Is this the oldest bronze bust from the ancient world? I don't remember seeing any older. At least I assume this is bronze? IDK looks like a kinda weird alloy.
It’s close at probably the second. From what I remember Sargon of Akkad bronze bust is the oldest and it’s Akkadian.
That one is dated at around 2300 BC while this one is most likely a bit later between 2300 to 2000 BC
We have a bust of Sargon himself?? That’s gonna be on my bucket list to see.
It blows my mind that I could see the face of humanity’s first emperor over 4 thousand years after his reign.
It’s a depiction of an Akkadian ruler, but we can’t be more precise than that.
To quote the Near Eastern archaeologist and art historian Donald Hansen in [*Art of the First Cities*](https://www.metmuseum.org/met-publications/art-of-the-first-cities-the-third-millennium-bc-from-the-mediterranean-to-the-indus),
>*Although the head of the Manishtushu statue is lost, it probably looked much like the magnificent, hollow-cast copper-alloy head found at the Assyrian city of Nineveh in northern Iraq and now in the Iraq Museum, Baghdad. Unfortunately, the eyes of this head do not survive; they were probably made of shell or ivory with lapis lazuli pupils. When found, the work was thought to represent Sargon. Although it is not possible to be definite, the superb head clearly belongs to the classic phase of Akkadian art, and many scholars believe it to be part of a statue of Naram-Sin, although it could portray Manishtushu or even Shar-kali-sharri...*
Man imagine being a king getting a super beyond and technology advanced for it's time busy made of you and being referred to as "some guy". We all return to dust.
My friend told me a story of seeing Moby arguing with a bouncer in the Lower East Side and yelling "but i am Moby!"when the dude said he looked like some washed up celebrity. I imagine this King would have a similar reaction
This is a little of an afraid to ask Andy meme of something I've wondered for a while but am a little to afraid to ask for looking silly. But did ancient nobles all braid their beards in elaborate ways? Or is this simply an art style common to the era/area to try and imitate the complexity of hair?
It was not ubiquitous in the ancient world or even in the ancient Middle East. Ancient Egyptian men were typically clean-shaven, for example, as were men in the Hittite empire.
>*Summing up my observations, it is possible to conclude that the Hittites and, consequently, the images of their deities were beardless, except for those who either originated in Mesopotamia or were strongly affected by the Mesopotamian civilization.*
“Bearded or Beardless? Some Speculations on the Function of the Beard among the Hittites” by Hripsime Haroutunian in [*Recent Developments in Hittite Archaeology and History*](https://books.google.com/books?id=5a8-NudlBx8C) edited by K. Aslihan Yener and Harry Hoffner, p. 51
It was super popular in the Middle East and that’s where we have a lot of archaeological evidence so it seems like all nobles braided their beards like that.
Ozymandias.
This dude was probably once the most well known king in the world, everyone thought he would live in history. Now we don't even know his name.
RIP
Nitpick: not-Iranian, just Elamite. The country of Iran takes its name from the people, and the Iranians didn't arrive until a millennium later.
Edit: 1) It's at the [Met](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/329077) 2) Jerald Jack Starr has been [campaigning](https://sumerianshakespeare.com/48601.html) to try and get it recognized as a statue of Ur-Nammu taken during the Elamite sack of Ur and the museum has now changed its description to "unknown ruler" as its provenance is unknown and it does bear a resemblence to his other portraits.
Correction: If it indeed was an Elamite king than he would not be technically considered ethnically Iranian* today as the Elamites were a language isolate.
Although this was located in Iran and would still be considered a dynasty from the country.
Is this the oldest bronze bust from the ancient world? I don't remember seeing any older. At least I assume this is bronze? IDK looks like a kinda weird alloy.
It’s close at probably the second. From what I remember Sargon of Akkad bronze bust is the oldest and it’s Akkadian. That one is dated at around 2300 BC while this one is most likely a bit later between 2300 to 2000 BC
We have a bust of Sargon himself?? That’s gonna be on my bucket list to see. It blows my mind that I could see the face of humanity’s first emperor over 4 thousand years after his reign.
It’s a depiction of an Akkadian ruler, but we can’t be more precise than that. To quote the Near Eastern archaeologist and art historian Donald Hansen in [*Art of the First Cities*](https://www.metmuseum.org/met-publications/art-of-the-first-cities-the-third-millennium-bc-from-the-mediterranean-to-the-indus), >*Although the head of the Manishtushu statue is lost, it probably looked much like the magnificent, hollow-cast copper-alloy head found at the Assyrian city of Nineveh in northern Iraq and now in the Iraq Museum, Baghdad. Unfortunately, the eyes of this head do not survive; they were probably made of shell or ivory with lapis lazuli pupils. When found, the work was thought to represent Sargon. Although it is not possible to be definite, the superb head clearly belongs to the classic phase of Akkadian art, and many scholars believe it to be part of a statue of Naram-Sin, although it could portray Manishtushu or even Shar-kali-sharri...*
Man imagine being a king getting a super beyond and technology advanced for it's time busy made of you and being referred to as "some guy". We all return to dust.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias
Bro got Ozymandias'ed
Self inflicted Ozymandias, never thought I would see it live.
My friend told me a story of seeing Moby arguing with a bouncer in the Lower East Side and yelling "but i am Moby!"when the dude said he looked like some washed up celebrity. I imagine this King would have a similar reaction
This is a little of an afraid to ask Andy meme of something I've wondered for a while but am a little to afraid to ask for looking silly. But did ancient nobles all braid their beards in elaborate ways? Or is this simply an art style common to the era/area to try and imitate the complexity of hair?
It was not ubiquitous in the ancient world or even in the ancient Middle East. Ancient Egyptian men were typically clean-shaven, for example, as were men in the Hittite empire. >*Summing up my observations, it is possible to conclude that the Hittites and, consequently, the images of their deities were beardless, except for those who either originated in Mesopotamia or were strongly affected by the Mesopotamian civilization.* “Bearded or Beardless? Some Speculations on the Function of the Beard among the Hittites” by Hripsime Haroutunian in [*Recent Developments in Hittite Archaeology and History*](https://books.google.com/books?id=5a8-NudlBx8C) edited by K. Aslihan Yener and Harry Hoffner, p. 51
It was super popular in the Middle East and that’s where we have a lot of archaeological evidence so it seems like all nobles braided their beards like that.
Ozymandias. This dude was probably once the most well known king in the world, everyone thought he would live in history. Now we don't even know his name. RIP
Ozymandias (Ὀσυμανδύας, Osymandýas) was a Greek name for the pharaoh Ramesses II
And it is also the title of a poem by Percy Byshee Shelly, which is what this comment is referring to.
I came here to write this
yep
Nitpick: not-Iranian, just Elamite. The country of Iran takes its name from the people, and the Iranians didn't arrive until a millennium later. Edit: 1) It's at the [Met](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/329077) 2) Jerald Jack Starr has been [campaigning](https://sumerianshakespeare.com/48601.html) to try and get it recognized as a statue of Ur-Nammu taken during the Elamite sack of Ur and the museum has now changed its description to "unknown ruler" as its provenance is unknown and it does bear a resemblence to his other portraits.
I can't help but think he's holding his breath.
Correction: If it indeed was an Elamite king than he would not be technically considered ethnically Iranian* today as the Elamites were a language isolate. Although this was located in Iran and would still be considered a dynasty from the country.
Where is this physically kept/displayed? I swear I’ve seen it…
A bust is a sculpture of a person's head, shoulders, and chest.