Objects showing strong oriental influence in the large Etruscan tombs have been studied by many distinguished scholars writing over a long period of years and from many different standpoints—by Karo as a classical archaeologist and Lehmann-Haupt as an authority on Armenia, followed by Randall MacIver, Poulsen, Kunze, Schachermeyr, Herzfeld, Pareti, Curtis and Hanfmann. Nor must the pioneer work of Herzfeld on Urartu and Etruria be forgotten. Among the many Italian scholars working in the wider field of Etruscan studies we are especially indebted to the work of Giglioli, Minto and Pallotino. But certain basic problems still remain to be solved and in the light of the recent invaluable studies by Barnett on Urartian metalwork we can hope that an approach from a purely oriental angle may be able to make a new contribution to answering these questions, and may possibly supplement the suggestions concerning the chronology of these tombs recently published by Professor Hawkes.