Ritual items carved of a gray- green stone in what is
called the "Intercultural Style" were made in the
greater Gulf area as well as in southern Iran. At the
site of Tepe Yahya in Iran, workshops were found with
vessels and the raw materials—chlorite or steatite—
for their manufacture, dating to the mid-third
millennium B.C. The stones were available in the
nearby hills. Fragments of containers were also found
at sites in the Gulf area. Vessels decorated in this
style were found across the ancient Near East from
Syria to the Indus Valley, evidence of the flourishing
long-distance trade of the times. The repertoire of
motifs of the "Intercultural Style" includes vegetal,
architectural, and abstract or naturalistic
representations of people and animals. Many
excavated examples have been found in palaces and
temples or in graves of the privileged classes in
major urban centers, including Sumerian (Early
Dynastic) Mesopotamia. The vessels may also have
been valuable for their contents.
- (RL.0790)
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