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Neolithic Near East

50,000BC 10,000BC 3,000BC 500AD
 
             
Natufian culture
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A
Khiamian
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
Neolithic Cyprus
Çatalhöyük Culture
Ain Ghazal Culture
Ubaid Period
Hassuna culture
Halaf culture
Samarra Culture
Uruk period
Proto Elamite
 
123 123
A_1_7 A_2_7 A_3_7 A_4_7 A_5_7 A_6_7 A_7_7 A_8_7 A_9_7 A_10_7
A_1_8 A_2_8 A_3_8 A_4_8 A_5_8 A_6_8 A_7_8 A_8_8 A_9_8 A_10_8
A_0_9 A_1_9 A_2_9 A_3_9 A_4_9 A_5_9 A_6_9 A_7_9 A_8_9 A_9_9 A_10_9
A_0_10 A_1_10 A_2_10 A_3_10 A_4_10 A_5_10 A_6_10 A_7_10 A_8_10 A_9_10 A_10_10
A_0_11 A_1_11 A_2_11 A_3_11 A_4_11 A_5_11 A_6_11 A_7_11 A_8_11 A_9_11 A_10_11
A_0_12 A_1_12 A_2_12 A_3_12 A_4_12 A_5_12 A_6_12 A_7_12 A_8_12 A_9_12 A_10_12
A_0_13 A_1_13 A_2_13 A_3_13 A_4_13 A_5_13 A_6_13 A_7_13 A_8_13 A_9_13 A_10_13
A_0_14 A_1_14 A_2_14 A_3_14 A_4_14 A_5_14 A_6_14 A_7_14 A_8_14 A_9_14 A_10_14
Zagros Mountains
Euphrates
Tigris
A_1_0 A_2_0 A_3_0 A_4_0 A_5_0 A_6_0 A_7_0 A_8_0 A_9_0 A_10_0
A_0_1 A_1_1 A_2_1 A_3_1 A_4_1 A_5_1 A_6_1 A_7_1 A_8_1 A_9_1 A_10_1
A_0_2 A_1_2 A_2_2 A_3_2 A_4_2 A_5_2 A_6_2 A_7_2 A_8_2 A_9_2 A_10_2
A_0_3 A_1_3 A_2_3 A_3_3 A_4_3 A_5_3 A_6_3 A_7_3 A_8_3 A_9_3 A_10_3
A_0_4 A_1_4 A_2_4 A_3_4 A_4_4 A_5_4 A_6_4 A_7_4 A_8_4 A_9_4 A_10_4
A_0_5 A_1_5 A_2_5 A_3_5 A_4_5 A_5_5 A_6_5 A_7_5 A_8_5 A_9_5 A_10_5
A_0_6 A_1_6 A_2_6 A_3_6 A_4_6 A_5_6 A_6_6 A_7_6 A_8_6 A_9_6 A_10_6
Zagros Mountains
Euphrates
Tigris
A_1_7 A_2_7 A_3_7 A_4_7 A_5_7 A_6_7 A_7_7 A_8_7 A_9_7 A_10_7
A_1_8 A_2_8 A_3_8 A_4_8 A_5_8 A_6_8 A_7_8 A_8_8 A_9_8 A_10_8
A_0_9 A_1_9 A_2_9 A_3_9 A_4_9 A_5_9 A_6_9 A_7_9 A_8_9 A_9_9 A_10_9
A_0_10 A_1_10 A_2_10 A_3_10 A_4_10 A_5_10 A_6_10 A_7_10 A_8_10 A_9_10 A_10_10
A_0_11 A_1_11 A_2_11 A_3_11 A_4_11 A_5_11 A_6_11 A_7_11 A_8_11 A_9_11 A_10_11
A_0_12 A_1_12 A_2_12 A_3_12 A_4_12 A_5_12 A_6_12 A_7_12 A_8_12 A_9_12 A_10_12
A_0_13 A_1_13 A_2_13 A_3_13 A_4_13 A_5_13 A_6_13 A_7_13 A_8_13 A_9_13 A_10_13
A_0_14 A_1_14 A_2_14 A_3_14 A_4_14 A_5_14 A_6_14 A_7_14 A_8_14 A_9_14 A_10_14
Zagros Mountains
Euphrates
Tigris
A_1_0 A_2_0 A_3_0 A_4_0 A_5_0 A_6_0 A_7_0 A_8_0 A_9_0 A_10_0
A_0_1 A_1_1 A_2_1 A_3_1 A_4_1 A_5_1 A_6_1 A_7_1 A_8_1 A_9_1 A_10_1
A_0_2 A_1_2 A_2_2 A_3_2 A_4_2 A_5_2 A_6_2 A_7_2 A_8_2 A_9_2 A_10_2
A_0_3 A_1_3 A_2_3 A_3_3 A_4_3 A_5_3 A_6_3 A_7_3 A_8_3 A_9_3 A_10_3
A_0_4 A_1_4 A_2_4 A_3_4 A_4_4 A_5_4 A_6_4 A_7_4 A_8_4 A_9_4 A_10_4
A_0_5 A_1_5 A_2_5 A_3_5 A_4_5 A_5_5 A_6_5 A_7_5 A_8_5 A_9_5 A_10_5
A_0_6 A_1_6 A_2_6 A_3_6 A_4_6 A_5_6 A_6_6 A_7_6 A_8_6 A_9_6 A_10_6
Zagros Mountains
Euphrates
Tigris
 

