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Belt with repousée design
Near Eastern, Anatolian, Urartian
Iron Age
10th–9th century B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Asia Minor, Lake Van region
Medium/Technique
Bronze
Dimensions
Length x width: 10.5 x 97 cm (4 1/8 x 38 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Egyptian Curator's Fund
Accession Number1972.398
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsWarfare, hunting, fishing – Armor
DescriptionBronze belt with repousse decoration. Originally sewn onto leather, it would have formed part of the armor of an Urartian warrior. The decoration consists of fifty-nine figures. Seven are figures of deities, who stand on the backs of animals and draw bows, while the rest are prancing real and fantastic animals arranged in columns. Separating every 5 or 6 columns is a vertical "sacred tree" motif. The deities are beardless and wear short-sleeved, fringed tunics, fringed skirts, and low cylindrical crowns with topknots.
Provenance1972, sold by Mohammad Yeganeh (dealer; b. 1929 - d. 2012), Frankfurt, to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 7, 1972)