The World Between Empires: Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East
The World Between Empires: Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East
March 18–June 29, 2019
Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York, NY
For over three centuries, the territories and trading networks of the Middle East were contested between the Roman and Parthian Empires (ca. 100 B.C.–A.D. 250), yet across the region life was not defined by these two superpowers alone. Local cultural and religious traditions flourished, and sculptures, wall paintings, jewelry, and other objects reveal how ancient identities were expressed through art. Featuring 190 works from museums in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States, this exhibition follows a journey along the great incense and silk routes that connected cities in southwestern Arabia, Nabataea, Judaea, Syria, and Mesopotamia, making the region a center of global trade. Several of the archaeological sites featured, including Palmyra, Dura-Europos, and Hatra, have been damaged in recent years by deliberate destruction and looting, and the exhibition also examines these events and responses to them.
Items on loan
Silver Drachm of Artabanus IV of Partha, Ecbatana, AD 216 – AD 224. 1944.100.83566
Silver shekel, Judaea, AD 67. 1935.117.805
Clay Tessare, Palmyra. 1937.79.22
Clay Tessare, Palmyra. 1937.79.23
Silver Coin, Uncertain value, 44 B.C. – 43 B.C. 1944.100.3642
Bronze Sestertius of Vespasian, Rome, AD 71 1944.100.39981
Bronze Coin, Judaea, AD 69. 1944.100.63001
Silver Tetradrachm, Judaea, AD 134 – AD 135. 1944.100.63050
Billon Tetradrachm of Zenobia, Alexandreia, AD 270 – AD 271. 1944.100.67791
Silver Tetradrachm of Phraataces of Parthia, Seleuceia ad Tigrim, AD 2 – AD 3. 1944.100.82963
Silver Drachm of Phraataces of Parthia, Ecbatana, 2 BC – AD 4. 1944.100.82979
Silver Antoninianus of Aurelian, Siscia, AD 270 – AD 275 1957.159.61
Bronze Sestertius of Vespasian, Rome, AD 71 1967.153.218