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 Natufian culture

Start: 13000 BC
End: 7500 BC
Type: Culture
Capital: Shuqba cave
Language: possibly proto-Afro-Asiatic
Agriculture: Sedentary hunter-gatherer, cereal milling
Industry: Microlithic industry
Notes: Early pre-agricultural sedentary culture. The earliest known archaeological evidence of dog domestication. Lived in a proto-Jericho site. The worlds oldest brewery.

 Pre-Pottery Neolithic A

Start: 10000 BC
End: 8800 BC
Type: Archaeology

 Khiamian

Start: 10000 BC
End: 9500 BC
Type: Archaeology

 Pre-Pottery Neolithic B

Start: 8800 BC
End: 6500 BC
Type: Archaeology

 Neolithic Cyprus

Start: 8800 BC
End: 3800 BC
Type: Archaeology

 Çatalhöyük Culture

Start: 7500 BC
End: 5700 BC
Type: Culture
Capital: Çatalhöyük

 Ain Ghazal Culture

Start: 7250 BC
End: 5000 BC
Type: Culture

 Ubaid Period

Start: 6500 BC
End: 3800 BC
Type: Archaeology
Note: Eridu

 Hassuna culture

Start: 6500 BC
End: 6000 BC
Type: Culture

 Halaf culture

Start: 6100 BC
End: 5500 BC
Type: Culture
Note: Chalcolithic

 Samarra Culture

Start: 5500 BC
End: 4800 BC
Type: Culture

 Uruk period

Start: 4000 BC
End: 2900 BC
Type: Culture
Capital: Uruk
Script: cuneiform

 Proto Elamite

Start: 3200 BC
End: 2700 BC
Type: Dynasty
Note: Early Bronze Age
Script: Proto Elamite
 
The Ain Sakhri Lovers ⌕
   
NoteThe Ain Sakhri lovers, from Ain Sakhri, Judea.
Year9000 BC
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material:  Carved stone (calcite cobble)
Collection:  The British Museum
Licence:  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  British Museum
Image Note:  background cropped
Reference:  1958,1007.1
[1 of 0]
 
Plastered skull ⌕
   
NoteIsrael Museum, Jerusalem
Year9000 BC
Category: Other
Location: 
Material:  Skull,Plaster
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By Gary Todd - https://www.flickr.com/ph
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78713357
[1 of 0]
 
 
Pre pottery B Female figurine ⌕
   
NoteFemale and male figurines; 9000-7000 BC; gypsum with bitumen and stone inlays; from Tell Fekheriye (Al-Hasakah Governorate of Syria); University of Chicago Oriental Institute (USA)
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Tell Fekheriye (Sikkan)
Material: 
Collection:  University of Chicago Oriental Institute, USA
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By Sailko - Own work, CC BY 3.0
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65577180
[1 of 0]
Pre pottery B Male figurine ⌕
   
