The "Fertile Crescent" region of the ancient Near East developed into more organized city-states around 3500 BCE, with Sumer being the most powerful area. The Sumerians developed the first form of cuneiform script between 3300 and 3000 BCE. The most commonly used architectural structure was the ziggurat, a "stepped pyramidal structure with a temple or shrine on top" (Stokstad, 47). These structures, built for the city's rulers and gods, were sometimes grouped into temple complexes, which formed the city center. Interior walls were often decorated with cone mosaics, while exterior walls were covered with paint and patterns of bricks. The most highly developed form of the ziggurat can be seen at the Nanna Ziggurat, Ur, c. 2100-2050 BCE.
Sculpture was mainly created for religious purposes, such as votive statues which were placed in temples as symbols of the patron's devotion. Their simplified, abstract style focuses mainly on the large eyes, to facilitate communication with the gods. Rulers such as Sargon I and his grandson, Naramsin, used sculpture to commemorate battles. The Stela of Naramsin, c. 2254-2218 BCE portrays the importance and physical ability of the young ruler through the use of the hieratic scale. The Stela of Hammurabi, c. 1792-1750 BCE portrays the leader before the sun god Shamash, supreme judge, and lists the newly developed legal code in cuneiform script below.
The Assyrians, who dominated the region around 1400 BCE, built large, fortified
cities and palaces to protect from invasion, that were richly decoarated. The
most famous of thse palaces are those of Sargon II, with its rich throne room,
and Assurbanipal, with its decorative alabaster panels. Mesopotamia was finally
absorbed by the Persian Empire under Cyrus II (ruled 559-530 BCE), which eventually
stretched from India to Egypt. - (source: http://www2.students.sbc.edu/hill00/seniorseminar/summary2b.html
)
TERMS
Mesopotamia - (land between the rivers, Tigris &
Euphrates)
Euphrates
Cuneiform - (wedge-shaped)
Cella - a special area set apart for a shrine
Registers - vertical divisions of a commorative panel
(when lines of figures were longer than surfaces of sculptures, the figures
were spread over several "registers" or parallel ground lines. [M-34]).
Stele (steel-e) - carved stone slab or pillar
Gilgamesh - mythical Mesopotamian hero
Law Code of Hammurabi
Tigris
City-state
Ziggurat - stepped earthen pyramidical platform
Inanna -
Ground line
Foreshortening
Citadel - walled fortress
Lamassu - winged statues of bulls with human heads
Kudurru - clay tablets or stone boundary stelae impressed
with human laws and decrees (M-34)
SLIDES
Sumerian 3,000 - 2,300 BCE
White Temple and ziggurat, Uruk c. 3,200 -3,000 BCE
Female Head, from Uruk, Marble, approx. 8” c. 3,200 -3,000 BCE
Statuettes from the Square Temple at Eshnunna, Tell Asmar, c. 2,700 BCE
Gypsum, w/shell & black limestone inlay, tallest approx.. 30”
Bull-headed Lyre, from Tomb 789 Ur, Iraq c. 2,600 BCE
Gold leaf & lapis lazuli over wood, approx. 55”
Akkadian 2,300 - 2,150 BCE ~ rule of Sargon
Head of Akkadian ruler, Nineveh, copper, approx. 12” c. 2,250 - 2,200
BCE
Victory stele of Naram-Sin, (Sargon's grandson)
(below) susa, pink sandstone, approx. 67” 2,254 - 2,218 BCE
~ simultaneous profiles and frontal views
~ first landscape since Catal Huyuk
Neo-Sumerian 2,150- 1,800 BCE
Reconstructed view of ziggurat at Ur c. 2,100 BCE
Seated statue of Gudea, Girsu, Diorite, approx. 2’ c. 2,100 BCE
Head of Gudea, Diorite, approx. 9” c. 2,100 BCE
Babylonian Period 1,830 - 539 BCE
Stele with law codes of Hammurabi, susa, basalt, approx. 74’ c.
