Download Ms. Sheets AP Art History University High School Unit 2

Ms. Sheets
AP Art History
University High School
Unit 2: Ancient Mesopotamia
Theme: “SBAP”
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SBAP is an acronym for Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Persian. This theme will help
you recall the chronological order of the Ancient Near East Cultures, and remember that the
dominant cultures in the Ancient Near East continually replaced one another.
Historical context:
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In Mesopotamia, Tigris and Euphrates are volatile rivers  gods who represent nature are
temperamental and punishing
Art was developed to support the state and religion
Artistic innovations:
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Painting/Sculpture: monumental sculpture (cities enable permanence); writing (Sumer;
cuneiform); animals with human characteristics and emotions; hybrid animals; hierarchy of
scale; deification of rulers
Architecture: mud was cheap and abundant; ziggurats; palaces; usually either painted or faced
with tile/stone; animals guard
Stone was expensive and wood was scarce; earth/dirt abundant
Images (must also memorize “Culture” for each art piece):
Sumerian:
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(12) White Temple and its ziggurat. 3,500 BCE (36th c. BCE). Mud-brick. Uruk, Iraq.
(14) Statues of votive figures from the Square Temple of Eshnunna. 2,700 BCE (27th c. BCE).
Tell Asmar, Iraq. Gypsum inlaid with shell and black limestone.
(16) Standard of Ur from the Royal Tombs at Ur. 2600 BCE (26th c. BCE). Wood inlaid with
shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone. Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq.
Babylonian:
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(19) Code of Hammurabi. Babylon. 1792 BCE (18th c. BCE). Basalt.
Assyrian:
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(25) Lamassu from the Citadel of Sargon II. 720 BCE (8th c. BCE). Alabaster. Khorsabad, Iraq.
Persian (559-331 BCE)
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(30) Apadana (audience hall) and stairway of Darius and Xerxes. 520 BCE (6th c. BCE).
Limestone. Persepolis, Iran.
Ms. Sheets
AP Art History
University High School
Terms:
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Apadana: audience hall in Persian palace
Citadel: fortress protecting a town
Cuneiform: wedge-shaped system of writing created by Sumerians
Façade: front of building
Ground plan: bird’s eye map of building
Hierarchy of scale/Hierarchical Perspective: a person’s importance relates to his size relative to
others in an artwork
Historical Narrative: A story or sequence of events that is (or purports) to be historically
accurate (also called Narrative Art)
Hybrid: two different things joined together (usually animal forms)
Intaglio (incised): a pattern that is carved into the material on which it appears
Lamassu: Assyrian winged human-headed bull; guardians
Register: A horizontal level of artwork that is delineated from other levels
Relief sculpture: figures project from a background of which they are a part. The degree of relief
is designated by 1) high; 2) low (bas); or 3) sunken/incised. In the last, the artist cuts the design
into the surface so that the highest projecting parts of the image are no higher than the surface
itself.
Stele (plural stelai): Stone slab used to mark a grave or site
Votive offering: a gift of gratitude to a deity
Ziggurat: pyramid-like building whose stories indent as building progresses upward
Short Responses:
1. Citing specific visual and contextual evidence, explain the function of the statues from Temple
of Eshnunna. What accounts for the variety of form and style that exists amongst the statues?
2. How did Mesopotamian kings use art and architecture to illustrate their power? Include at
least two examples from the AP 250 Image Set. In your discussion, be sure to include specific
visual and contextual evidence.