NoteFemale and male figurines; 9000-7000 BC; from Tell Fekheriye (Al-Hasakah Governorate of Syria); University of Chicago Oriental Institute (USA)
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Tell Fekheriye (Sikkan)
Material:  Gypsum with bitumen and stone in
Collection:  University of Chicago Oriental Institute, USA
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By Sailko - Own work, CC BY 3.0
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65577180
[2 of 0]
Venus figurine ⌕
   
NoteClay female human figurine (Fertility goddess) Tappeh Sarab, Kermanshah ca. 7000-6100 BC, Neolithic period, National Museum of Iran
Year7000 BC
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Tappeh Sarab
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By Nationalmuseumofiran - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63082270
[3 of 0]
 
Terracotta Female Head ⌕
   
NoteCYPRUS 7thC BC. Head of terracotta female figure.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Rhodes
Material:  Terracotta
Collection:  The British Museum
Licence:  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  British Museum
Image Note:  background cloned
Reference:  BM 1864,1007.1270
[1 of 0]
 
Seated Mother Goddess of Çatalhöyük ⌕
   
NoteSeated Mother Goddess / Venus from Catalhoyuk (Turkey), Neolithic age (about 6000-5500 BCE), today in Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. (wiki). Head is modern reconstruction.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Çatalhöyük
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By Nevit Dilmen (talk) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14783156
[1 of 0]
Wild bull horns ⌕
   
NoteWild bull horns on pillars in Building 77 at Çatalhöyük site.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Çatalhöyük
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  Jason Quinlan
Image Note: 
Reference:  http://www.catalhoyuk.com
[2 of 0]
Small female figurine ⌕
   
NoteSmall Mother Goddess / Venus figurine found at Çatalhöyük in 2008
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Çatalhöyük
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  Jason Quinlan
Image Note: 
Reference:  www.catalhoy
[3 of 0]
Statuette of a seated female nude ⌕
   
NoteStatuette of a seated nude from Çatalhöyük, one of the earliest examples representing the Mother Goddess.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Çatalhöyük
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference: 
[4 of 0]
 
Half human figure ⌕
   
NoteThis example, known to the BM as Micah, is one of many from the Ain Ghazal cache. The eyes are painted with bitumen and there is a green mineral pigment residue, dioptase.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Ain Ghazal
Material:  Lime plaster, reed armature
Collection:  The British Museum
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  Micah
[1 of 0]
Human figure ⌕
   
NoteThis example, known to the BM as Noah, is one of many from the Ain Ghazal cache. The eyes are painted with bitumen and there is a green mineral pigment residue, dioptase
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Ain Ghazal
Material:  Lime plaster, reed armature
Collection:  The British Museum
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  Noah
[2 of 0]
Human figure ⌕
   
NoteThis example, known to the BM as Heifa, is one of many from the Ain Ghazal cache. The eyes are painted with bitumen and there is a green mineral pigment residue, dioptase.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Ain Ghazal
Material:  Lime plaster, reed armature
Collection:  The British Museum
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  Heifa
[3 of 0]
Human figure ⌕
   
Note
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Ain Ghazal
Material:  Plaster
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference: 
[4 of 0]
 
Pottery jar ⌕
   
Note
Year
Category: Pottery
Location:  Tell al-Ubaid
Material: 
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By ALFGRN - https://www.flickr.com/photos/156915032@N07/33767005
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78172134
[1 of 0]
Pottery jar ⌕
   
Note
Year
Category: Pottery
Location:  Tell al-Ubaid
Material:  Clay
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By ALFGRN - https://www.flickr.com/photos/156915032@N07/33767005
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78172134
[2 of 0]
Pottery jar ⌕
   
Note
Year
Category: Pottery
Location:  Tell al-Ubaid
Material: 
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By ALFGRN - https://www.flickr.com/photos/156915032@N07/46728788
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78172135
[3 of 0]
 
