Breath of Heaven, Breath of Earth: Ancient Near Eastern Art from American Collections

Breath of Heaven, Breath of Earth: Ancient Near Eastern Art from American Collections encompasses the geographic regions of Mesopotamia, Syria and the Levant, and Anatolia and Iran, and explores several broad themes found in the art of the ancient Near East: gods and goddesses, men and women, and both real and supernatural animals. These art objects reveal a wealth of information about the people and cultures that produced them: their mythologies, religious beliefs, concepts of kingship, social structures, and daily lives.

Trudy Kawami is director of research at the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation in New York. John Olbrantz is the Maribeth Collins Director of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.