Cleveland Museum of Art

Head of a Bull

Date: 3000–2000 BCE
Medium: chalcedony
Culture: Mesopotamia, Sumerian, Iraq, Tigris-Euphrates valley, Early Bronze Age I (c. 3300–c. 3000 BCE)
Department: Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art

This bull head is carved in a banded stone. The sculptor has ingeniously planned the work so that the veins of the stone enhance the anatomy of the head. Inlays of stone, ivory, or gold (now missing) were set into the eyes and horn sockets. The other holes were used to attach the head to a body of a different material. This object is made of quartz, which is used to make electronics today.

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