Ewer from the Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós (Height 23 cm, weight 733 g. A pitcher is a container with a spout used for pouring its contents The Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós (also called the Treasure of Sânnicolau Mare) is a valuable collection of twenty-three early medieval gold vessels found in )^[1]

Ancient Mesopotamia
Euphrates • Tigris
Cities / Empires
Sumer: Eridu • Kish • Uruk • Ur • Lagash • Nippur • Ngirsu
Elam: Susa
Akkadian Empire: Akkad • Mari
Amorites: Isin • Larsa
Babylonia: Babylon • Chaldea
Hittites • Kassites • Hurrians/Mitanni
Assyria: Assur • Nimrud • Dur-Sharrukin • Nineveh
Chronology
History of Mesopotamia
History of Sumer • Kings of Sumer
Kings of Assyria
Kings of Babylon
Mythology
Enûma Elish • Gilgamesh
Assyro-Babylonian religion
Language
Sumerian • Elamite
Akkadian • Aramaic
Hurrian • Hittite

Toreutics is the art of working metal^[2][3], by hammering gold or silver (or other materials), engraving, embossing and chasing to form minute detailed reliefs or small engraved patterns^[4]. Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת The Tigris is the eastern member of the two great Rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of southeastern Sumer ( Sumerian: sux-Latn [[Ki (earth ki]]-[[EN (cuneiform en]]-'''ĝir15''', Akkadian: Šumeru; possibly Biblical Shinar Eridu (URUNUNKI; Sumerian:eridug Akkadian: ?) from the Sumerian for 'mighty place' is modern Tell Abu Shahrain, Iraq Uruk ( URU UNUG, Sumerian: unug Akkadian: uruk) from the Akkadian rendering of the Sumerian Toponym 'unug' is modern Ur ( Sumerian:urim; Akkadian: ?) is modern Tell el-Mukayyar, Iraq, and was a city in ancient Sumer. Lagash ( is modern Tell al-Hiba, Iraq. Located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk Nippur (URUENLIL; Sumerian: Nibru Akkadian: Nibbur) from the Sumerian for 'lord wind' (Enlil is modern ? in Afak Al Qadisyah Ngirsu (cuneiform? Sumerian:Ĝirsu Akkadian: ?) is modern Tell Telloh, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, and it was a city of Elam is the name of an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest Iran. Susa ( Biblical שושן ( Shushan) also Greek: Σοῦσα Transliterated as Sousa; Latin Susa) Mari (modern Tell Hariri, Syria) was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Amorite ( Sumerian MARTU, Akkadian Tidnum or Amurrūm, Egyptian Amar, Hebrew ’emōrî Isin (modern Ishan al-Bahriyat was a city of lower Mesopotamia, which flourished during the 20th century BC. Larsa (also Larag or Larak, modern Tell as-Senkereh, Iraq, possibly the Biblical Ellasar) was an important city of Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) with Babylon as its capital Babylon was a City-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq Chaldea (from Greek grc Χαλδαία Chaldaia; Akkadian akk māt Kaldu Hebrew כשדים Kaśdim, "the Chaldees" of the The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established The Kassites were an Ancient Near Eastern tribe who gained control of Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire after ca The Hurrians (also Khurrites; cuneiform Ḫu-ur-ri 𒄷𒌨𒊑 were a people of the Ancient Near East, who lived in northern Mesopotamia Mitanni ( Hittite cuneiform, also Mittani) or Hanigalbat ( Assyrian Hanigalbat Khanigalbat cuneiform) Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Assur also spelled Ashur, from Assyrian Aššur, was one of the capitals of ancient Assyria. Nimrud is an ancient Assyrian city located south of Nineveh on the river Tigris. Dur-Sharrukin ("Fortress of Sargon" present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Nineveh ( Akkadian: Ninua; Aramaic: ܢܝܢܘܐ Hebrew נינוה Nīnewē; Arabic نينوى Naīnuwa) See Short chronology for a timeline in absolute dates The Chronology of the Ancient Near East is a framework of dates for Ancient Mesopotamia was settled and conquered by numerous ancient Civilizations. The history of Sumer, taken to include the prehistoric Ubaid and Uruk periods spans the 5th to 3rd millennia BC ending with the downfall of the Third The Sumerian king list is an ancient text in the Sumerian language that lists kings of Sumer from Sumerian and foreign dynasties The following is a list of the kings of Babylonia, a major city and empire in ancient lower Mesopotamia, compiled from the traditional Babylonian king lists and modern Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian Akkadian Assyrian and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris The akk Enûma Eliš is the Babylonian Creation myth (named for its Incipit) Gilgamesh was the son of Lugalbanda and the fifth king of Uruk (Early Dynastic II first dynasty of Uruk ruling circa 2600 BC according to the Sumerian king The pre- Christian religions of Babylonia and Assyria are the earliest attestation of Ancient Semitic religion, in particular Mesopotamian mythology Assyriology (from Greek grc Ἀσσυρίᾱ Assyriā; and grc -λογία -logia) is the archaeological historical and linguistic study Sumerian ( " native tongue " was the language of ancient Sumer, spoken in Southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC Elamite is an Extinct language, which was spoken by the ancient Elamites. Aramaic is a Semitic language with Hurrian is a conventional name for the language of the Hurrians (Khurrites a people who entered northern Mesopotamia around 2300 BC and had mostly Hittite or Nesili is the Extinct language once spoken by the Hittites, a people who created an empire centered on ancient Hattusas (modern Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen Embossing is the process of creating a three-dimensional image or design in Paper and other Ductile materials Toreutics can include metal-engraving - forward-pressure linear metal removal with a burin^[5]. Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it Burin from the French burin meaning "cold Chisel " has two specialised meanings for types of tools in English one meaning a Steel

