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Mytological Animals

MYTOLOGICAL ANIMALS

5,176 photos
Cup,Mesopotamian, late Prehistoric period, 3.400 to 3200 BCE.he cup is carved on either side with a figure naked except for a belt and with his hair parted in the centre. The figure holds two bulls around the neck, on which perch large birds. The meaning of this image is unclear:the man may be protecting the animals, or he may represent the struggle between chaotic savagery and divine order. ANE, 118465
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Cup,Mesopotamian, late Prehistoric period, 3.400 to 3200 BCE.he cup is carved on...

Stone cult vessel,from Mesopotamia, 3400-3200 BCE. This was the time when large cities were developing in southern Mesopotamia. The largest known settlement was Uruk (modern Warka). In its center were monumental temple buildings with sculptures for ritual use, or, if smaller, left as votive objects. Lines of animals are commonly depicted attacking domesicated animals. This is a standard theme in Mesopotamic art, a symbolic representation of the struggle between chaotic savagry and divine order. ANE, 118361
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Stone cult vessel,from Mesopotamia, 3400-3200 BCE. This was the time when large...

Lion's head from the temple of Ninhursag, a mother goddess "lady of the steppe land", Tell al-Ubaid near Ur, southern Iraq 2600-2400 BCE. The head, made of sheet copper over a bitumen core was found at the foot of a brick platform of the former temple building. The lions may have decorated the fcade of the temple, perhaps acting as guardian figures at the entrance. ANE 114312
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Lion's head from the temple of Ninhursag, a mother goddess "lady of the steppe...

Stone mace head, possibly from Tello (ancient Girsu), southern Iraq, Kingdom of Lagash, 2400-2300 BCE. This mace head is too large to have been attached to a staff and used in battle and is probably an object dedicated in temples. An eagle grasps two lions. ANE 23287
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Stone mace head, possibly from Tello (ancient Girsu), southern Iraq, Kingdom of...

Silver tetradrachm of Artaxerxes III, Achaemenid Persian Empire, Memphis, 343 BCE. Persian king Artaxerxes III (reigned 358-338 BCE) marched on Egypt to quell a rebellion. While in the country, he issued a large series of silver imitations of Athenian coinage which was seen widely as acceptabe currency. CM 1990-1-21-1
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Silver tetradrachm of Artaxerxes III, Achaemenid Persian Empire, Memphis, 343 BC...

"The Dying Lion", a stone panel from Ninveh, northern Iraq, Neo-Assyrian, 645 BCE. Small alabaster wall panel showing a lion struck by one of the king's arrows; blood gushes from the lion's mouth, veins stand out on his face.Lions sym- bolized everything that was hostile to urban civilization and there was a long tradition of royal lion hunts in Meso- potamia. From the North Palace of King Ashurbanipal in Ninveh, northern Iraq. ANE 1992-4-4,1
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"The Dying Lion", a stone panel from Ninveh, northern Iraq, Neo-Assyrian, 645 BC...

Terracotta head of a ewe, Late Prehistoric period, 3.300-3000 BCE. Sheep played an important part in the ancient Sumerian economy. Woollen textiles were sometimes produced in large factories, employing hundreds of women, and probably exported throughout the region. Images of sheep were especially common at this time. ANE, 132092
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Terracotta head of a ewe, Late Prehistoric period, 3.300-3000 BCE. Sheep played...

The Sargon Vase from Nimrud, northern Iraq. Neo-Assyrian, 8th century BCE. A cuneiform inscription on it reads:"Palace of Sargon King of Assyria". An engraved lion occurs often with inscriptions of Sargon II (722-705 BCE) and is probably an official mark that the article derives from or belongs to Sargon's palace or treasury. ANE, 90952
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The Sargon Vase from Nimrud, northern Iraq. Neo-Assyrian, 8th century BCE. A cu...

Bronze statuette of a rider, Achaemenid, 5th-4th century BCE, a rare representation of a Persian horseman. He wears a short Iranian sword, an akinakes, known from Achaemenid art, particularly from reliefs at Persepolis. The use of trousers is Median, or Parthian of the third to second century and makes it difficult to date the figurine. ANE,117760
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Bronze statuette of a rider, Achaemenid, 5th-4th century BCE, a rare representat...

Ivory cosmetic box in the shape of a fish, Canaanite, from Tell es-Sa'idiyeh, Jordan, 13th century BC. This ivory fish-shaped cosmetic box was found inside a bronze bowl which had been strapped, using Egyptian linen, to the genitals of a body found in a grave at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh. Most unusually, the body had been placed face down in the grave, and over the back of the skull were found the skeletons of three fishes. The site of Tell es-Sa'idiyeh controlled a shallow ford across the river Jordan. In the 13th century it was under Egyptian control. This was the final phase of Egypt's domination of the Levant. Most of the graves at Sa'idiyeh consist of simple, sub-rectangular pits, but the items found in them either show strong Egyptian influence or are purely Egyptian. ANE, 1987-7-27,138
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Ivory cosmetic box in the shape of a fish, Canaanite, from Tell es-Sa'idiyeh, Jo...

Stone bowl from Khafajeh, Iraq, Early Dynastic period, c2600-c2400 BC. The carving on this vessel is particularly fine. The design is probably linked to Iranian mythology. A man in a net skirt kneels on two humped-backed bulls, or zebus, standing back to back, and grasps streams watering vegetation and a palm tree; above are two undulating lines, a crescent moon and a rosette sun. A similar figure with a rosette grasps two snakes and stands between two felines lying back to back. A lion and eagle attack a bull with a small animal below. The zebus are not native to Mesopotamia, and their presence here indicates a connection with the civilization which was developing at this time along the Indus Valley in Pakistan and north-west India. This vessel was found in Mesopotamia on a major trade route though the mountains on to the Iranian plateau. ANE, 128887
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Stone bowl from Khafajeh, Iraq, Early Dynastic period, c2600-c2400 BC. The carvi...

Blue goat Approximately 8th century BCE; Tell Ahmar Element of a decorative fieze; on coating of clay; colours posed on a whitewash (chalk milk): ochre red, carbon black, Egyptian blue H.: 51,60cm; W.:63,50cm AO 23010
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Blue goat Approximately 8th century BCE; Tell Ahmar Element of a decorative fi...