The Achaemenid Persian Lion Rhyton (in Persian:"تکوک شیر غران") is an ancient artifact related to Achaemenians. Persia - Achaemenian Vessels

rhyton A rhyton (plural rhytons or, following the Greek plural, rhyta) is a roughly conical container from which fluids were intended to be drunk or to be poured in some ceremony such as libation, or merely at table. A rhyton is typically formed in t ...

is a kind of vessel which normally terminates in the shape of an animal's head or horns. These vessels were common in the Near East and ancient Greece. Early Iranians used rhyta with an animal head at the end of the vessel; later in the Achaemenid period the animal part of the rhyton was usually located in front of it and at a 90 degree angle to the vessel. The rhyton was created in circa 500 B.C by some estimates. It is 6.7 in. height (about 17 cm.) and is constructed entirely from gold. The different parts of the artefact are joined together by

soldering Soldering (; ) is a process in which two or more items are joined by melting and putting a filler metal (solder) into the joint, the filler metal having a lower melting point than the adjoining metal. Unlike welding, soldering does not involv ...

, done so skilfully as to leave no obvious marks. This lion head creature was found by Fletcher Fund in 1954 in southwest

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and is now located in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York City, United States."Vessel terminating in the forepart of a lion

ran Ran, RaN and ran may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ran'' (film), a 1985 film directed by Akira Kurosawa * "Ran" (song), a 2013 Japanese song by Luna Sea * '' Ran Online'', a 2004 MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) * ...

(54.3.3) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/54.3.3. (October 2006)

References

{{Achaemenid Empire Archaeology of the Achaemenid Empire Persian art Gold objects 1954 in Iran Archaeological discoveries in Iran 1954 archaeological discoveries