Head of pin

Unknown

ca. 8th–7th century BCE · Bronze · Ancient Near Eastern Art

This is the head of a bronze pin in the form of an ibex in the round. The ibex stands with its feet together on a small plinth, perhaps in imitation of a mountain peak. It has tall, curved horns emerging from the top of its head. This pinhead was excavated at Surkh Dum, a settlement site in Luristan in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran. It was found in a structure interpreted as a sanctuary and was thus probably an offering to a god. Such pins were probably used to fasten clothing and as objects of adornment in their own right. The ibex is a distinctly Iranian motif, as they are native to the Zagros Mountains of western Iran, but did not live, for example, on the plains of Mesopotamia. Thus they are a marker of the unique, mountain identity of the people living in western Iran during the Iron Age.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 8th–7th century BCE

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Iran

Department

Ancient Near Eastern Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1943