Editing British Museum (section)

===Department of the Middle East===

[[File:BM; RM7 - ANE, Nineveh Palace Reliefs Southwest Palace of Sennacherib (701-681 B.C) ~ Full Elevation + Viewing South.4.JPG|thumb|Room 9 – [[Assyrian palace reliefs]], [[Nineveh]], 701–681 BC]]
With a collection numbering some 330,000 works,<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/middle_east/research.aspx| title=British Museum – Research| work=britishmuseum.org| access-date=22 July 2016| archive-date=20 March 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320041819/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/middle_east/research.aspx| url-status=live}}</ref> the British Museum possesses the world's largest and most important collection of [[Mesopotamia]]n antiquities outside [[Iraq]]. A collection of immense importance, the holdings of [[Assyrian sculpture]], [[Babylonia]]n and [[Sumer]]ian antiquities are among the most comprehensive in the world with entire suites of rooms panelled in alabaster [[Assyrian palace reliefs]] from [[Nimrud]], [[Nineveh]] and [[Khorsabad]].

The collections represent the civilisations of the [[ancient Near East]] and its adjacent areas. These cover [[Mesopotamia]], [[Iran|Persia]], the [[Arabian Peninsula]], [[Anatolia]], the [[Caucasus]], parts of [[Central Asia]], [[Syria]], the [[Holy Land]] and [[Phoenicia]]n settlements in the western [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] from the [[Prehistory|prehistoric period]] and include objects from the 7th century.

The first significant addition of [[Mesopotamian]] objects was from the collection of [[Claudius James Rich]] in 1825. The collection was later dramatically enlarged by the excavations of [[Austen Henry Layard|A. H. Layard]] at the [[Assyria]]n sites of [[Nimrud]] and [[Nineveh]] between 1845 and 1851. At Nimrud, Layard discovered the North-West Palace of [[Ashurnasirpal II]], as well as three other palaces and various temples. He later uncovered the Palace of [[Sennacherib]] at Nineveh with 'no less than seventy-one halls'. As a result, a large numbers of [[Lamassu]]s, palace reliefs, [[Stele|stelae]], including the [[Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III]], were brought to the British Museum.
[[File:A pair of lamassus from the Throne Room, Room B, of the North-West Palace at Nimrud, Iraq, 9th century BC. The British Museum.jpg|thumb|left|Room 6 – Pair of [[Lamassu|Human Headed Winged Lions]] and reliefs from [[Nimrud]] with the [[Balawat Gates]], {{Circa|860 BC}}]]

Layard's work was continued by his assistant, [[Hormuzd Rassam]] and in 1852–1854 he went on to discover the North Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh with many magnificent reliefs, including the famous [[Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal]] and [[Lachish relief]]s. He also discovered the [[Library of Ashurbanipal|Royal Library of Ashurbanipal]], a large collection of [[Cuneiform script|cuneiform]] [[Clay tablet|tablets]] of enormous importance that today number around 130,000 pieces. [[William Loftus (archaeologist)|W. K. Loftus]] excavated in Nimrud between 1850 and 1855 and found a remarkable hoard of [[Nimrud ivories|ivories]] in the Burnt Palace. Between 1878 and 1882 Rassam greatly improved the museum's holdings with exquisite objects including the [[Cyrus Cylinder]] from [[Babylon]], the bronze gates from [[Balawat]], important objects from [[Sippar]], and a fine collection of [[Urartu|Urartian]] bronzes from [[Toprakkale (castle)|Toprakkale]] including a copper figurine of a winged, human-headed bull.

