Composite Artefacts in the Ancient Near East: Exhibiting an Imaginative Materiality, Showing a Genealogical Nature

Ancient objects could acquire their character from the unlikely things brought together to make them. In the Near East, the combination of materials was sometimes as significant as the finished image: contrasting colours, textures and techniques helped objects convey ideas about power, identity and the extraordinary. Edited by Silvana Di Paolo, this collection looks closely at the choices behind such constructions.

Its case studies range from early Mesopotamian wall decorations and composite creatures associated with thunder to objects from the royal tomb at Qatna, personal ornaments at Hasanlu and colourful jewellery from Cyprus. The contributors ask what makers understood about their materials, and how those assembled parts could take on new meanings when worn, displayed or placed in a sacred setting.