Weiner Mihályné szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 7. (Budapest, 1964)

HOPP FERENC MÚZEUM — MUSÉE FERENC HOPP - Ferenczy, László: Bronzes of Luristan

Fig. 4. Bronze bowl to the Iron Age. Among the depictions of horses, dogs, cocks and others, the ibex is the most common. Thus these pendants have their Trans-Caucasian parallels. The bronze bowl of the Museum (Fig. 4.), also said to be of Luristanian origin, is delicately shaped. It is shallow and the rim widens suddenly. It is 14,3 cm in diameter, and 4,4 cm high. Originally covered by a thick green patina, which the restorators of the Museum removed in 1939, the patina is still obvious in sections. It seems that these types of bronze bowls were much less used in Luristan than the jugs with long spouts which held ritual liquids. The clay versions of these latter are known from Sialk. In Luristan almost every grave contained one of bronze. The purpose of the small bowls is still unknown. They were probably cultic objects, the earliest type of ritual bowls which later became widespread in Bactria, Iran, the Caucasus and among the nomadic peoples. Since only a few of these bowls were unearthed in Luristan, analogies are difficult to find. In addition to the piece published by Godard

30 the relic possessed by the Rijksmuseum of Leiden should be mentioned

31 along with the one from the ,,B" cemetery of Sialk.

32 Howev.er the from of these two is not quite similar to our specimen. A clay vessel resembling the one from Sialk was unearthed in Tepe Ghiyan.

33 The bronze vessel from Luristan published by Godard is ornamented with lotus blossoms and buds around three concentric circles. This motive is taken from Assyrian art. On the basis of the mentioned parallels and the new research the bronzes of Luristan held by the Museum may be dated in all probability to the first third of the first millenium B. C. 30 Godard, A. : Les bronzes du Luristan, 1931. Pl. LXIII/226. 31 Wijngaarden, W. D. : De Loeristanbronzen in het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. Oudheidkundige Mededelingen 35, Suppl. Leiden 1954. Pl. XV/9J. 32 Ghirshman, R. : Op. cit. PI. 24/7. 33 Vanden Berghe, L. : Op. cit. PI. 112.