History of Art and Architecture

Met Museum Journal Publishes Article by Melissa Eppihimer

The recently published Volume 57 (2022) of the Metropolitan Museum Journal includes an article by Dr. Melissa Eppihimer: "New Evidence For the Origins of a Royal Copper Head From the Ancient Near East." In the article, Eppihimer critically reevaluates the ancient and modern history of a copper head in the The Met's collection. Using newly uncovered archival sources concerning the head's movement from Baghdad to New York City in the early 20th century, Eppihimer exposes a fiction at the heart of the head's modern reception—that it came from Iran. Having released the head from this Iranian origin story, she concludes, in part based on an excavated parallel from a site in Iraq, that the head is a rare surviving example of an early Mesopotamian royal statue in metal. Learn more about the article on The Met Publication's website.