AN exhibition of the finds of the expedition at Nuzi near Kirkuk in northern Mesopotamia will be placed on view at the Museum beginning November 10th. These comprise some of the objects excavated since the inception of the work at Nuzi in 1927, as well as a larger number of those discovered during the past season when the Museum was part supporter of the expedition. While not rivaling the finds from Ur the things from Nuzi are of singular interest and in some instances of considerable artistic worth.
Found by the Kirkuk Expedition
No doubt the most striking objects are the two glazed pottery lions and the fragments of others which were among the finds of last season in the forecourt of the so-called temple. They were probably part of the architectural embellishments of the temple doorway and were flung down by the victorious Assyrian armies when they entered Nuzi and razed it to the ground shortly after 1500 B.C. One of the lions, somewhat damaged, is of reddish clay glazed in yellow, the other, in perfect condition, is of yellowish clay with a fine green glaze, now largely decomposed to a silvery green. Similar to the last named was a splendid boar’s head mounted on an oval plaque; this, however, was retained by the Baghdad Museum and is not included in the present exhibition. These three pieces are sculpturally of great beauty and although simply rendered indicate that the craftsmen were gifted not only with surprising technical skill, enabling them to glaze and fire such finely worked pieces, but also with much artistic feeling.
Associated with these finds were vast quantities of frit beads strewn all over the area near the temple doorway. Many of them are included in the exhibition. Other notable objects in the Exhibition are the bronze censer, the inscribed bronze plaque-probably a land grant- and the finely made vessels of white pottery.