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Document Details :

Title: A Gold Plaque from Kaman-Kalehöyük and the 'Lion-Dragon' Motif
Author(s): OMURA, Masako
Journal: Anatolica
Volume: 41    Date: 2015   
Pages: 9-21
DOI: 10.2143/ANA.41.0.3127286

Abstract :
A gold plaque crumpled in a lump was found in a room dated to the Period of Assyrian Trade Colonies at Kaman-Kalehöyük in 2010. The gold sheet was partially unfolded and a proposed restoration drawn. Although the upper part of the plaque is missing, the design cut out of gold sheet is thought to be a composition of a lion-dragon standing on its hind legs with a fawn at its feet, all enclosed within a frame. The motif of the lion-dragon is one of the subjects brought to Anatolian art from Mesopotamia in the early phase of the second millennium B.C. The lion-dragons observed on seal impressions from Karum Kanesh are in the tradition of Sumerian and Akkadian art in their forms and concepts. The gold plaque from Kaman-Kalehöyük offers another example of the lion-dragon and the nature of Mesopotamian influence on Anatolian art.

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