In the early 20th century excavations were carried out at [[Carchemish]], Turkey by [[David George Hogarth|D. G. Hogarth]] and [[Leonard Woolley]], the latter assisted by [[T. E. Lawrence]]. The Mesopotamian collections were greatly augmented by excavations in southern Iraq after [[World War I]]. From [[Ubaid period|Tell al-Ubaid]] came the bronze furnishings of a [[Sumer]]ian temple, including life-sized lions and a panel featuring the lion-headed eagle Indugud found by [[Henry Hall (Egyptologist)|H. R. Hall]] in 1919–24. Woolley went on to excavate [[Ur]] between 1922 and 1934, discovering the Royal Cemeteries of the 3rd millennium BC. Some of the masterpieces include the [[Standard of Ur]], the [[Ram in a Thicket]], the [[Royal Game of Ur]], and two bull-headed [[lyres]]. The department also has three [[diorite]] statues of the ruler [[Statues of Gudea|Gudea]] from the ancient state of [[Lagash]] and a series of limestone [[kudurru]] or boundary stones from different locations across ancient [[Mesopotamia]].

[[File:London 307.JPG|thumb|Room 52 – Ancient Iran with the [[Cyrus Cylinder]], 559–530 BC]]
Although the collections centre on Mesopotamia, most of the surrounding areas are well represented. The [[Achaemenid]] collection was enhanced with the addition of the [[Oxus Treasure]] in 1897 and objects excavated by the German scholar [[Ernst Herzfeld]] and the Hungarian-British explorer [[Marc Aurel Stein|Sir Aurel Stein]]. Reliefs and sculptures from the site of [[Persepolis]] were donated by Sir [[Gore Ouseley]] in 1825 and the [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 5th Earl of Aberdeen|5th Earl of Aberdeen]] in 1861 and the museum received part of a pot-hoard of jewellery from [[Pasargadae]] as the division of finds in 1963 and part of the [[Ziwiye hoard]] in 1971. A large column base from the [[Persepolis#The Throne Hall|One Hundred Column Hall]] at Persepolis was acquired in exchange from the [[Oriental Institute (Chicago)|Oriental Institute]], Chicago. Moreover, the museum has been able to acquire one of the greatest assemblages of Achaemenid [[Household silver|silverware]] in the world. The later [[Sasanian Empire]] is also well represented by ornate silver plates and cups, many representing ruling monarchs hunting lions and deer. Phoenician antiquities come from across the region, but the [[Tharros]] collection from [[Sardinia]], the hoard of about 150 [[Phoenician metal bowls|metal bowls]] and hundreds of [[Nimrud ivories|ivories]] from Nimrud, Phœnician inscriptions from Carthage including the [[Son of Baalshillek marble base]], the [[Carthage Tariff]] and the [[Carthage tower model]] and the many punic stelae from [[Carthage]] and [[Maghrawa]] in Tunisia (such as the {{ill|Ghorafa stelae|fr|Stèles de La Ghorfa}}) are outstanding. The number of [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] inscriptions from sites across [[Cyprus]] is also considerable, and include artefacts found at the [[Kition Necropolis Phoenician inscriptions|Kition necropolis]] (with the two [[Kition Tariffs]] having the longest Phoenician inscription discovered on the island), the [[Idalion Temple inscriptions|Idalion temple site]] and [[Tamassos bilinguals|two bilingual pedestals]] found at [[Tamassos]]. Another often overlooked highlight is [[Ancient history of Yemen|Yemeni]] antiquities, the finest collection outside that country. Furthermore, the museum has a representative collection of [[Dilmun]] and [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] material excavated from various burial mounds at the ancient sites of [[A'ali]] and [[Shakhura]] (that included a Roman ribbed glass bowl) in Bahrain.

