Hittite

ca. 14th–13th century BCE

By 1700 B.C., people speaking Hittite—an Indo-European language—had founded a capital at Bogazköy (ancient Hattusha) and, under a series of powerful kings, established a state in central Anatolia. The Hittite army attacked and partly destroyed Babylon in 1595 B.C., and in 1285 B.C. fought a battle against the Egyptian king Ramesses II at Qadesh in Syria.

This silver drinking vessel in the form of a stag was hammered from one piece that was joined to the head by a checkerboard-patterned ring. Both the horns and the handle were attached separately. A frieze depicting a religious ceremony decorates the rim of the cup, suggesting the uses for which the cup was intended. A prominent figure, thought to be a goddess, sits on a cross-legged stool, holding a bird of prey in her left hand and a small cup in her right. She wears a conical crown and has large ears, typical of Hittite art. A mushroom-shaped incense burner separates her from a male god who stands on the back of a stag. He, too, holds a falcon in his left hand, while with his right he grasps a small curved staff. Three men are shown in profile, moving to the left and facing the deities. Each holds an offering to the divinities. Behind the men is a tree or plant against which rests the collapsed figure of a stag. Hanging from the tree is a quiver with arrows and an object that appears to be a bag. Two vertical spears complete the frieze and separate the stag from the goddess.

Cult scenes or religious processions are commonly represented in the art of the Hittite Empire, and texts make frequent reference to trees and plants associated with rituals or festivals. The texts also tell us that spears were venerated objects, so it is possible that the stag, killed in hunt, as is suggested by the quiver and bag, was being dedicated to the stag god. Hittite texts also mention that animal-shaped vessels made of gold, silver, stone, and wood, in the appropriate animal form, were given to the gods for their own use. Though the precise meaning of the frieze on this vessel remains a matter of conjecture, it is possible that it was intended to be the personal property of the stag god.

The relief on the silver stag rhyton on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art depicts the
tutelary deity of the eld standing on his sacred animal, a stag, receiving the attention of
the king and priests

Title

Vessel terminating in the forepart of a stag

Period : Hittite Empire

Date : ca. 14th–13th century BCE

Silver, gold inlay

Dimensions

7 1/16 × 5 5/16 × 7 1/16 in., 0.7 lb. (18 × 13.5 × 18 cm, 0.3 kg)

Credit Line

Gift of Norbert Schimmel Trust, 1989

Object No.

1989.281.10

Hittite

ca. 14th–13th century BCE

This silver drinking vessel is shaped in the form of a bull. The animal is in a kneeling posture and is fashioned from two pieces of silver joined by a grooved collar. The head, with its short neck, is massive and strong; the nose and the oval eyes and brows that once held inlays were all sculpted with great sensitivity. The bull's cheeks and jowls are formed from petal-like ridges while further repoussé musculature decorates the body above the legs and shoulders. The chest has a prominent dewlap with horizontal undulations, which suggests folds of skin. These characteristics of modeling and decoration can be seen in representations of other Hittite bulls dating from around 1300 B.C. Because Hittite texts describe their gods as being given their own drinking vessels made in the form of their animal counterparts, it is plausible to assume that this vessel was the property of the Hittite storm god Teshub with whom the bull was associated.

Title

Vessel terminating in the forepart of a bull

Period

Hittite Empire

Date

ca. 14th–13th century BCE

Culture

Hittite

Medium

Silver

Dimensions

7 1/16 × 5 1/16 × 8 7/16 in., 1.6 lb. (18 × 12.8 × 21.5 cm, 0.7 kg)

Credit Line

Gift of Norbert Schimmel Trust, 1989

Object No.

1989.281.11