The Ziwiye hoard is a treasure hoard containing gold, silver, and ivory objects, also including a few gold pieces with the shape of human face , that was uncovered on in
Ziwiyeh
The castle of Ziwiyeh or Ziwiyeh Castle ( fa, قلعه زیویه) is an ancient and strong building situated on the top of a mount above the wide Ziwiyeh Cave in Saqqez, Iran. Ziwiye tepe or castle is located 50 kilometers to Saqqez and the ...
plat near
Saqqez
Saqqez ( ; fa, سقز ; ), also known as Saghez, Saqez, Saqqiz, Saqiz, and Sakīz, is the capital city of Saqqez County in Kurdistan Province, in northwestern Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population was 165,258.
Etymology
The nam ...
city in
Kurdistan Province, Iran, in 1947.
Provenance
Objects from the hoard provide a link between the cultures of the
Iranian plateau
The Iranian plateau or Persian plateau is a geological feature in Western Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia. It comprises part of the Eurasian Plate and is wedged between the Arabian Plate and the Indian Plate; situated between the Zagros ...
and the nomadic or
Scythian art
Scythian art is the art associated with Scythian cultures, primarily decorative objects, such as jewellery, produced by the nomadic tribes of the area known as Scythia, which encompassed Central Asia, parts of Eastern Europe east of the Vistula Ri ...
forms known as the "
animal style
Animal style art is an approach to decoration found from China to Northern Europe in the early Iron Age, and the barbarian art of the Migration Period, characterized by its emphasis on animal motifs. The zoomorphic style of decoration was used ...
". "The Scythian motives adopted by
Urartu
Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of Va ...
account for the decoration of the great Treasure of
Saqqez
Saqqez ( ; fa, سقز ; ), also known as Saghez, Saqez, Saqqiz, Saqiz, and Sakīz, is the capital city of Saqqez County in Kurdistan Province, in northwestern Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population was 165,258.
Etymology
The nam ...
brought to light on the south shore of Lake Urmia," was
Leonard Woolley
Sir Charles Leonard Woolley (17 April 1880 – 20 February 1960) was a British archaeologist best known for his Excavation (archaeology), excavations at Ur in Mesopotamia. He is recognized as one of the first "modern" archaeologists who excavat ...
's assessment (Woolley 1961 p 176).
Style
The hoard contains objects in four styles: Assyrian, Scythian, proto-
Achaemenid
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
, and the provincial native pieces. Dated ''ca.'' 700 BC, this collection of objects illustrates the situation of the Iranian plateau as a crossroads of cultural highways—not least of them the
Silk Road
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
—which fused disparate cultures to inform early Iranian art. The objects have also been related to finds at
Teppe Hasanlu
Teppe Hasanlu or Hasanlu Tepe ( fa, تپه حسنلو) is an archeological site of an ancient city''The Cambridge History of Iran'' (ed. by W.B. Fischer, Ilya Gershevitch, Ehsan Yarshster). Cambridge University Press, 1993. . Pages 57–58, 138. ...
and
Marlyk.
Current location
Examples of the ''Ziwiye Treasure'' are scattered among public and private collections. A 'Ziwiye' provenance may have been applied to comparable objects that have passed through the trade since the 1960s. Items attributed to the hoard are currently in the collections of the
Metropolitan Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in New York, the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
in Paris and the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
in London.
Controversy
The archaeologist
Oscar White Muscarella
Oscar White Muscarella (March 26, 1931 – November 27, 2022) was an American archaeologist and former Senior Research Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he worked for over 40 years before retiring in 2009. He specialized in the art an ...
has questioned the whole account of the finding of the hoard (as he has done with the older
Oxus Treasure
The Oxus treasure (Persian: گنجینه آمودریا) is a collection of about 180 surviving pieces of metalwork in gold and silver, most relatively small, and around 200 coins, from the Achaemenid Persian period which were found by the Oxus ...
), pointing out that none of the items were excavated under archaeological conditions, but passed through the hands of dealers. He concludes that "there are no objective sources of information that any of the attributed objects actually were found at Ziwiye, although it is probable that some were", and that the objects have no historical and archaeological value as a group", although many are genuine and "exquisite works of art". In a later work Muscarella denounced several "Ziwiye" objects as modern forgeries.