From the modern state of [[Syria]] come almost forty funerary busts from [[Palmyra]] and a group of stone [[reliefs]] from the excavations of [[Max von Oppenheim]] at [[Tell Halaf]] that was purchased in 1920. More material followed from the excavations of [[Max Mallowan]] at [[Chagar Bazar]] and [[Tell Brak]] in 1935–1938 and from Woolley at [[Alalakh]] in the years just before and after [[World War II]]. Mallowan returned with his wife [[Agatha Christie]] to carry out further digs at Nimrud in the postwar period which secured many [[Nimrud Ivories|important artefacts]] for the museum. The collection of [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] material was strengthened by the work of [[Kathleen Kenyon]] at [[Tell es-Sultan]] (Jericho) in the 1950s and the acquisition in 1980 of around 17,000 objects found at [[Lachish]] by the Wellcome-Marston expedition of 1932–1938. Archaeological digs are still taking place where permitted in the Middle East, and, depending on the country, the museum continues to receive a share of the finds from sites such as {{ill|Tell es Sa'idiyeh|de|Tell es-Sa'idiyeh}} in Jordan.

The museum's collection of [[Islamic art]], including archaeological material, numbers about 40,000 objects,<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.discoverislamicart.org/pm_partner.php?id=Mus01;uk&type=museum&theme=ISL&| title=Museum With No Frontiers| publisher=Discover Islamic Art| access-date=4 July 2010| archive-date=10 May 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510083927/http://www.discoverislamicart.org/pm_partner.php?id=Mus01;uk&type=museum&theme=ISL&| url-status=live}}</ref> one of the largest of its kind in the world. As such, it contains a broad range of pottery, paintings, tiles, metalwork, glass, seals, and inscriptions from across the Islamic world, from Spain in the west to India in the east. It is particularly famous for its collection of [[İznik pottery|Iznik]] ceramics (the largest in the world), its large number of [[mosque lamp]]s including one from the [[Dome of the Rock]], mediaeval metalwork such as the Vaso Vescovali with its depictions of the [[Zodiac]], a fine selection of [[astrolabes]], and [[Mughal paintings]] and precious artwork including a large [[Jade Terrapin from Allahabad|jade terrapin]] made for the emperor [[Jahangir]]. Thousands of objects were excavated after the war by professional archaeologists at Iranian sites such as [[Siraf]] by [[David Whitehouse]] and [[Alamut Castle]] by Peter Willey. The collection was augmented in 1983 by the [[Frederick DuCane Godman|Godman]] bequest of Iznik, [[Hispano-Moresque]] and early Iranian pottery. Artefacts from the Islamic world are on display in Gallery 34 of the museum.

A representative selection from the Department of Middle East, including the most important pieces, are on display in 13 galleries throughout the museum and total some 4,500 objects. A whole suite of rooms on the ground floor display the sculptured reliefs from the Assyrian palaces at Nineveh, Nimrud and Khorsabad, while 8 galleries on the upper floor hold smaller material from ancient sites across the Middle East. The remainder form the study collection which ranges in size from beads to large sculptures. They include approximately 130,000 [[Cuneiform script|cuneiform]] [[Clay tablet|tablets]] from Mesopotamia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/middle_east/history_of_the_collection.aspx |title=History of the Collection: Middle East |work=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=15 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215200239/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/middle_east/history_of_the_collection.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

Highlights of the collections include:

