Mastiff in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, August 2008

Title: Mastiff

Period: Kassite

Date: mid 2nd Millennium BC

Geography: Mesopotamia

Medium: Ceramic, paint

Dimensions: 16.3 x 14.17 in. (41.4 x 35.99 cm)

Classification: Ceramics-Sculpture

Credit Line: Purchase, The Charles Engelhard Foundation Gift, 1989

Accession Number: 1989.233

On View

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/ancien...

and

Large-scale sculptures such as this may have been placed as guardians at temple entrances. The dog, in particular, was associated with Gula, the deity of the city of Isin and goddess of healing. The hole in the dog's head may have held a standard, as depicted on stamp and cylinder seals.

Text excerpted from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.