[Muscarella (2000), 76-81]
Gallery
ZeviyehNecklaces.jpg, Gold necklaces
Zwei Protome, Armreif und Silberschale mit Goldauflagen aus Ziwiye in Iran, c.a. 8. Jh. v.C.jpg, some pieces of Zewiye hoard
Gold Rhyton in the form of a Ram's Head - Reza Abbasi Museum - Tehran, Iran.jpg, Gold Rhyton in the form of a Ram's Head
Ziwiyeh (forse), placca con leoni al passo, forse da una decorazione di veste, oro, VIII-VII secolo ac.jpg, golden plaque
Ziwiyeh (forse), placca d'oro probabilmente cucita su una veste, VIII-VII secolo ac.jpg, golden plaque
National Museum of Iran Darafsh (764).JPG, jug
Ram shaped pottery object (Rython) - Ziwiyeh (Kurdistan) - 1st mill BC - National Museum of Iran - Inventory number 2859.JPG, Ram shaped pottery object
Duck vase Louvre AO26276.jpg, Duck vase
National Museum of Iran Darafsh (293).JPG, Bowl with base
National Museum of Iran Darafsh (329).JPG, Marble bowl
ZeviyehTray.jpg, Tray
National Museum of Iran Darafsh (746).JPG, Large earthenware jar
ZeviyehGoldenbracelet.jpg , Bracelet
ZeviyehSoldierSculpture.jpg, Soldier
ZeviyehGoldPiece.jpg, Golden Piece
ZeviyehStoneBase.jpg , Stone Base
ZeviyehShield.jpg , Shield
ZeviyehNecklaces2.jpg, Necklaces
ZeviyehPiece.jpg , Piece
See also
*
Ziwiyeh Castle
The castle of Ziwiyeh or Ziwiyeh Castle ( fa, قلعه زیویه) is an ancient and strong building situated on the top of a mount above the wide Ziwiyeh Cave in Saqqez, Iran. Ziwiye tepe or castle is located 50 kilometers to Saqqez and the ...
*
Ziviyeh District Ziviyeh District ( fa, بخش زیویه) is a district (bakhsh) in Saqqez County, Kurdistan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 30,912, in 6,230 families. The District has one city: Saheb. The District has two rural districts ...
References
Sources
*
Muscarella, Oscar White (1977), ''Archaeology, Artifacts and Antiquities of the Ancient Near East: Sites, Cultures, and Proveniences'', 2013, BRILL, , 9789004236691
google books reprinted article from ''Journal of Field Archaeology'', 1977, 4, nr. 2, "Ziwiye and Ziwiye': The Forgery of a Provenience"
google books* Muscarella, Oscar White (2000), ''The Lie Became Great. The Forgery of Ancient Near Eastern Cultures.'' Groningen, Styx 2000, 539 p.,
google books*
Talbot Rice, Tamara, ''
Ancient Arts of Central Asia
''Ancient Arts of Central Asia'' is a 1965 illustrated monograph by Russian-born English art historian Tamara Talbot Rice, published by Thames & Hudson as part of their ' World of Art Library' series.
Synopsis
Under the name of Central Asi ...
'', 1965, Thames & Hudson (Praeger in USA)
*Woolley, Leonard, 1961.''The Art of The Middle East, including Persia, Mesopotamia and Palestine''. (New York: Crown Publishers)
*Porada, Edith et al., 1962. ''The Art of Ancient Iran : Pre-Islamic Cultures'' (New York: Crown
On-line excerptReport of an exploratory dig at Ziwiye by the American archaeologist Robert Dyson in 1963, Penn Museum
{{Louvre Museum
Scythians
Archaeological discoveries in Iran
Treasure troves of Asia
Kurdistan Province
Iranian archaeological artifacts
Middle Eastern objects in the British Museum
Archaeology of the Achaemenid Empire
Gold objects
Metalwork of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Near East and Middle East antiquities of the Louvre
Persian art
1947 in Iran
1947 archaeological discoveries
Saqqez County
Iran–United Kingdom relations
France–Iran relations
Ancient art in metal