Download Art of the Ancient Near East

Tuesday
• Turn in Ch.2 Worksheet (marked on
syllabus) 4th period class tray. Minus 10 pts
everyday it’s late!
• Ancient Near East P.P.
• TAKE NOTES! Remember, I grade your
Lecture Notes on Exam days!
Ch.2 Reading Prompt
Q: Discuss the social & economic changes that
took place in the ancient Near East that made
possible the beginning of what we call
civilization.
Art of the
Ancient Near
East
Mesopotamia
Sumerians
• Mesopotamia-Land between the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers. (Fertile land)
• Creation of the city (organizationagriculture/rules/labor/ writing system/
social hierarchy/ religion)
• The Epic of Gilgamesh- 1st literary epic
poem/ possible hints as real life King Uruk,
builder of Uruk’s city walls (est. urban
civilization)
“Some Apples, Bananas
-- Mrs. Christman
And Peaches…”
SUMERIAN
City of UR (first independent city-state) – Anu and
Nanna Ziggurats – developed 1st writing system –
VOTIVE FIGURES – Cylinder seals for stamping –
EPIC OF GILGAMESH – invention of the wheel
Sargon I defeats Sumerians –
AKKADIAN
Stele of Naramsin – heiratic scale
– brutality
in artof Lagash
Neo-Sumerian
– Gudea
Lagash United Sumer under Hammurabi (1792 – 1750
BABYLONIAN
ASSYRIAN
BCE) – Stele of Hammurabi with his Code of
Laws – Creation Myths
Took control around 1400 BCE – King Assurbanipal –
kept library, ziggurat form & Sumerian texts – Humanhead lion LAMASSUs guard palace
Neo-Babylonian – Nebuchadnezzar
II
PERSIAN
Cyrus & the citadel at Persepolis
(built between 521-465 BCE)
White Temple and Ziggurat at Uruk, c. 3200-3000 BCE
Mesopotamia, land between the Tigris and the
Euphrates/ mud brick monumental architecture in the
form of a ziggurat/ developed city-state with a
division of labor/ two temple complexes dedicated to
Anu and Inanna
(sky god and goddess of love and war)
Votive figures at the Temple of Abu (Sumerian)
Statuettes from the Temple of Abu at Eshnunna
(Tell Asmar), c. 2700-2600 BCE, gypsum
Votive figures placed in the cella (a “waiting room”) /
stylization of physical types/ hypnotic gaze created by
large eyes
Left: Soundbox of a Sumerian lyre (Ur,
Iraq), c. 2600 BCE
Below: Lyre from Sumerian Royal
Cemetery (Ur, Iraq), c. 2600 BCE
Sound box/ hybrid
human-animal
forms/ royal
cemetery/
underworld banquet
Standard of Ur (Sumerian)
Discovered in the 1920s
Standard of Ur (Ur), c. 2700 BCE
contrast between war and peace/ use of registers to
depict a narrative/ object found in a tomb, created
with lapis lazuli/ hierarchical proportion to distinguish
the ensi, or ruler
“War side” of the Standard of Ur
“Peace side” of the Standard of Ur”
Cylinder Seals
Above: Impression from a
Sumerian cylinder seal,
c.2500 BCE
Left:Seated Statuette of
Urnanshe, from the Ishtar
temple at Mari
(modern Tell Hariri, Syria),
c. 2600-2500 BCE, gypsum
Akkadians
• Summer came under Akkadian power
• Akkadians introduced concept of
Royal Power!
• Sargon of Akkad “True King”
• Loyalty to king, than city state
Stele of NaramSin
AKKADIAN
c. 2300-2200 BCE
6 ½ ft. tall Sandstone
Sargon’s grandson/
victory over
mountain people/
stone marker/
Sargon of Akkad and Naram
Sin/ use of a stele to
commemorate a victory/
indications of a divine ruler
(i.e. a horned helmet)
1st- king appears as God)
Head of 1st Akkadian ruler
(Ninevah, Iraq), c. 2250-2200
BCE, copper
AKKADIAN
balance of naturalism and
stylization/ introduction of
bronze cast sculpture/
importance placed on facial hair
Seated Statue of
Gudea
from Lagash
Neo-Sumerian
c. 2100 BCE
He rejected Akkad’s
“Absolute Power”
Return to votive
Tradition
Right: Votive statue of Gudea,
c.2120 BCE, diorite
Gudea and the Sumerian god of
rivers, Ningirsu/ use of diorite to
indicate importance/ depiction of a
temple plan/ pose of piety and
humility
Ziggurat of Ur
Neo-Summerian
About 2100 BCE
One of the largest in Mesopotamia, about a millenium later
than Uruk/ 50ft tall mud brick base/
Ziggurat at Ur
(modern day
Iraq), c.21002050 BCE
Stele of Hammurabi
BABYLONIAN
c. 1780 BCE
Babylonian culture
and the law code of
Hammurabi/ use of
law applied different
to different classes/
god (Shamash) and
ruler linked together/
rod and ring
presented to
Hammurabi
Code of Hammurabi
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w5NG
OHbgTw