Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This minute dog pendant has a typical form, with large, erect, rounded ears and a projecting muzzle. The legs are relatively short, and its raised tail curls forward over the back. This tail position is known from similar dog pendants, one of which was excavated from the Luristan site of Surkh-i Dum (1). A fine hole pierces this object through the body behind the front legs.
The long-domesticated dog served ancient cultures worldwide in hunting, warfare, security, and as a companion. Of the copper alloy pendants and figurines derived from Iran, examples in the form of dogs are abundant, although the corpus of excavated pieces is limited. Four dog figurines were found in a tomb at the site of Marlik in northwestern Iran, but these differ stylistically from the Harvard examples in their angular, elongated form and stiff stance (2). Dog figurines have been excavated from Iron Age III (800-750/700 BCE) contexts at the Luristan sanctuary site of Surkh-i Dum (3), which has been interpreted by excavators as having been a site dedicated to a female nature deity where hunters would have offered trinkets in hope or appreciation of success (4). In this context, canine figurines and pendants may represent hunting dogs. The Surkh-i Dum objects are close to the Harvard pieces stylistically, although those in the form of pendants are not pierced but have instead suspension loops. Despite this discrepancy in the method of suspension, which may have varied over time or from site to site, the available evidence favors the designation of the Harvard dog figurines as being from Luristan.
NOTES:
1. See E. de Waele, Bronzes du Luristan et d’Amlash, Publications d’historie de l’art et d’archeologie de l’Université Catholique de Louvain 34 (Louvain-La-Neuve, 1982) 169, nos. 257-59; O. W. Muscarella, “Surkh Dum at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Mini-Report,” Journal of Field Archaeology 8 (1981): 327-59, esp. 345, no. 22; and E. F. Schmidt, M. N. van Loon, and H. H. Curvers, The Holmes Expedition to Luristan (Chicago, 1989) p. 187.a.
2. See E. O. Negahban, Marlik: The Complete Excavation Report, University Museum Monograph 87 (Philadelphia, 1996) 133, nos. 150 and 152, pl. 48.
3. See Schmidt, van Loon, and Curvers 1989 (supra 1) 273-74, pls. 174 and 186-87
4. See ibid., 487-88.
Amy Gansell
