Museums Worldwide Lend Rare Art Treasures from Earliest Urban Societies
Exhibition dates: May 8 – August 17, 2003
Exhibition location: Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Exhibition Hall
The remarkable flowering of the world's earliest civilizations some 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia—present-day Iraq—will be the focus of a landmark exhibition opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 8. The culmination of years of planning and research, Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus will survey the evolution of art and culture in the land between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates and their impact on the emerging cities of the ancient world—from the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean across Central Asia and along the Gulf to the Indus Valley—during one of the most seminal and creative periods in history. Some 50 museums from more than a dozen countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East will participate in this ambitious exhibition, lending national treasures that have rarely, if ever, been sent outside the walls of their art institutions.
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.
The exhibition will feature around 400 rare and outstanding works of art—including sculpture, jewelry, vessels, weapons, inlays, cylinder seals, and tablets—selected to
demonstrate the quality of the art of Mesopotamia, its distinctive iconography and style,
and the breadth of its influence during the thousand years in which the world's earliest cities were transformed into the world's first states and empires.
"Although the roots of our own modern world can be traced back to developments that took place in and around Mesopotamia during the third millennium B.C., the art produced in that distant place and time is little known by the general public," commented Philippe de Montebello, Director of the Metropolitan Museum. "With this exhibition and its multitude of important loans from some of the greatest collections worldwide, we will present to the public some of the oldest expressive art in the world. Because many of these masterpieces have never traveled beyond their respective museums, their display here signals a watershed moment in our appreciation of ancient civilizations.
"Current events have focused the eyes of the world on Iraq—known in ancient history as Mesopotamia, the very region that Art of the First Cities considers," he continued. "The exhibition is a timely reminder of the innumerable and immeasureable cultural and artistic contributions that come from this land, so rightly called the 'cradle of civilization.' The public presentation of art from Mesopotamia in an institution such as the Metropolitan is of the utmost significance in this difficult period. It expresses our recognition of the vital role the region played in the progress of human history, the vulnerability of its cultural monuments in the present day, and our fervent hopes for its bright future."
Mahrukh Tarapor, the Museum's Associate Director for Exhibitions, who has traveled widely over the past six years to negotiate loans for the show, added: "The special challenge—and reward—of an exhibition of such magnitude is the opportunity to work with institutions and individuals across the globe and to initiate relationships with
countries with which the Metropolitan has not worked before, including Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan. We are indebted to the many colleagues and friends who, at this difficult political moment, have parted with many of their national treasures in order to assure the success of this project."
Joan Aruz, the exhibition's curator, stated: "Living in perhaps the most intensively urban environment in the world, we become acutely aware of its foundations by exploring the first instances in which cultures were transformed into cities and states. Their rich and varied artistic traditions highlight both a common element and great diversity in the approach to basic questions regarding the nature of man and his vision of the world."
Arranged thematically within a chronological framework, the exhibition will feature the remarkable art of Mesopotamia—the "land between the rivers" Tigris and Euphrates—where, at cities such as Uruk and Ur, monumental architecture made its first appearance, writing was invented, and a remarkable combination of realism and abstraction emerged in the depiction of human and animal forms. Through the use of elements that suggest a walled city, its ceremonial gateway, and buildings constructed of mud-brick and decorated with a niched and buttressed façade, the first part of the exhibition's design will evoke an ancient urban complex. The second part of the exhibition examines the art of regions in contact with Mesopotamia. The visitor will be able to explore civilizations from the eastern Aegean, across western Central Asia, and along the Gulf to the Indus Valley, These regions produced their own distinctive dynamic art with evidence of cultural interactions which will be highlighted.
The essence of these early urban centers will be conveyed through superb objects made for temples, households, and the royal court. Exquisite jewelry and other precious objects found in spectacular burials—such as those at the Royal Cemetery at Ur—will attest to the wealth of the cities and their inhabitants. One of the most important works from this Early Dynastic period (2900-2250 B.C.), the world-famous Standard of Ur—which portrays, in glorious mosaic, themes of Sumerian kingship—will be exhibited for the first time outside the walls of the British Museum since it entered their collections in the 1920s.
From the splendor of the Early Dynastic world, the exhibition will explore the succeeding Akkadian period (2300-2100 B.C.), named after a dynasty of kings that united Mesopotamia in an empire, in which artistic achievement reached even greater levels of realism and quality. This will be exemplified by beautifully modeled figural imagery such as that found on the extraordinary cylinder seal of the scribe of king Sharkalisharri, lent by the Musée du Louvre. The extent of the Akkadian empire will be revealed by the powerful image of the divine king Naram-Sin on a relief loaned by Eski Sark Museum, Istanbul. The exhibition will also include three uniquely important loans from the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums of the Syrian Arab Republic—a powerfully recumbent, human-headed bull from Tell Brak (northern Syria); the well-known carved figure of Ishqi-Mari (a king of Mari), which combines daring iconography and powerful artistry; and an exquisite hammered gold and lapis lazuli image of the supernatural lion-headed eagle—an image which embodies aspects of the dust storm and torrential rains and is found throughout Mesopotamian art.
A unique aspect of the exhibition is the special emphasis it will place on the interconnections between Mesopotamia and other contemporary cultures across the broad expanse of the ancient world. Luxury objects fashioned from gold, lapis lazuli, and carnelian will attest to the extensive diplomatic, trading, and military activities that brought Mesopotamia into contact—directly or indirectly—with other regions extending from the Aegean and Anatolia to Central Asia and the Indus Valley. Each of these regions—centers of civilization in their own right—produced astonishing and dynamic art, including elaborately carved chlorite and plain alabaster stone vessels and stone sculpture. The finest of these works, including the celebrated Priest-King from the city of Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley, will be presented to highlight local artistic traditions. Other works of art will be used to demonstrate the cultural interaction that united regions over the vast expanse of western Asia.
After the fall of the Akkadian Empire around 2100 B.C., political power within Mesopotamia shifted once again to the south. Some of the finest art of this period comes from the city-state of Lagash, under the rule of Gudea. Magnificent
images of this ruler, such as the renowned, seated figure of Gudea holding a plan of a temple, lent by the Musée du Louvre, reveal the extraordinary skill and imagery of the Mesopotamian world at the close of the third millennium B.C.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue that will include essays—written by an international roster of scholars—on the history, art, and archaeology of the palaces, temples, and tombs where many of the works were discovered. Published by the Metropolitan Museum and distributed by Yale University Press, the book will be available in both paperback ($50) and hardbound ($75) editions in the Museum's Book Shops.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible in part by The Hagop Kevorkian Fund and The Adelaide Milton de Groot Fund, in memory of the de Groot and Hawley families.
The Web site for the Metropolitan (www.metmuseum.org) will feature the exhibition. Access to the Web feature will be available on computer terminals in the exhibition's reading room.
In conjunction with the exhibition, a variety of educational programs will be scheduled. These will include lectures, gallery talks, and a documentary film series, as well as activities for families. At an international symposium taking place May 7-8, scholars will discuss recent findings in the field.
The exhibition is organized by Joan Aruz, Curator in Charge of the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art. Exhibition design is by Michael Batista, Exhibition Designer; graphics are by Barbara Weiss, Graphic Designer; and lighting is by Zack Zanolli, Lighting Designer, of the Museum's Design Department.
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