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

chronology. Nevertheless, we are able to
recognize as classic Luristan types the
stylized standards and finials, horse
cheekpieces, hammered and cast pins,
bracelets, whetstone handles, weapons,
and quivers. And although ancient cultures
existed in the region from as early
as the third millennium B.C., the typical
Luristan bronzes did not appear until the
early first millennium B.C. They reached
full production in the eighth and seventh
centuries B c and mysteriously terminated
a century before the advent of the
Persian empire.
Each of the four objects shown here is
a typical Luristan bronze, representing
one of a variety of forms for its class. The
openwork pin (fig. 54), was excavated at
Surkh Dum along with other examples,
some enclosed within walls, others stuck
in cracks or joints. This pin depicts a
squatting female who holds at bay two
horned animals, represented only by their
heads and necks that curve into a frame.
The female may be in a birthing position,
and because it came from a sanctuary,
the pin may have been dedicated by a
woman seeking a healthy delivery.
Horse bits with figured cheekpieces
(fig. 56) and iconic finials are ubiquitous
and represent the most characteristic
forms of the Luristan corpus. The cheekpieces
are in the shape of horses, lions,
mouflons, goats, or fantastic creatures. If
they were in fact buried in graves, then it
was probably the custom for an individual
to carry his personal bit with him to the
next world, to serve for future riding or
symbolically to represent the horse itself.
Finials were also presumably taken by
their owners to their graves. Mounted on
bottle-shaped supports, a number of
which survive, they occur in a great variety
of forms, often depicting heraldic animals
or a central figure between two
animals. On the Museum's example (fig.
53) a detached male head is held by two
heraldic felines. Because of the large
number known, we may assume that
finials existed in most Luristan households.
serving as icons or representations of
the many spirits and deities who required
to be placated and worshiped constantly.
The quiver plaque (fig. 55) was once
attached to a leather backing and is
decorated with seven uneven horizontal
panels in repousse with superbly rendered
mythological scenes. Rampant
winged bulls flanking a tree and a procession
of antelope frame three narrative
panels. At the top are horned and winged
humanoids holding a lion at bay, followed
by rampant lions flanking a small figure
who holds lions and a central figure
seemingly threatened by two bulbousnosed
creatures. We cannot interpret
these scenes, but clearly they represent
mythological or cultic events of some
importance. A small number of other
Luristan quiver plaques exist, but none is
so richly embellished as the present
example. O W.M
41