Archeological background

Toreutics claims great antiquity^[6]. It was practised in the 'Bronze Age' and was well established centuries before the shaft graves^[7]. The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for A shaft tomb or shaft grave is a type of burial structure formed from a deep and narrow shaft sunk into natural rock Toreutics flourished to an unusual degree among the peoples of Asia Minor, Assyria, Babylon, and passed from thence to ancient Persia^[8]. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Babylon was a City-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq "Ancient" redirects here For other uses see Ancient_(disambiguation. The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia One spectacular example of the direct influence of Persia in toreutics is believed to be the Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós found in Transylvania in 1799, and considered to be work of Old Bulgarian^[9] gold smiths. The Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós (also called the Treasure of Sânnicolau Mare) is a valuable collection of twenty-three early medieval gold vessels found in Transylvania (Ardeal or ro ''Transilvania'' Erdély, see also other denominations) is a Central European region located in the eastern half of the Carpathian The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian It consists of 23 vessels and has been attributed to Attila's Huns^[10], the Avars^[11] and Pechenegs. Vessels are a Post-rock band from Leeds, UK. Vessels were born from the ashes of A Day Left in September 2005 The Huns were an early confederation of Central Asian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads with a Turkic core of aristocracy The Pechenegs or Patzinaks ( Turkish: Peçenekler, Hungarian: Besenyő, Greek: Patzinaki/Petsenegi or Πατζινάκοι/Πετσενέγοι/Πατζινακίται The majority of scholars however, consider it Bulgarian (Proto-Bulgarians^[12], Bulgars), because of its runic inscriptions^[13]. Bulgarian Culture is a mix mostly of Thracian, Slavic and Bulgar cultures but there are Byzantine, Turkish The Bulgars (also Bolgars or proto-Bulgarians) were a seminomadic people probably of Turkic descent originally from Central Asia, The Bulgars (also Bolgars or proto-Bulgarians) were a seminomadic people probably of Turkic descent originally from Central Asia,

Etymology

Toreutics comes from Greek -toreutikos^[14]: of metal work; from toreutos: worked in relief; from toreuein^[15]; to work in relief; from toreus: a boring tool; see terə- in Indo-European roots. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The roots of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language (PIE are basic Morphemes carrying a Lexical meaning The art of working metal or other materials by the use of embossing and chasing to form minute detailed reliefs. The origin of 'toreutics' goes back to 1830–40; < Gk toreutikós, equiv. to toreú(ein) to bore, chase, emboss (v. deriv. of toreús graving tool) -tikos.

Applications

• Persian-Sassanid^[16] style (Fig. 1), Christian toreutics^[17] (Fig. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth 2, 3), Folk craftsmanship (Fig. 4), Bulgaria
• Beaten copper^[18] (Tibet), Fig. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Definitions of Tibet See also Definitions of Tibet Name In English The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in most European 4, 5, 6
• Tsuba gold toreutics (1860) Mito school. The tsuba (鍔 is usually a round or occasionally squarish guard at the end of the grip of bladed Japanese weapons like the Katana and its various declinations

Figure 1. Toreutics on golden jug, Mogilan Mound, Vratsa, 4th century BC. Vratsa (also transliterated as Vraca or Vratza, in some languages with a W; Враца is a city in northwestern Bulgaria, at the	Figure 2. Toreutics on a liturgical book casing with Cyrillic inscriptions, 17th century. A liturgical book is a book published by the authority of a Church, that contains the text and directions for the Liturgy of its official Religious services The Cyrillic alphabet (səˈrɪlɪk also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters is actually a family of Alphabets, subsets of which are used by	Figure 3. Toreutics on plate from Chiprovtsi (Bulgaria), 18th century. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian	Figure 4. Toreutics on belt buckle, Plovdiv, (Bulgaria), 19th century. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian
Figure 3. Toreutics on the roof of Potala Palace (dragon head corner). The Potala Palace () is located in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China.	Figure 4. Dhvaja on the roof of Sanga Monastery. Dhvaja (Skt also Dhwaja Tib rgyal-msthan meaning banner or flag Sanga Monastery is a small Buddhist Monastery located in the vicinity of Lhasa, Tibet.	Figure 5. Praying weels in Tsozong Gongba Monastery. Tsozong Gongba Monastery (also Tsodzong or Tsomum 1400 AD meaning 'castle in a lake' is a small Sacred chapel of the Nyingma (Red tradition of Tibetan	Tsuba gold low-relief toreutics signed by Moritoshi (1834-1896), Dated, 1860. The tsuba (鍔 is usually a round or occasionally squarish guard at the end of the grip of bladed Japanese weapons like the Katana and its various declinations Mito school. Alfred Baur Cat. Alfred Baur (1865-1951 was born in Andelfingen Switzerland, ( Zurich) D1145.

See also

• Aesthetics
• History of decorative arts
• European art
• Preslav treasure
• Persian-Sassanide art patterns
• Goldsmith
• Shoami
• Umetada
• Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós
• Dhvaja

References