Cleveland Museum of Art

Priest-King or Deity

Date

c. 1600 BCE

Medium

basalt with bone eyes (left, ancient; right, restored)

Culture

Hittite, North Syria

Department

Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The Hittites migrated into Anatolia in the 3rd millennium BCE and spoke an Indo-European language, a group that includes Greek, Latin, Persian, Sanskrit, English, and most modern European languages. They were the first ancient people to use iron for weapons. From about 1600–1200 BCE their empire was at its peak, extending from central Anatolia to Syria, and south along the eastern Mediterranean. Their vast empire and interest in commerce enabled the Hittites to spread Mesopotamian ideas and culture throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. This large basalt sculpture is exceptionally rare in depicting a Hittite god or priest-king wearing a horned conical crown, false beard, and long robe. He holds a bowl in his right hand and once held something in his left, perhaps a staff or sword. The left eye of the sculpture is the original bone inlay while the right eye is a modern restoration done after the piece was damaged.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.