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Art of the Ancient Near East
Chapter 2 - Objectives
1. All Khan Academy readings, videos, and quizzes on the Ancient
Mediterranean (Ancient Near East). Progress will be monitored.
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2. Kindle book pages 27 - 47, Art History (4th ed.) (suggested reading)
Art of the Ancient Near East
Chapter 2
What is the Near East?
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Anatolia = Turkey
Mesopotamia = Iraq
Persia = Iran
Arabia = Saudia Arabia
The Levant = Lebanon, Israel,
Palestine, Syria, Jordan
Dominant Cultures of the
Near East
Early Neolithic: 9,000 BCE
Elam: 7,000 - 600 BCE
Sumer: 3,500 - 2,030 BCE
Hittite
Assyria
Akkad: 2,340 - 2,180 BCE
Lagash: 2,150 BCE
Babylonia: 1,792 - 1,750 BCE
Neo & Babylonia
Persia
Neo-Babylonia: 612 - 539 BCE
Hittite(Anatolia): 1,600 - 1,200 BCE
Assyria: 1,000 - 612 BCE
Persia: 559 - 331 BCE
Sumer
Elam
Sumer
- Ziggurat = stepped structures with
a temple or shrine at the top.
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- Ziggurats towered over the land
and proclaimed the wealth and
power of rulers and gods.
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- The city of Uruk (Warka, Iraq) had
two large temple complexes.
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- Its believed the White Temple was
dedicated to Anu (sky god).
White Temple and the Anu Ziggurat (c. 3500 - 3000 BCE). Sumerian culture. Uruk (modern
Warka, Iraq).
White Temple (c. 3517 - 3358 BCE).
Sumerian culture. Uruk (modern Warka,
Iraq).
Sumer
- Mask originally had hair made of gold (a gold wig) and stones
and shells inlaid into the mask for the eyebrows and eyes.
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- The skin and lips were once painted
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- In April 2003, at the beginning of the War of Iraq, the mask
was stolen from the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad. It
was recovered in September 2003 by U.S. Military Police .
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- It is believed that this is a mask of Inanna, the Uruk goddess
of fertility, love, and war.
Face of a Woman from Uruk (3500 - 3000 BCE). Marble.
Warka, Iraq.
Sumer
- It’s believed that gods lived in specially built temples but these temples were not meant for congregation.
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- Access to the shrines was limited…priests were
probably the only ones with access.
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- Statues were carved and painted with inlaid eyes.
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- The largest collection of statues was found at Nippur in
a temple dedicated to Inanna.
Statues of Votive Figures (c. 2,700 BCE). Gypsum inlaid with shell and black
limestone. Square Temple, Tell Asmar, Iraq.
Statues of Votive Figures (c. 2,700 BCE).
Gypsum inlaid with shell and black limestone.
Square Temple, Tell Asmar, Iraq.
Statues of Votive Figures (c. 2,700 BCE). Gypsum inlaid with shell and black limestone. Square Temple, Tell Asmar, Iraq.
Sumer
- Small trapezoidal box (8 1/2” x 19 1/2”)
covered in geometric and figurative mosaics.
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- There are two different sides (War & Peace)
and it is meant to be read from bottom to top.
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- The ruler or king is shown on both sides and
shows his role in early Mesopotamian society.
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War side = ruler who protected his people and
natural resources.
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Peace side = ruler who served as the
intermediary between his people and the gods.
Standard of Ur (c. 2,600 - 2,400 BCE). Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and
red limestone. from the Royal Tombs at Ur, Tell el-Muqayyer, Iraq.
(Peace) Standard of Ur (c. 2,600 - 2,400 BCE). Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone. from the Royal Tombs at Ur,
Tell el-Muqayyer, Iraq.
Two lower registers illustrate the bounty of the land. The bottom one depicts men carrying produce in bags on their shoulders
and in backpacks supported by headbands, as well as men leading onagers by ropes. The second register shows men leading
bulls and caprids (sheep and goats) and carrying fish, presumably the produce of the pastures, rivers, and swamps. The upper
register depicts a royal banquet. The ruler, wearing a kilt composed of tufts of wool, is shown larger in scale than the others—the
center of attention. The other banqueters, who wear plain-fringed kilts, face him and raise their cups together while attendants
provide food and drink. Banqueting in early Mesopotamia usually involved music. A lyre player and a singer, distinguished by
their long black hair, stand to the right of the scene.
(War) Standard of Ur (c. 2,600 - 2,400 BCE). Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone. from the Royal Tombs at Ur,
Tell el-Muqayyer, Iraq.
War side shows the defeat of some unknown enemy. At the bottom, war carts, drawn by onagers (donkeys), race with increasing
speed from left to right, trampling naked enemy soldiers. The second register shows a phalanx of armed soldiers to the left, while
on the right soldiers in a variety of poses dispatch some captives and lead others away. The top register shows the ruler, his
height exceeding the border of the field, facing right. Behind him, his cart is drawn by four onagers alongside his attendants. In
front of him, soldiers parade nude and bound prisoners.
Babylon (1,792 - 1,750 BCE)
- Sumer eventually reunited after being torn apart by the Akkadians.
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- A group of people called the Amorites moved into the region to bring the area
together and were led by the ruler, Hammurabi.
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- Hammurabi established Babylon as the new capital city of Sumer.
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- Hammurabi is important because he established 282 laws known as the Code
of Hammurabi, partially recorded on the Stela of Hammurabi.
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- This is a carved piece of diorite approximately 7 feet tall.
