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Ancient Near Eastern Art: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v ...

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millennium later.<br />

<strong>Near</strong> <strong>Eastern</strong> artists must have carefully<br />

observed animals in nature; the<br />

renderings capture their essence either<br />

through naturalistic or stylized conventions.<br />

A fine sculpture <strong>of</strong> a wild mountain<br />

sheep (fig. 36), or mouflon, identical<br />

to several found at Mohenjo Daro (an<br />

urban site <strong>of</strong> the third millennium B.C.<br />

in the valley <strong>of</strong> the Indus River), shows<br />

the animal resting; his hindquarters<br />

are strongly twisted to receive the full<br />

weight <strong>of</strong> his body. <strong>The</strong> physical power<br />

<strong>of</strong> this creature is emphasized by the<br />

closed outline that incorporates his<br />

sweeping horns into the massive volume<br />

<strong>of</strong> his chest.<br />

<strong>The</strong> three-dimensional, sculptural quality<br />

<strong>of</strong> these animals contrasts with the<br />

intricately patterned, two-dimensional bodies<br />

<strong>of</strong> the gazelles striding around the<br />

side <strong>of</strong> a lovely gold cup (fig. 34).<br />

<strong>The</strong> heads at a right angle to the bodies<br />

are a feature shared by several similar<br />

cups found at Kalar Dasht and Marlik,<br />

second-millennium B.C. sites <strong>of</strong> royal<br />

burials south <strong>of</strong> the Caspian Sea.<br />

From the earliest times in Mesopotamia<br />

hunting wild beasts was a religious<br />

responsibility that demonstrated the prowess<br />

and potency <strong>of</strong> a ruler. From the time<br />

<strong>of</strong> the Neo-Assyrian king Assurnasirpal II,<br />

such hunting scenes were depicted on<br />

the carved stone reliefs in the palaces;<br />

excerpts from these compositions were<br />

copied in minor arts both in Assyria and<br />

in the lands under its domination. On an<br />

ivory panel (fig. 33) from northwestern<br />

Iran, a male figure, possibly royal, is<br />

seen about to thrust a spear into the<br />

breast <strong>of</strong> a charging wild bull chased by a<br />

royal chariot. H.P.<br />

36<br />

31

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