Hittite Drinking Vessels

The Vessel terminating in the forepart of a bull (no. 1989.281.11) found in Central Anatolia circa 15th-13th century B.C. was made of silver. This was a product of the Hittite culture. It is a horn shaped drinking vessel decorated as a bull with horns kneeling. The bull’s head is delicately molded focusing on details such as the bull’s eye lid creases and folded skin. The vessel was not only made to stand vertically as a cup using its horns as support but also sideways, as depicted in the museum, as a decorative display. The bull takes a very serious and stern stature, displaying a sense of nobility. The detailed craft of this vessels suggests that people not only discovered the possibility of creating silverware, but also mastered crafting
From brief research of the Hittite culture, “Hittite texts describe their gods as being given their own drinking vessels made in the form of their animal counterparts “. The selection of using a bull on this vessel may imply that this cup is made in the god’s honor. This shows that religion in this culture is tied to the lives and the arts of this community. When juxtaposing this to the Lamassu from 883-859 BCE, this drinking vessel really shows the improvements in artistic value and craftsmanship. The progression from a sculpture that is not- so realistic to a small vessel that is carved with fine details shows this culture’s artistic evolution. Also, the existence of bulls in both pieces shows the cultural significance of bulls in the Ancient Near East, as it is presented in objects of all different
from Egypt. The statue takes on the form of a lion head (but really looks more like a monkey) and the body of a human. The container is made of glazed ceramics and well-crafted with details of the lion’s mane. The lion has really humanistic eyes, nose, lips, and ears. In contrast to the previous object, this statue looks less noble in my opinion. As a statue of leonine feature it does not display the sort of intimidation a European leonine statue would display (in my opinion). This god displayed in the statue is also a “protective” god so it is put onto many personal belongings or furniture. The statue holds a cap of the container that is detachable so it could easily be refilled. The detachable container is an indication of the Egyptian’s knowledge of product design. The bottom human half of the statue displays fairly muscular indicating that there was a standard of beauty that expected males to be muscular and “manly”. The golden accessories the statue wears indicate that the owner of the container is of a status that can economically afford a more ornate accessory. In fact, having the contain made into something that’s more decorative, instead of utilitarian, says that the owner is decently well- off. The religious figure indicates that this culture is really religious, religious enough to have personal belongings made in the form of gods. When comparing this