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This beautiful mount in the shape of an ibex
piece dates from the Achaemenid Empire (559
-330 BC), one of the most dynamic and
historically significant socio-political entities of
the first millennium BC. Originally based in
Persia, their borders extended eastwards and
also into the Mediterranean region, where they
were the notable foe of the ancient Greeks. The
founder (the mythological founder of the
Achaemenid empire was called Achaemenes)
Cyrus, following an abortive raid on the
Peloponnese, besieged and captured Babylon in
539 BC; his release of Jews who had been held
captive there earned him immortality in the Book
of Isaiah. The empire continued to grow until
Cyrus’ death in 529 BC, by which time the
kingdom extended as far as the Hindu Kush in
present-day Afghanistan. However, his
successors were less successful and the empire
was gradually eroded as intrigue and corruption
threatened court stability. Darius, beaten at the
battle of Marathon in 490 BC, led the
Achaemenids back to Asia Minor where they
attempted to consolidate the remains of their
power. While successful in his lifetime, the court
and empire returned to their usual downward
cycle until the death in 330 of the last of the
Achaemenids, Darius III, at the hands of his own
subjects.
The cultural achievements of the Achaemenids
were considerable, for although somewhat
despotic in the technical sense, free trade and
social tolerance went to provide a comparatively
enlightened environment in which the arts
flourished. The economy was healthy, fuelled by
Darius’ introduction of stable gold currency, and
the road system allowed the spread of trade,
luxury items and ideas. As a result the artists
and craftsmen of the time were extremely
attuned to neighbouring and distant polities, and
were able to produce a wide variety of elite items
such as this. Most iconography of the time was
based around enormously ornate zoomorphic
statuary and architectural design as seen in
Persepolis, and smaller items retain much of
their grandiose monumentality.
This imposing piece was once socketed onto a
wooden item of furniture, as evidenced by its
hollow body. It portrays an ibex – an animal
routinely hunted by Achaemenid royalty, judging
from palace reliefs – in a resting position, the
limbs tucked under the body. The head is turned
to the right, so it would originally have been on
the left hand end of a piece of furniture, so as to
face the room. It may also have been a
decorative
chariot shaft end, designed to face outwards at
onlookers; this theory is substantiated by the
additional hole bored through the piece, which
would have been used to secure it more firmly.
The quality of the bronze casting is extremely
high and naturalistic, especially when compared
to the nugatory way in which the body has been
rendered. The pose is decidedly regal, with long,
sweeping horns that join the ears and almost
meet at the back of the head, a long nose, high
oval eyes and linear detailing that describes the
contours of the face to perfection. It is possible
to count the individual growth rings on the
horns; judging from modern ibex standards, this
figure represents a male at maximum size and
maturity, at an age of around 20 years. The
symbolism of caprid iconography in Achaemenid
art is not well understood, although a mature,
powerful male ibex at the height of his prowess
might well have had its significance to a high
ranking Achaemenid personage. Whatever the
reason, it is certainly a mature, beautifully
executed and perfectly preserved piece of
ancient art.
- (LO.1282 (LSO))
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