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The Ancient Near East
Mesopotamia
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Neolithic Era
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9000-4500/4000BC
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Art History
Vincent Baldassano
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Ancient Near
East
Farming began in the Middle East in an area
called the Fertile Crescent
Development of agriculture-irrigation
systems (People noticed that seeds which
had fallen on the ground grew into plants.
They began to collect the seeds and plant
them on purpose. The first crops grown
were wheat and barley)
Neolithic Era
Ancient Near East (con’t)
Domestication of sheep and goats
Earliest cities in Mesopotamia
Copper smelting developed
Development of complex urban societies
Urban planning
Mud-brick mainstay of architecture
Key Visual Art Historical Monuments
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Babylon
 Stele- Law of Hammurabi-1792- 1750 BC, Basalt (stone) 7 feet by 28
inches
Anatolia (Turkey)
 The Hittites
 Hittite War God, from Kings Gate, Hattusas Boghazkoy,
Turkey, 1400BC, 6 feet , 6 inches high
Assyrian
 King Assurnasirpal II hunting lions, from Nimrud, Irag, 883-859 BC,
Alabaster Relief, 3 feet by 8 feet
Dying Lioness (detail from the Lion Hunt) from the palace of King
Assurbanipal II, Nineveh, 668-627 BC, Alabaster relief, Height 13
inches
Neo-Babylonian
 Ishtar Gate
 C575 BC, Glazed Brick
Scythian
 Stag, Russia, 7th C BC, Gold, 12 ½ inches
 Stag, 4th C. BC, gold, bronze, siver, wood, 20 inches
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Inventions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Writing
Poetry
History
Economic records
Religious texts
Key Terms
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Armature
Mural
Polytheistic
 From Greek- Poly (many)
 Theos-(God)
Anthropomorphic
 Human in form
Cuneiform
Cone mosaics
Registers
Inlaid
Glyptic
The First Towns
Jericho
Near present day Jerusalem
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People lived houses made of mud brick
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Dead were buried beneath their homes
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Town was protected by a massive stone wall
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Textbook Photo- “Neolithic Plaster Skull from
Jerico” c.7000 BC
The First Towns (con’t)
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Catal Huyuk (pronounced chatal hoo-yook) was the largest of
the early towns. Contained nearly 6000 people.
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Catal Huyuk in Anatolia (modern day Turkey)
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Deity – Mother Goddess made of clay reminiscent of the
“Venus of Willendorf”
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Town planned without streets,connected by roofs
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skeletons were buried beneath floors and bences
Catal Huyuk c.6500-5500 bce. Largest neolithic site in ancient Near
East. Deliberate city planning took place here. There were rooftop
walkways/no streets. Preliterate society (no known written
language)
Two cowrie shells were set horizontally into
the eye sockets creating a ‘sleepy
expression’ which resonates through to the
•present day.
It is thought that the jaw bone was removed
intentionally and that the clay would have
been built up to create a neat artificial chin.
The plasterwork does not extend over the
back of the skull, which was perhaps
originally provided with some other material
to look like hair.
Separation of the skull was a common
practice among the early farming
populations.
This example was found, together with six
other skulls in a pile beneath the floor of a
house.
It is suggested that the heads preserved
were those of venerated ancestors. They
were kept for some sort of ancestor worship
and then discarded after a generation or
two.
The skull formed the basis of a sculpture.
Below… on the surface of the skull there are the remains of clay and plaster.
It was made over 9,000 years ago.
Then we would have seen little or none of the skull itself.
Clay was built up around the skull and then plaster was applied to provide a smooth
surface.
Mother Goddess,
c. 6000 bce,
baked clay, h. 8”,
Chatal Huyuk,
Turkey.
Mesopotamia

Near Eastern Conventions:
Creation of composite view of human form
 Legs and head in profile
 Torso turned slightly
 Eyes frontal
Sumarian
Ziggurat

Ziggurat- means raised up or high- a uniquely Mesopotamian
architectural form
 Imitation mountains as platforms for the gods who protected the
city
 Mountains believed to embody immanent posers of nature (life
giving water that flowed in the plains and made agriculture possible)
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Ziggurat considered a transition space between people and gods
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Example of load-bearing construction- solid, step structures
tapering towards the top with wide bases made of solid clay
reinforced with brick an asphalt, white potter jars were embedded in
the walls
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Top of Ziggurat was the Temple
Nanna Ziggurat
Ur, c.2100- 2050 BC
Mud-Brick
Bull Lyre
2680 BC
Wood,gold, Lapis
Lazuli, & Shell
From the tomb of
Queen Pu-abi, Ur
(modern Iraq)
Sumarian
Gudea with a
temple plan
Lagash,Iraq
c. 2100
Diorite
29 inches high
Seated statue of Gudea, c. 2100 bce, diorite,
NeoSumerian period, Tello (Lagash), Iraq.
Gudea with Temple Plan(left)
c. 2150 B.C.E. 29" h. diorite
Seated Gudea (right)
Note the
similarities
also how the
artist
consistently
renders
certain
elements
such as
around the
eyes and the
shoulder/bice
p/forearm
Statue of Gudea
(standing figure)
From Lagash
c. 2120 BC
Diorite
Height 29 inches
Akadian
Neo- Sumerian
Stele (detail)
Law code of
Hammurabi
Susa,Iran
Hammurabi stands
before the Akkadian
sun god, Shamash
Hittite
Lion Gate (Royal Gate)Hattusas,Turkey
Audience Hall of Darius,Persepolis,Iran 500bc
Neo-Babylonian
Ishtar Gate
Babylon
C575
Glazed brick
Neo-Babylonian
Lamassu, from the gateway,SargonII’s palace at
Dur,720BC,Limestone,Iraq
King Assurnasirpal II,Hunting Lions,Nimrud,Iraq,c883-859,Alabaster
relief,3x8ft
Dying Lioness (detail of the great lion hunt),668627BC,Alabaster relief,13inches high,Iraq
Synthian
Stag, from Kostromskaya, Russa, 7thC,Chased gold ,121/2 in
Key Visual Art Historical
Monuments

Babylon
 Stele- Law of Hammurabi-1792- 1750 BC, Basalt (stone) 7
feet by 28 inches

Anatolia (Turkey)
 The Hittites
 Hittite War God, from Kings Gate, Hattusas Boghazkoy,
Turkey, 1400BC, 6 feet , 6 inches high
Assyrian
 King Assurnasirpal II hunting lions, from Nimrud, Irag, 883859 BC, Alabaster Relief, 3 feet by 8 feet

Dying Lioness (detail from the Lion Hunt) from the palace
of King Assurbanipal II, Nineveh, 668-627 BC, Alabaster
relief, Height 13 inches
Neo-Babylonian
 Ishtar Gate
 C575 BC, Glazed BrickScythian
 Stag, Russia, 7th C BC, Gold, 12 ½ inches
 Stag, 4th C. BC, gold, bronze, siver, wood, 20 inches
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The End