'''[[Nimrud]]:'''
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'''[[Assyrian palace reliefs]] from:'''
* The North-West Palace of [[Ashur-nasir-pal II|Ashurnasirpal II]] (883–859 BC)
* Palace of [[Adad-nirari III]] (811–783 BC)
* The Sharrat-Niphi Temple ({{circa|9th century BC}})
* Temple of [[Ninurta]] ({{circa|9th century BC}})
* South-East Palace ('Burnt Palace') (8th–7th century BC)
* Central- Palace of [[Tiglath-Pileser III]] (745–727 BC)
* South-West Palace of [[Esarhaddon]] (681–669 BC)
* The [[Nabu]] Temple (Ezida) ({{circa|7th century BC}})
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'''Sculptures and inscriptions:'''
* Pair of Human Headed [[Lamassu]] Lions (883–859 BC)
* Human Headed Lamassu Bull, sister piece in [[Metropolitan Museum of Art|The Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (883–859 BC)
* Human Headed Lamassu Lion, sister piece in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (883–859 BC)
* Colossal Statue of a Lion (883–859 BC)
* Foundation tablet of [[Ashurnasirpal II]] from the Temple of [[Ishtar]] (875–865 BC)
* Rassam Obelisk of [[Ashurnasirpal II]] (873–859 BC)
* [[Stela of Ashurnasirpal II|Stela]] and [[Statue of Ashurnasirpal II|Statue]] of King [[Ashurnasirpal II]] (883–859 BC)
* The [[Black Obelisk]] of [[Shalmaneser III]] (858–824 BC)
* [[Stela of Shamshi-Adad V]] (824–811 BC)
* Rare Head of Human Headed 'Lamassu', recovered from the North-West Palace (811–783 BC)
* Pair of statues of attendant god dedicated to [[Nabu]] by [[Adad-Nirari III]] and [[Sammuramat]] (810–800 BC)
* Bilingual [[Assyrian lion weights]] with both cuneiform and Phoenician inscriptions (800–700 BC)
* Large sculpture of a male bearded head from a [[Lamassu]] with inscription dedicated to [[Esarhaddon]] (670 BC)
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;'''[[Nineveh]]:'''
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'''[[Assyrian palace reliefs]] and sculptures from:'''
* South-West Palace of [[Sennacherib]] (705–681 BC)
* North-Palace of [[Ashurbanipal]] ({{circa|645 BC}}), including the ''[[Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal]]'' and [[Lachish relief]]
* The famous ''Garden Party'' Relief (645 BC)
* Statue of a [[Assyrian statue (BM 124963)|nude woman]] (11th century BC)
* Broken Obelisk of [[Ashur-bel-kala]], the earliest known Assyrian [[obelisk]] (11th century BC)
* [[White Obelisk of Ashurnasirpal I]] (1050–1031 BC)
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'''[[Library of Ashurbanipal|Royal Library]] of [[Ashurbanipal]]:'''
* A large collection of [[Cuneiform script|cuneiform]] [[Clay tablet|tablets]] of enormous importance, approximately 22,000 inscribed clay tablets (7th century BC)
* The [[Gilgamesh flood myth|Flood Tablet]], relating part of the famous ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' (7th century BC)
* [[Sennacherib's Annals|Taylor Prism]], hexagonal clay foundation record (691 BC)
* [[Rassam cylinder]] with ten faces, that describes the military campaigns of king [[Ashurbanipal]] (643 BC)
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;Other Mesopotamian sites:
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'''[[Khorsabad]] and [[Balawat]]:'''
* Alabaster bas-reliefs from the Palace of [[Sargon II]] (710–705 BC)
* Pair of Human Headed Winged [[Lamassu]] Bulls (710–705 BC)
* The [[Balawat Gates]] of [[Shalmaneser III]] (860 BC)
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;'''[[Ur]]:'''
* The [[Standard of Ur]] with depictions of war and peace (2600 BC)
* [[Lyres of Ur|Queen's Lyre]] and gold drinking cup from Queen [[Puabi]]'s tomb (2600 BC)
* The [[Ram in a Thicket]], one of pair, the other is in [[University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology|Philadelphia]] (2600–2400 BC)
* [[Royal Game of Ur|The Royal Game of Ur]], an ancient game board (2600–2400 BC)
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;'''Wider collection:'''
* [[Plastered human skull]] from Jericho, a very early form of portraiture, Palestine (7000–6000 BC)
* [[Tell Brak Head]], one of the oldest portrait busts from the Middle East, north east Syria (3500–3300 BC)
