Plaque with Harp Player
Clay
Original Site Unknown
12.3 cm x 7.7 cm x 0.5 cm
A9345
Oriental Institute Museum
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.