Plaque fragments with a bearded male dignitary carrying a young goat

Excavations at Hasanlu in Iran yielded a large number of carved ivory fragments which probably decorated wooden furniture or were used as small precious objects such as boxes. The citadel at Hasanlu was attacked and destroyed around 800 B.C., most likely by military forces of the powerful state of Urartu, centered in present-day Armenia, eastern Turkey, and northwestern Iran. In the fire that destroyed the citadel, many objects were crushed and shattered. The blackened appearance of most of the Hasanlu ivories is due to their exposure to high temperatures at the time of the citadel’s destruction.

Carved in a style that resembles Assyrian stone relief carving, this panel shows a bearded male figure. He holds a small goat in one hand, and a staff or mace in the other. Along the top of the plaque runs a tasseled fringe, below which a dowel hole is visible on the left side, probably used to affix the plaque to a wooden frame as part of a piece of furniture. The plaque may have been a royal gift from the Assyrian king to the local ruler at Hasanlu, perhaps in support of an alliance against their mutual enemy, Urartu.