Hassuna Ibex Decorated Bowl ⌕
   
NoteDecorated redware bowl with Ibexes. By United States Agency for International Development - United States Department of Defense, Public Domain.
Year
Category: Pottery
Location:  Hassuna
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By United States Agency for International Development
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45057599
[1 of 0]
 
Female figure ⌕
   
Notepainted terracotta Mother Goddess Figure / venus figurine.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Halaf
Material:  Terracotta
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  AO 21095, AO
[1 of 0]
Seated female figure ⌕
   
NoteClay Mother Goddess / Venus figurine.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Halaf
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference: 
[2 of 0]
Female figure ⌕
   
NoteMother Goddess Figure / venus figurine, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Halaf
Material:  Clay
Collection:  The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  48.2741
[3 of 0]
 
Female figurine ⌕
   
NoteFound in the Tell es Sawwan (middle Tigris, near Samarra), level 1, ca. 6000 BC.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Samarra
Material:  Alabaster
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By Unknown - Female_figurine_Tell_es_Sawwan_DAO33.jpg, Public Do
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15417770
[1 of 0]
 
Carved Jar ⌕
   
NoteEgg shaped stone jar with flat base; carved with two lions attacking bulls, with a scale pattern in 3 rows indicating the ground below; the neck is lost; two holes drilled opposite one another in the shoulder suggest that the jar may have been suspended.Rim and neck broken off.(BM)Late Uruk
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material:  Granite
Collection:  The British Museum
Licence:  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  British Museum
Image Note:  background cropped
Reference:  128886
[1 of 0]
Globular Clay Accountancy Envelope ⌕
   
NoteGlobular Accountancy clay envelope found with a cluster of accounting tokens. Example of Symbolic Technology. From the Tell of the Acropolis in Susa. Atlas 17360
Year
Category: Tool
Location:  Susa
Material:  Clay
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  Public Domain
[2 of 0]
The mask of Warka ⌕
   
NoteThe mask of Warka, from Warka (ancient Uruk), Iraq. Jemdet Nasr period The Iraq Museum, Baghdad. Image Cropped.
Year3000 BC
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Uruk
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg)
Image Note: 
Reference:  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
[3 of 0]
Cylinder seal ⌕
   
NoteThe king-priest and his acolyte feeding the sacred herd(wiki)
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material:  Limestone
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference: 
[4 of 0]
Limestone statuette of bearded man ⌕
   
NoteLimestone statuette of bearded man (possibly priest-king), Ancient Near East Gallery, Louvre.
Year3300 BC
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material: 
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication
[5 of 0]
Proto Cuneiform Tablet ⌕
   
NoteProto Cuneiform Tablet from Uruk III. Department of Oriental antiquities, Richelieu. Image cropped.
Year
Category: Writing
Location: 
Material:  Clay
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
[6 of 0]
 
Horned figure ⌕
   
NoteThis solid-cast sculpture is one of a pair of nearly identical images of a hero or a demon wearing the upturned boots associated with highland regions, his power enhanced by the mighty horns of the ibex on his head(NYM). more
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material:  Bronze
Collection:  New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
Licence:  CC0 1.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  New York Met
Image Note: 
Reference:  2007.280
[1 of 0]
Kneeling bull figurine ⌕
   
Notemore
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Susa
Material:  Silver
Collection:  New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
Licence:  CC0 1.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  New York Met
Image Note: 
Reference:  66.173
[2 of 0]
Statuette of a Monkey ⌕
   
Note
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material: 
Collection:  Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge MA
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference: 
[3 of 0]
Sialk ziggurat ⌕
   
NoteCAD rendering of Sialk ziggurat based on archeological evidence(wikipedia)
Year3000 BC
Category: Architecture
Location:  Tepe Sialk
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference: 
[4 of 0]
Anthropomorphic vessel ⌕
   
NoteNorthwestern Iran .Smithsonian museums, Washington DC, USA.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material: 
Collection:  Smithsonian Museums, Washington DC, USA
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  S1986.501
[5 of 0]