.c.; Chalcolithic period
  Levant, Nahal Mishmar
  Copper alloy

  L. 7 1/4 in. (18.5 cm)
  Lent by Israel Antiquities Authority (L.1994.74.6)

• 
  Hippopotamus tusk with circular perforations, early 4th millennium b.c.; Chalcolithic period
  Levant, Nahal Mishmar
  Ivory (hippopotamus)

  L. 21 1/4 in. (54 cm)
  Lent by Israel Antiquities Authority (L.1994.74.14)

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In 1961, a spectacular collection of objects dating from the Chalcolithic period (ca. 4000–3300 B.C.) was excavated in a cave in the Judaean Desert near the Dead Sea. Hidden in a natural crevice and wrapped in a straw mat, the hoard contained 442 different objects: 429 of copper, six of hematite, one of stone, five of hippopotamus ivory, and one of elephant ivory. Many of the copper objects in the hoard were made using the lost-wax process, the earliest known use of this complex technique. For tools, nearly pure copper of the kind found at the mines at Timna in the Sinai Peninsula was used. However, the more elaborate objects were made with a copper containing a high percentage of arsenic (4–12%), which is harder than pure copper and more easily cast.

Hidden in a natural crevice and wrapped in a straw mat, the hoard contained 442 different objects.

Related

Timelines (1)

• The Eastern Mediterranean and Syria, 8000–2000 B.C.

Primary Thematic Essays (1)

• The Ubaid Period (5500–4000 b.c.)

Other Thematic Essays (3)

• Cyprus—Island of Copper
• Geography of The Eastern Mediterranean
• Prehistoric Cypriot Art and Culture

Maps (2)

• West Asia, 8000–2000 b.c.
• World, 8000–2000 b.c.

Index Terms (10)

Art Movement/Style

• Ubaid Period in the Ancient Near East
• Uruk in the Ancient Near East

Geography/Place

• The Eastern Mediterranean

Material and Technique

• Bronze from West Asia
• Copper
• Ivory
• Sculpture in the Round from West Asia

Object

• Ceremonial Implement
• Regalia

Subject Matter/Theme

• Archaeology from Asia

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Carbon-14 dating of the reed mat in which the objects were wrapped suggests that it dates to at least 3500 B.C. It was in this period that the use of copper became widespread throughout the Levant, attesting to considerable technological developments that parallel major social advances in the region. Farmers in Israel and Jordan began to cultivate olives and dates, and herders began to use milk products from domesticated animals. Specialized artisans, sponsored by an emerging elite, produced exquisite wall paintings, terracotta figurines and ossuaries, finely carved ivories, and basalt bowls and sculpture.

The objects in the Nahal Mishmar hoard appear to have been hurriedly collected. It has been suggested that the hoard was the sacred treasure belonging to a shrine at Ein Gedi, some twelve kilometers away. Set in an isolated region overlooking the Dead Sea, the Ein Gedi shrine consists of a large mudbrick walled enclosure with a gatehouse. Across from the gatehouse is the main structure, a long narrow room entered through a doorway in the long wall. In the center of the room and on either side of the doorway are long narrow benches. Opposite the door is a semicircular structure on which a round stone pedestal stood, perhaps to support a sacred object. The contents of the shrine were hidden in the cave at Nahal Mishmar, perhaps during a time of emergency. The nature and purpose of the hoard remains a mystery, although the objects may have functioned in public ceremonies.

Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation

Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art. "The Nahal Mishmar Treasure". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nahl/hd_nahl.htm (October 2004)

Further Reading

Moorey, P. R. S. "The Chalcolithic Hoard from Nahal Mishmar, Israel, in Context." World Archaeology 20 (1988), pp. 171–89.

Ussishkin, David. "The Ghassulian Shrine at En-Gedi." Tel Aviv 7 (1980), pp. 1–44.