Cleveland Museum of Art

Ibex Standard Finial

Date

c. 700–600 BCE

Medium

bronze

Culture

Iran, Luristan

Department

Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This standard finial, a decorative tube perhaps used as a military emblem, is made of two abstracted ibexes. Their elongated forelegs form a ring where a pole may have once been inserted. An additional horizontal bar extends from their chests to support the ring. The cast bronze ibexes are decorated with ridged horns, curled beards, and twisted tails. Their hind legs join another ring. This standard is likely from Luristan, home to a seminomadic people who created a strong metalworking industry in the Iron Age. Ibexes are wild goats from the Zagros Mountains of Iran and the Caucasus.

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