* [[Uruk Trough]], one of the earliest surviving works of narrative relief sculpture from the Middle East, southern Iraq (3300–3000 BC)
* Pair of inscribed stone objects known as the [[Blau Monuments]] from [[Uruk]], Iraq (3100–2700 BC)
* [[Tell el-Ajjul gold hoards|Hoard]] of [[Bronze Age]] gold jewellery found at the [[Canaan]]ite site of [[Tell al-Ajjul|Tell el-Ajjul]] in [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]] (1750–1550 BC)
* [[Statue of Idrimi]] from the ancient city of Alalakh, southern Turkey (1600 BC)
* [[Bronze]] bowl and ivory cosmetic box in the shape of a fish from Tell es-Sa'idiyeh, Jordan (1250–1150 BC)
* Group of 16 stone reliefs from the palace of King [[Kapara]] at [[Tell Halaf]], northern Syria (10th century BC)
* [[Tablet of Shamash]], depicting the sun-god Shamash, from Sippar, Iraq (early 9th century BC)
* [[Hittites|Hittite]] lion head from the monument to King [[Katuwa]] at [[Carchemish]], southern Turkey (9th century BC)
* Two large [[Kurkh Monoliths|Assyrian stelae]] from Kurkh, southern Turkey (850 BC)
* Seated statue of Kidudu or guardian spirit from the Assyrian city of [[Assur]] under [[Shalmaneser III]], Iraq (835 BC)
* Basalt bowl with engraved inscription in [[Hieroglyphic Luwian]] found at [[Babylon]], southern Iraq (8th century BC)
* [[Babylonian Chronicles]], series of tablets recording major events in Babylonian history, [[Babylon]], Iraq (8th–3rd centuries BC) 
* [[Shebna Inscription]] from [[Siloam]] near Jerusalem (7th century BC)
* Group of 4 bronze shields with inscription of king [[Rusa III]] from the temple of [[Khaldi (god)|Khaldi]] at the [[Urartu|Urartian]] fortress of [[Toprakkale (castle)|Toprakkale]], eastern Turkey (650 BC)
* [[East India House Inscription]] from [[Babylon]], Iraq (604–562 BC)
* [[Lachish letters|Lachish Letters]], group of [[ostraka]] written in alphabetic Hebrew from [[Lachish]], Israel (586 BC)
* [[Cylinders of Nabonidus|Cylinder of Nabonidus]], foundation cylinder of King [[Nabonidus]], Sippar, Iraq (555–540 BC)
* The famous [[Oxus Treasure]], the largest ancient Persian hoard of gold artefacts (550–330 BC)
* [[Jar of Xerxes I]], alabaster [[alabastron]] with [[quadrilingual]] signature of [[Achaemenid]] ruler [[Xerxes I]], found in the ruins of the [[Mausoleum of Halicarnassus]], Turkey (486–465 BC)
* [[Idalion bilingual|Idalion Bilingual]], bilingual Cypriot-[[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] inscription, key to the decipherment of the&nbsp;[[Cypriot syllabary]], [[Idalion]], Cyprus (388 BC)
* [[Punic-Libyan Inscription]] from the [[Libyco-Punic Mausoleum of Dougga|Mausoleum of Ateban]], key to the [[decipherment]] of the [[Numidian language]], [[Dougga]], Tunisia (146 BC)
* [[Amran Tablets]] found near Sana'a, Yemen (1st century BC)
* One of the pottery storage jars containing the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] found in a cave near [[List of manuscripts from Qumran Cave 1|Qumran]], Jordan (4 BC – 68 AD)
* Two limestone [[ossuary|ossuaries]] from [[Cave of Nicanor|caves]] in Jerusalem (1st century AD)
* Fragment of a carved basalt [[architrave]] depicting a lion's head from the [[Temple of Garni]], Armenia (1st century AD)
* Group of boulders with [[Safaitic]] inscriptions from Jordan/Syria, one of which was donated by [[Gertrude Bell]] (1st–2nd centuries AD)
* [[Parthian Empire|Parthian dynasty]] gold belt-buckle with central [[repoussé]] figure of eagle with outstretched wings from [[Nihavand]], Iran (1st–3rd centuries AD)
* Silver bowl from [[Khwarezm]] depicting a [[Nana (Kushan goddess)|four-armed goddess]] seated on a lion, Kazakhstan, (658 AD)
* One of the rare [[Hedwig glass]]es, originating from the Middle East or Norman Sicily (10th–12th centuries AD)
* Hoard of [[Seljuq dynasty|Seljuq]] artefacts from [[Hamadan]] including gold cup, silver gilt belt fittings and dress accessories, Iran (11th–12th centuries)
* [[Islamic]] brass ewers with engraved decoration and inlaid with silver and copper from [[Herat]], Afghanistan and [[Mosul]], Iraq (12th–13th centuries AD)

