ART 198 - HISTORY OF WORLD CERAMICS

Another example of the 'Susa Beaker,' this conical vessel is decorated with a design of long necked cranes in a frieze in the upper portion, above another frieze filled with racing hounds. In the lower section of the vessel is seen a representation of the ibex, a long horned goat indigenous to the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. The ibex, with its impressive horns, was a symbol of power, and the image occurs with regularity on ceramics of this area. It was coil built between 5000 and 4000 BCE and painted with a black slip on a white slip. During this period, the region of the fertile crescent was a patchwork of city states, such as Susa, each with its own gods and kings.

Beaker from Susa, Iran, Earthenware with slip decoration 5000-4000 BCE