Figure of a man with an oryx, a monkey, and a leopard skin
Populations of ancient Africans as well as native near Easterners that shared similar phenotypes as Black Africans was the norm in the near East, Levant and Arabian Peninsula in antiquity. At its height Kemet ruled from Kenya to Anatolia and Ethiopians as the Greeks called Black Africans ruled over much of Asia Minor.
“Herodotus saw and describes these monuments first in Palestine, and afterwards two rock-monuments in Asia Minor, the situation of which he minutely particularizes; the statue of an armed man in Egyptian and Ethiopian [adornments], with an inscription in hieroglyphics on the breast, signifying, ‘I have occupied this country.’ Further, his monuments were seen in Thrace, but not beyond; for here he turned back.”
Historical Researches Into the Politics, Intercourse, and Trade of the Carthaginians, Ethiopians and Egyptians”, pg 428-430, 1857
This ivory carving from the 8th century BCE depicts an Egyptian or Nubian man either trading or paying tribute in Mesopotamia presumably to an Assyrian King. The statue exhibits Nubian/Egyptian features and adornments in what academics describe as a Phoenician artistic style, characterized by their use of imagery related to Egyptian motifs and the use of elaborate carving techniques such as openwork and the colored glass inlays. It is very reminiscent of Badarian and Naqada ivory and Lapis Lazuli carvings from the predynastic period.
The subject wears a decorated shendyt (loin clothe) with a long sash embroidered with two rows of uraei, rectangle and zig-zag line patterns. He wears a necklace and armlet carved to receive colored glass or stone inlays. His short twisted locs are arranged in layered plats in a distinctive hairstyle commonly referred to as the “Nubian Lappet”. He bares either gifts, or items for trade; an oryx, monkey and leopard skin, mirroring earlier depictions such as the Procession of Nubian merchants from the Tomb of Rekhmire (Necropolis at Thebes, Upper Egypt) where the Nehesy (Nubians) and "nHs n pwnt" (Nubians of Punt) are seen presenting various flora and fauna as tribute.
Phoenician ivory carvers were strongly influenced by the themes and style of ancient Egyptian art owing to the longstanding cultural ties and commonalities between the two cultures. Some Phoenician ivories illustrate purely Egyptian themes, but many use Egyptian motifs in entirely original compositions. Most ivories were carved in the major centers of Phoenicia—along the eastern Mediterranean coast—as well as in Syria and the Assyrian plains. Assyrian conquests beginning in the ninth century BCE, brought richly decorated furniture as booty and tribute from the cities of Syria and Phoenicia, and craftsmen taken prisoner from these cities probably continued to carve ivories on the Assyrian coast.
“During its long-lasting history, Egypt interlaced prolific connections with many entities of ancient Middle and Near East…In this respect, a peculiar role has been played by the areas in between Egypt and Mesopotamia, specifically Syria and the Levant, a very crucial zone for these ancient contacts. During the Late Bronze Age (particularly in the so-called ‘international period’) and the Iron Age, many political entities (Egypt, Hittites, Neo-Hittite and Aramaic states, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Mycenaeans) shared many occasions of exchange and interaction, testified both by texts and artefacts: among them stand out luxury objects, like the ivories.”
Marco De Pietri, “From Thebes to Arslantaş: Egyptian Iconography on Ivories through Ugarit, Byblos and Megiddo”, Research Gate, p.304, 2019 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326957209_From_Thebes_to_Arslantas_Egyptian_Iconography_on_Ivories_through_Ugarit_Byblos_and_Megiddo/figures?lo=1
Title: Figure of a Black Assyrian man with an oryx, a monkey, and a leopard skin
Period: Neo-Assyrian
Date: ca. 8th century BCE
Geography: Mesopotamia, Nimrud (ancient Kalhu)
Culture: Assyrian
Medium: Ivory
Dimensions: H. 5 5/16 x W. 3in. (13.5 x 7.6cm)
Accession Number: 60.145.11
Follow our YouTube Channel:
Visit our Virtual Museum:
"I have not spoken angrily or arrogantly. I have not cursed anyone in thought, word or deeds." ~35th & 36th Principals of Ma'at
Comments