Stela of Hammurabi
(1,792 - 1,750 BCE)
Diorite. Height 7’.
Shush, Iran.
Babylon
- At the very top of the Stela of Hammurabi is a relief
sculpture (a flat surface carved away to reveal an image)
of a typical Babylonian king (on the left) praying to a
seated god (right)
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- The god is Shamash, the sun god.
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- Behind Shamash are rays of sunlight
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- Shamash wears a four-tiered, horned headdress and a
robe...clothing that distinguished gods from mortals at the
time.
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- Shamash holds a measuring rod (justice) and rope ring
(power).
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- The written cuneiform below the relief declares that
Hammurabi will bring justice to the land and the evil and
wicked will be destroyed. The 282 laws follow this
declaration.
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- Punishments depend on gender and social status.
Stela of Hammurabi (1,792 - 1,750 BCE) Diorite. Height 7’.
Shush, Iran.
Assyria (1000 - 612 BCE)
- After years of power struggles between the
Sumer, Akkad, and Lagash people in the
Mesopotamia region, the Assyrians took power.
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- The Assyrian Empire held strong for almost
400 years extending as far west as Egypt, but
collapsed in 612 BCE.
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- During this time, architecture was the
dominant art form with great palaces built inside
walled cities known as citadels.
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- Sargon II built a massive complex in what is
now Khorsabad, Iraq.
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- The Citadel walls protected the city known as
Fort Sargon, which consisted of residences, a
ziggurat, and Sargon II’s palace.
Winged Bull Statues (Lamassu) (721 - 705 BCE). Alabaster. Fort Sargon,
Khorsabad, Iraq.
Ziggurat
Residence M
Palace
Residence K
Residence L
Entrance
Citadel Wall
Citadel of Sargon II (721 - 705 BCE) Palace of Sargon II, Khorsabad, Iraq.
Assyria
- Fort Sargon was a massive urban project that consumed King Sargon II
“day and night” but it was abandoned after his death.
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- Fort never finished...was it ever inhabited?
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- Human-headed winged bulls protected the gates of Fort Sargon and the
Palace inside the city.
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Winged Bull Statues (Lamassu) (721 - 705
BCE). Alabaster. Fort Sargon, Khorsabad,
Iraq.
Assyria
- The Winged Bull was thought to protect against evil
influences.
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- These statues weigh up to 40 tons...or 80,000 lbs.
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- They are relief sculptures carved from limestone.
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- The Bulls are no longer in Iraq. They were taken to
Paris and Chicago by boat in the 19th & early 20th
century and many artifacts were broken or lost.
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Winged Bull Statues (Lamassu) (721 - 705 BCE).
Alabaster. Fort Sargon, Khorsabad, Iraq.
Assyria
Winged Bull Statue (Lamassu) (top) and Hero Choking a Lion (right) (721 - 705 BCE). Alabaster.
Fort Sargon, Khorsabad, Iraq.
Persia (559 - 331 BCE)
- The Persians, a group of people who were once nomads, slowly invaded Mesopotamia and the rest of the
Near East coming from the southeast of Susa beginning in 559 BCE.
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-Geographically, this is comparable to Iran invading Iraq today.
Persia (559 - 331 BCE)
“I am Darius, great King, King
of Kings, King of countries,
King of this earth.”
- Darius I
- The Persians and their new kingdom traced their
ancestry to a king named Achaemenes and are
known as the Achaemenids.
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- Cyrus the Great (aka Cyrus II) was the first ruler
(559 - 530 BCE) and when he died the Persians had
conquered Babylonia, the Medes (a stretch of land of
northern Iran to Turkey), and several of the Greek
islands known as the Aegean islands.
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- Cambyses II (Cyrus II’s son) ruled from 529 - 522
BCE and conquered Egypt and Cyprus.
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- Darius I (the son of a government official) ruled from
521 - 486 BCE. Darius and the following rulers
empire for the next 200 years. Darius ruled Persia at
its peak of power. (Pronounced DA-RYE-US)
Persian Daric (490 BCE) Introduced by Darius the
Great, gold quality, with a purity of 95.83%.
Persia (559 - 331 BCE)
- Darius I created many monuments to reveal his authority and
made Susa his first capital.
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- In Susa he created a 32-acre compound, but in 518 BCE he
began to build Parsa, a new capital in the Persian homeland.
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- Parsa is known today as Persepolis.
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- Since Darius I ruled so many cultures and land, he brought
artists from all over Persia to create artwork and architecture for
him.
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- Lots of cultures and art = a new and different artistic style. An
artistic hybrid.
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- The imperial complex at Persepolis took 60 years to build and
Darius I died before construction was complete. His son, Xerxes
completed the complex.
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- Imperial complex shows Persian, Greek, and Egyptian design
styles.
Darius I (4th Century BCE) Painting of Darius I as
imagined by a Greek painter.
Persia (559 - 331 BCE)
Imperial Complex at Persepolis (518 - 460 BCE) The complex was either destroyed on purpose or on accident by Alexander the Great when he
conquered the Persians. It is thought that Alexander the Great threw a massive banquet and party in celebration and the complex caught fire. It
was never rebuilt or buried and this is what remains today.
Complex Column (518 - 460 BCE) Column still standing.
Reconstructed Column Capital (518 - 460 BCE) The
Capital is the top of the column. On display at the
Iranbastan Museum, Teheran, Iran.
Frieze of Archers from the Imperial Complex at Persepolis (518 - 460 BCE)
On display at the Louvre Museum, Paris, France.