The Cyrus Cylinder and Gudea statue in the Metropolitan Museum

Ancient Near East Art at the Met

The Cyrus Cylinder is a fragmented clay cylinder (9 in. x 4 in.) from ancient times (roughly 530 BC), which contains the dictates of the Persian king Cyrus, known as Cyrus the Great. The cylinder is made of baked clay, like a pot or an ancient tablet, and inscribed in the clay are the orders of the king, concerning the people of Babylon, whom he had recently conquered.

The purpose of the cylinder was to give praise to the king Cyrus, to show how his virtues marked him as an exemplary king, how he did much to improve the lives of the Babylonians, and how he allowed non-Babylonians (such as Jews) to return to their native lands.

The Cyrus Cylinder is important first of all as an historical artifact which has captured a time and place and allows us today to witness what life was like in ancient Babylon. It allows for a better understanding of the cuneiform script and tells us something about the values held dear to Cyrus and the way in which those values were communicated to others. It is also important in a historical sense because it corroborates another historical document -- the Bible -- concerning the exodus of the Jews from Babylon, back to their native land, whereat they set about rebuilding the Temple.

The Cyrus Cylinder is positive proof of a historical narrative set down by another people at another time. It is an artifact which acts as a piece of narrative evidence, by confirming the Biblical account of history, and which also confirms the imposition of Persian rule on the Near East in the 6th century BC.

Lagash Gudea Statue

The Statue of Gudea is a Neo-Sumerian diorite stone statue, whose dimensions are roughly 17 x 9 x 12 in. It is an incredibly ancient work of art, whose date is considered to be around 2090 BC -- which would mean that this statue is over 4000 years old.

The statue is the representation of Gudea, a king who ruled in Lagash following the reign of the Akkadians. Gudea took a strong interest in preserving the Sumerian culture and in rebuilding the religious temples that were so important to the culture's heritage and identity.

The purpose of the statue is evident in the words inscribed on it in the Sumerian language: "Gudea, the man who built the temple; may his life be long." The script is found in the king's robes and would have been easily read by those close to it. The statue is meant to preserve the memory of the king just as the king preserved the memory of Lagash and its heritage.

As a cultural artifact, the statue is important because it shows yet another glimpse of what it is to be human. Here, we see King Gudea, seated in a rather traditional pose representing good will and spiritual prayer. The king is humbling himself before God and before his subjects and before his ancestors: it is a valuable lesson not only for his people but also for us. We see the power that tradition and heritage and culture all have in generation, a time, and a place. This little state carries a lot of weight and a lot of meaning in terms of what humanity truly is.

The Figure of Isis-Aphrodite

Dating from the 2nd century AD in Egypt, this 20 in. tall statue comes from the country of Egypt and combines the Egyptian goddess Isis with some concept of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, to form a sensual Isis-Aphrodite goddess statuette.

Made from clay, this terracotta figurine is covered in black, red, brown and pink-white glaze. Isis-Aphrodite represents fertility and is the symbol of marriage and conception -- the life-giving force that makes new things possible and brings a rejuvenating breath to nature.

Such figurines were popular in ancient Egypt and could be found in all walks of life, from households to funerals. They even transcended culture. For example, such a figurine was immensely popular not only in Egypt but in ancient Rome as well.

Isis-Aphrodite wears an immense crown that was popular among Greco-Roman goddesses in antiquity and thus serves to give the figurine a grandeur and importance that would be meaningful to persons of this culture. It is quite likely that they had deep devotions to this goddess, especially when praying for conception, for children, for good crops, for fruitfully years, etc.

The purpose of this statuette would have been to pass on part of the religious beliefs of the time, to conceptualize them in tangible terms, to be able to see the goddess and to venerate her and pray to her. It would have also been used as an object of devotion: for example, in the Iliad, Athena becomes angry with the Trojans when they allow their statue of her to be stolen. It may be presumed that members of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome would have expected no less wrath were they to allow their statues to be lost.