No remarkable specimens of metallurgic art from early Assyria have been found, but at a later epoch, great excellence was attained in the manufacture of such jewellery as earrings and bracelets of gold.

It is characterized by a long tradition of canonized images and motifs rearranged, while still being recognizable, by artists to convey meaning to a largely illiterate population.

Scholars do have difficulty dating a large portion of Hittite art, citing the fact that there is a lack of inscription and much of the found material, especially from burial sites, was moved from their original locations and distributed among museums during the nineteenth century.

[citation needed] Monumental urban centres, palaces, and cultic buildings were uncovered, notably at Gonur-depe in Turkmenistan.

The Harappan settlement of Shortugai in Northern Afghanistan on the banks of the Amu Darya probably served as a trading station.

Wearing large stylized dresses with puffed sleeves, as well as headdresses that merge with the hair, they embody the ranking goddess, a character of the central Asian mythology that plays a regulatory role, pacifying the untamed forces.

The preferred materials are chlorite (or similar dark green stones), a whitish limestone or mottled alabaster, or marine shells from the Indian Ocean.

[7] Cyrus the Great in fact had an extensive ancient Iranian heritage behind him; the rich Achaemenid gold work, which inscriptions suggest may have been a specialty of the Medes, was for instance in the tradition of earlier sites.

There are a number of very fine pieces of jewellery or inlay in precious metal, also mostly featuring animals, and the Oxus Treasure has a wide selection of types.

Phoenicians who were taught on the banks of the Nile and the Euphrates gained a wide artistic experience and finally came to create their own art, which was an amalgam of foreign models and perspectives.

[8] In an article from The New York Times published on January 5, 1879, Phoenician art was described by the following: He entered into other men's labors and made most of his heritage.

The rosettes and other patterns of the Babylonian cylinders were introduced into the handiwork of Phoenicia, and so passed on to the West, while the hero of the ancient Chaldean epic became first the Tyrian Melkarth, and then the Herakles of Hellas.The art of Pre-Islamic Arabia is related to that of neighbouring cultures.

[citation needed] During the late fourth millennium BC permanent settlements began to appear, and inhabitants adjusted to the emerging dryer conditions.

These societies used a combination of trade in spices and the natural resources of the region, including aromatics such as frankincense and myrrh, to build wealthy kingdoms.

This impenetrability to foreign armies doubtless augmented ancient rulers' bargaining power in the spice and incense trade.

The human figure is typically based on strong, square shapes, the fine modeling of detail contrasting with a stylized simplicity of form.

To clearly define the social hierarchy of a situation, figures were drawn to sizes that were based not on their distance from the painter's perspective but on relative importance.

Ancient Egyptian artists often show a sophisticated knowledge of anatomy and close attention to detail, especially in their renderings of animals.

Faience that was produced in ancient Egyptian antiquity as early as 3500 BC was in fact superior to the tin-glazed earthenware of the European 15th century.

The greatest civilization of the Bronze Age was that of the Minoans, a mercantilist people who built a trading empire from their homeland of Crete and from other Aegean islands.

In the early Minoan period, ceramics were characterized by spirals, triangles, curved lines, crosses, and fishbone motifs.

The Palace at Knossos was decorated with frescoes that showed aspects of daily life, including court rituals and entertainment such as bull-leaping and boxing.

The famous "Malia Pendant" of the Minoan times, found at Chryssolakkos and now on display at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, is an example of high-quality gold-smithery.

Particularly strong in this tradition were figurative sculpture in terracotta (especially life-size on sarcophagi or temples), wall painting, and metalworking, especially in bronze.

[21] Etruscan sculpture in cast bronze was famous and widely exported, but relatively few large examples have survived (the material was too valuable, and recycled later).

The great majority of survivals came from tombs, which were typically crammed with sarcophagi and grave goods, and terracotta fragments of architectural sculpture, mostly around temples.

The first sculptures in India date back to the Indus Valley civilization some 5,000 years ago when small stone carvings and bronze castings have been discovered.

Later, as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism developed further, India produced some of the most intricate bronzes in the world, as well as unrivaled temple carvings, some in huge shrines, such as the one at Ellora.

This tradition was carried into the subsequent Han dynasty, although their tombs contained miniature versions of the soldiers in addition to domestic servants to serve rulers and nobility in the afterlife.

Chinese art arguably shows more continuity between ancient and modern periods than that of any other civilization, as even when foreign dynasties took the Imperial throne they did not impose new cultural or religious habits and were relatively quickly assimilated.