Anatolia and Urartu, 7000–300 BC

Small archive tablets preserve a different kind of history from a silver animal or an ivory ornament. Room 54 brings them together within the ancient societies of Anatolia and Urartu, in and around present-day Turkey. Merchant records connect the region with Mesopotamia. Early Bronze Age silverwork, Hittite jewellery and Iron Age furniture ornaments represent different periods and uses. The silver bull and a griffin-headed ivory are among the gallery’s highlights. An ornament’s surviving shape may be easier to understand when you imagine what it was attached to. A carved furniture fitting once formed part of a larger object, just as a tablet belonged to an archive. The room covers a long span from 7000 to 300 BC, so follow the dates as well as the materials when comparing the cases.