<gallery widths="190px" heights="190px">
File:Raminathicket2.jpg|Room 56 – The '[[Ram in a Thicket]]' figure, one of a pair, from [[Ur]], Southern Iraq, {{circa|2600 BC}}
File:Standard of Ur - War.jpg|Room 56 – The famous '[[Standard of Ur]]', a hollow wooden box with scenes of war and peace, from [[Ur]], {{circa|2600 BC}}
File:British Museum Middle east 14022019 Panel Imdugud 2500 BC 3640.jpg|Room 56 - [[Tell al-'Ubaid Copper Lintel|Sculpture of the god Imdugud]], lion-headed eagle surmounting a lintel made from sheets of copper, Temple of Ninhursag at [[Tell al-'Ubaid]], Iraq, {{circa|2500 BC}}
File:Statue Kurlil BM WA114207.jpg|Room 56 - Statue of Kurlil, from the Temple of [[Ninhursag]] in Tell al-'Ubaid, southern Iraq, {{circa|2500 BC}}
File:Ishtar goddess.jpg|Room 56 – The famous Babylonian '[[Burney Relief|Queen of the Night relief]]' of the goddess [[Ishtar]], Iraq, {{circa|1790 BC}}
File:Carved ivory depicting a woman at a window.jpg|Room 57 - Carved ivory object from the [[Nimrud Ivories]], Phoenician, Nimrud, Iraq, 9th–8th century BC
File:Jehu-on-Obelisk-of-Shalmaneser.jpg|Room 6 – Depiction of the hypocrite, [[Jehu]], King of Israel on the [[Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III]], Nimrud, c. 827 BC
File:Winged Human-headed Bulls.JPG|Room 10 – [[Lamassu|Human Headed Winged Bulls]] from [[Khorsabad]], companion pieces in the [[Musée du Louvre]], Iraq, 710–705 BC
File:BM; ANE - RM 55, Cuneiform Tablets Display.1.JPG|Room 55 – Cuneiform Collection, including the [[Epic of Gilgamesh]], Iraq, {{circa|669}}–631 BC
File:Dying Lion.R.jpg|Room 55 – ''[[Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal]]'' (detail), [[Nineveh]], Neo-Assyrian, Iraq, {{circa|645 BC}}
File:BabylonLion-BM.JPG|Room 55 - Panel with striding lion made from glazed bricks, Neo-Babylonian, [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], Southern Iraq, 604–562 BC

File:Britishmuseumoxustreasuregoldchariotmodel.jpg|Room 52 – A chariot from the [[Oxus Treasure]], the most important surviving collection of [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Persian]] metalwork, c. 5th to 4th centuries BC
File:Decorated column base from Persepolis.jpg|Great Court - Decorated column base from Hundred Column Hall, [[Persepolis]], 470–450 BC
File:Bmane2002-1-114,1.jpg|Room 53 - Stela said to come from Tamma' cemetery, [[Yemen]], 1st century AD
File:British Museum Yemen 07d.jpg|Room 53 - [[Alabaster]] statue of a standing female figure, Yemen, 1st-2nd centuries AD
File:Brass box BM 1878 12-30 674.jpg|Room 34 - Cylindrical lidded box with an Arabic inscription recording its manufacture for the ruler of Mosul, [[Badr al-Din Lu'lu']], Iraq, {{Circa|1233}} – 1259 AD
</gallery>