Bichrome jar
Middle Bronze Age 1600-1500 BC, East and Southern Anatolia. This jar, decorated with black and red/orange painted geometric designs on cream slip belongs to a pottery group known as Painted Aras or Van-Urmiya Painted Ware. Additional to the geometric patterns, figurative patterns such as deer, mountain goats, a variety of birds and stylized human figures are often used as motives on these vessels. Van-Urmiye (sic) ceramics ared associated with the highland cultures of Eastern Anatolia and date back to the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. Most of the examples come from Armenia, Nakchivan, the western shore of the Lake Urmia and the Lake Van region. However, identical vessels were also found in recent excavations in the Batman region, south of the mountainous area. Most of the Eastern Anatolian jars were excavated in graves, but Batman jars were found in domestic contexts.