Jug

Unknown

ca. 1000–750 BCE · Ceramic · Ancient Near Eastern Art

This jug has a globular body, a wide mouth, and a loop handle at the shoulder. The rim is broken off in several places. It is made of a buff clay with painted red crosshatching. It may have been made by hand rather than on a potter’s wheel. It was excavated at Khatunban, a cemetery site in Luristan in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran. It is often thought that the inhabitants of Luristan in this period were pastoral nomads, who moved with their herds from the high valleys of the Zagros during the summer to lowland pastures in the winter. This theory arises from the dearth of evidence for settlements, and the occurrence of isolated cemetery sites, such as Khatunban. At the same time, the infrastructure necessary for bronze working, an important industry in Luristan, suggests that some sedentary settlements must have existed. In all likelihood these settlements were not located on mounds, but at lower elevations near water sources where agriculture could be practiced.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1000–750 BCE

Medium

Ceramic

Culture

Iran

Department

Ancient Near Eastern Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1943