Plaque with Harp Player

2000 BC - 1600 BC
Clay
Original Site Unknown
12.3 cm x 7.7 cm x 0.5 cm
A9345

Oriental Institute Museum

Artifact Description

Plaque with Harp Player

Many clay plaques from ancient Mesopotamia depict musicians playing a variety of stringed, percussion, and wind instruments. This particular plaque depicts a harp player. The casting of plaques was a simple and inexpensive way to produce relief images, since numerous plaques could be made from a single mold.

Collected by

Henri Frankfort, Field Director of the Iraq Expedition
Purchased 1930

Multimedia

Life in Ancient Mesopotamia
What was life like in ancient Mesopotamia? Find out in this video featuring Oriental Institute Assyriologist Dr. Martha Roth.

Web Links

Highlights from the collection of the Oriental Institute Museum; Plaque

Suggested Readings

Contenau, George. Everyday Life in Babylonia and Assyria. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1966.

Kramer, Samuel Noah. Cradle of Civilization. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1967.

Roaf, Michael. Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. New York: Facts on File, 1990.

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