Necklace pendants and beads, Old Babylonian, ca. 18th–17th century B.C., Mesopotamia, said to be from Dilbat. Gold. L. 42 in. (3.6 cm); D. of largest medallion 1 3/8 in. (3.6 cm), Fletcher Fund, 1947, 47.1a-h. © 2000–2018 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

These gold pendants and beads exemplify the finest craftsmanship in gold from the ancient Near East, and each represents a deity or the symbol of a deity. The two female figures, wearing horned headdresses and long flounced dresses, probably represent Lama, a protective goddess; the disk with rays emanating from a central boss represents Shamash, the sun god; and the forked lightning is the symbol for Adad, the storm god. The two disks with granulated rosettes may be symbols of Ishtar, goddess of love and war represented by the planet Venus. Necklaces with similar symbols can be found on the figures of royal personages in later Assyrian wall reliefs and probably served as both jewelry and talismans.

It is difficult to date the group because the technique and imagery employed were known throughout the first half of the second millennium B.C. Similar gold disks with extensive granulation have been found in a tomb at Ebla in western Syria and in a private house at Larsa in southern Mesopotamia. Other objects in the hoard seem to have been made earlier and kept for centuries. It is possible that such a hoard would have been gathered and kept by a jeweler, who would have use for such materials.

Earrings, Sumerian, Early Dynastic IIIa, ca. 2600–2500 B.C., Mesopotamia, Ur (modern Tell al-Muqayyar). Gold, 2 3/4 in. (7 cm). Dodge Fund, 1933, 33.35.45. © 2000–2018 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Necklace beads, Sumerian, Early Dynastic IIIa, ca. 2600–2500 B.C., Mesopotamia, Ur (modern Tell al-Muqayyar). Gold, lapis lazuli. L. 54 cm. Dodge Fund, 1933, 33.35.48. © 2000–2018 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

'The Body Transformed' At The Met Fifth Avenue, november 12, 2018–february 24, 2019