Near East

Making their Mark: A Concise Guide to Western Asiatic Stamp Seals

Differing from most of the delicate and sophisticatedly engraved stamps seals made of precious stones, the earliest ancient Near Eastern stamping devices were relatively large ceramic objects with a stem handle and with geometric patterns engraved on the bases. They have been extensively found in village settlements of the Neolithic period in Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Levant [...]

Mesopotamian Cylinder Seals—Exploring Glyptic Images

In the ancient Near East, cylinder seals were used over a wide geographical landscape, that extended from Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) to the valley of the Indus River. There were various ancient Near Eastern cultures, that once flourished in the ancient Near Eastern landscape, that developed distinctive imagery representations and iconic glyptic styles expressing different mythological [...]

The Luristan Empire: Beauty of Bronze

Luristan bronze comes from the province of Lorestan, a region of the Near East. In the ancient world it was settled by a number of peoples, such as the Medes, the Kassites, and eventually the Persians. In 2017, archaeological evidence for Achaemenid contact with the area came to light for the first time. Defining a [...]

Scythian Gold

Scythians, a nomadic civilisation Despite being a nomadic civilisation, the Scythians proved immensely helpful in the preservation of their own culture for posterity in that they understood the conservational capacity of ice. They went to great lengths to preserve their dead, mummifying them and then burying them in mountainous regions across Eurasia – Kazakhstan, Mongolia, [...]

The Luristan Empire: Beauty of Bronze

Luristan bronze comes from the province of Lorestan, a region of the Near East. In the ancient world it was settled by a number of peoples, such as the Medes, the Kassites, and eventually the Persians. In 2017, archaeological evidence for Achaemenid contact with the area came to light for the first time. Defining a [...]

Scythian Gold

Scythians, a nomadic civilisation Despite being a nomadic civilisation, the Scythians proved immensely helpful in the preservation of their own culture for posterity in that they understood the conservational capacity of ice. They went to great lengths to preserve their dead, mummifying them and then burying them in mountainous regions across Eurasia – Kazakhstan, Mongolia, [...]