Pre-Achaemenid, Greek, Roman, Egyptian and ancient Asian art at the Miho Museum in Sigaraki, Japan.

Pre-Achaemenid, Greek, Roman, Egyptian and ancient Asian art at the Miho Museum in Sigaraki, Japan.
The Miho Museum is located southeast of Kyoto, Japan, near the town of Shigaraki. Among the objects in its 2,000-piece permanent collection are more than 1,200 objects that appear to have been produced in Achaemenid Central Asia. Some scholars have claimed these objects are part of the famous Oxus Treasure, lost shortly after its discovery in 1877 and rediscovered in Afghanistan in 1993, although both the Miho and British Museum's material from this period point to unique findspots. In addition to the Persian objects, the museum houses Roman, Greek, and Egyptian antiquties as well as art from ancient China, Japan, and southeast Asia.



Image: 1 ) Vessel with Bull Attacked by a Lion Pre-Achaemenid Period 8th-6th centuries BCE. The wounded bull is extremely serene, looking more as though the lion was embracing him. This vessel symbolizes the order of the cosmos, as the two animals represent water and fire. It may have been used in a secret ritual where holy liquid was sprinkled through the bull's nostrils. The same symbolism was also used in the palace of the later Persian capital of Persepolis. 2) Pre-Achaemenid Silver and Gold vessel in the form of a hero and Winged Bull. The contest scene of a hero a sword in his right hand, holding onto an animal or a supernatural beast from behind and with the left foot pressing down on the animal's body resemble those found on cylinder seals of Babylonia in the early 1st millennium B.C.E. Photos courtesy of the Miho Museum.

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