1,780 BCE
Ishtar Gate (restored), Babylon, glazed brick, Berlin c. 575 BCE
Assyrian 900 - 612 BCE
Reconstructed view of the citadel of Sargon II, Dur Sharrukin c. 720-705
BCE
Lamassu, from the citadel of Sargon II, Limestone, approx. 1310”
c. 720 BCE
Ashurbanipal hunting lions, Palace of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh,
Gypsum, approx. 60” c. 645-640 BCE
Dying Lioness, Palace of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh, Gypsum, 1 ‘4” c. 645-640 BCE
Achaemenid Persian 538 -330 BCE
Plan of the Palace Complex at Persepolis, Iran c. 521 - 465 BCE
Royal Audience Hall, Palace of Darius I & Xerxes I, Persepolis c.
521 - 465 BCE
Precession of Medes & Persians, Complex of Darius. Persepolis c. 521
- 465 BCE
Darius & Xerxes Giving Audience, Complex of Darius, Persepolis
Limestone, approx. 84” c. 490 BCE
DJB Quick Notes:
Mesopotamian (as a whole):
~ development of city-states
~ prehistory into history with development of writing
~ common in Mesopotamian art: union of "formal" and "natural”
(G)
Sumerian Period (3000-2300 BCE)
~ each city state has its own local god with religious
site central part of city (centralized temples and citadels)
~ temple atop of ziggurat (closer to heaven)
~ White Temple (3000-2000 BCE) dedicated to god Anu, oriented to cardinal points,
ziggurat of White Temple 140' high
Akkadian Period (2300 - 2150 BCE)
~ Head of Akkadian Ruler - texture, eyes, metal (copper)
~ statuettes - scale, profile, landscape, ruler headresses adornment
~ Victory Stele of Naram Sim
Neo-Sumerian (2150 - 1800 BCE)
~ reconstructed ziggurat
~ Gudea, ruler - seated statue with diagram of temple in lap - head (body missing),
diorite
Babylonian (1830 - 539 BCE)
Assyrian (900 - 612 BCE)
~ citadel of Sargon II
Neo-Babylonia 612-538 BCE
~ Nebuchadnezzar - Ishtar Gate
~ the history of Assyrian art is mainly the history of relief carving; very little sculpture in the round survives.
Achaemenid Persian Empire (538 - 330 BCE)
~ Darius - Persopolis
~ "Apadana" - royal audience hall (G)
~ eclectic art style of Arcaemenidians, assimilating aspects of Mesopotamians
and Greeks, to create a Mesopotamian tradition with Greek influence
~ Use of the column:
(1) Not used structurally in the Near East before the Persian Empire.
(2) Rsulted from contact with Egypt, Crete, and Greece
(3) Unique forms developed by the Persians. (M-33)
~ fluting of columns derived from Greek Ionian (G)
DJB In-Depth Notes:
Simplification of figurative art:
schematization,
stylization,
conventionalization,
generalization, or
formalization
Many of the sculptural forms, conventions, and stylizations
were established in the Protohistoric and Sumerian periods and continued
unbroken until contact was made with the Greeks in the sixth century B.C.
(M-34)
From as early a time as the Paleolithic caves, we
have evidence of people's efforts to control their environment by picture
magic. With the appearance of the Sumerians and the beginning of recorded
history, the older magic was replaced by a religion of gods, benevolent
or malevolent, who personifed the forces of nature that often contended
destructively with human hopes and designs. (G-47)
Links
http://www2.students.sbc.edu/hill00/seniorseminar/summary2.html
The "Fertile Crescent” region of the ancient Near East developed
into more organized city-states around 3500 BCE, with Sumer being the most powerful
area. The Sumerians developed the first form of cuneiform script between 3300
and 3000 BCE. The most commonly used architectural structure was the ziggurat,
a "stepped pyramidal structure with a temple or shrine on top” (Stokstad,
47). These structures, built for the city's rulers and gods, were sometimes
grouped into temple complexes, which formed the city center.