Apkallu figure: male with a fish-skin hood

ca. 9th–8th century BCE

Not on view

This small baked clay figurine takes the form of a male figure with long hair and beard, staring straight ahead with large, wide-open eyes beneath arched eyebrows. A prominent nose and small, closed mouth can also be seen, although the level of detail in the features is minimal. He presses both fists to his chest, right above left. Shiny areas of the surface are modern restorations in wax. His tall rounded headdress indicates that he is wearing a fish-skin cloak, a garment associated with Assyrian priests that likely connects them with the ancient sages of Mesopotamian mythology who lived in the Apsu, a subterranean realm of fresh water. The figurine was made by pressing clay into a mold, a common method of manufacturing plaques and figurines in Mesopotamia since at least the Ur III period (ca. 2100-2000 B.C.). A thousand years later, during the Neo-Assyrian period, practitioners of magic had developed techniques for protecting interior spaces of buildings by means of a ritual that involved depositing an assemblage of figurines beneath the room’s floor. This figure was found buried under the floor in a room in a palace building at the Assyrian royal city of Nimrud, suggesting that it was intended for this function.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Apkallu figure: male with a fish-skin hood
Period: Neo-Assyrian
Date: ca. 9th–8th century BCE
Geography: Mesopotamia, Nimrud (ancient Kalhu)
Culture: Assyrian
Medium: Ceramic
Dimensions: 5 5/16 × 1 3/4 × 1 3/8 in. (13.5 × 4.5 × 3.5 cm)
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1954
Object Number: 54.117.25
Curatorial Department: Ancient West Asian Art

More Artwork

From the same culture

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

Furniture element carved in the round with the head of a roaring lion, Ivory, Assyrian — Furniture element carved in the round with the head of a roaring lion
Assyrian
ca. 9th–8th century BCE

Figure of a man with an oryx, a monkey, and a leopard skin, Ivory, Assyrian — Figure of a man with an oryx, a monkey, and a leopard skin
Assyrian
ca. 8th century BCE

Head of a female figure, Ivory, Assyrian — Head of a female figure
Assyrian
ca. 8th century BCE

Relief panel, Gypsum alabaster, Assyrian — Relief panel
Assyrian
ca. 883–859 BCE

Openwork furniture plaque with a grazing oryx in a forest of fronds, Ivory, Assyrian — Openwork furniture plaque with a grazing oryx in a forest of fronds
Assyrian
ca. 9th–8th century BCE

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.