Post on 11-May-2015
Earliest Art to the Bronze Age
Chapter 14
Paleolithic Period
• Two million years ago humans began making crude stone cutting tools
• One million years ago humans began to make more refined tools with cutting edges
• The earliest sophisticated art is dated to 40,000 years ago
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Hohle Fels Figure. c. 35,000 B.C.E.Height 2-1/2".
Hohle Fels
• Oldest surviving carved human figure• Found in southwest Germany in 2008• Found next to a flute in a cave• Just over 2 inches high• Highly exaggerated female characteristics• Where the head should be is a ring to thread
possible to be worn as a necklace• Could be a representation of the Great
Mother
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Venus of Willendorf. Aurignacian (late Paleolithic). c. 25,000–20,000 B.C.E.
Height 4-1/2".
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Engraved Ochre. From Blombos Cave, South Africa. c. 75,000 B.C.E. Length 4".
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Earliest Centers of Civilization.
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Wall Painting of Animals. Chauvet Cave, Pont d'Arc, France.c. 28,000 B.C.E.
Wall Painting of Animals, Chauvet Cave, Pont d’Arc, France
• Painted with charcoal or earthen pigments
• Found in a cave in central France
• Very lifelike animals depicted some of which are now extinct
• Caves of this sort are thought to possibly be places for rituals
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Deer and Hands. Las Manos Cave, Argentina. c. 15,000 B.C.E.
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Murujuga Petroglyphs. Up to 10,000 years old.
Murujuga Petroglyphs
• Petroglyph- created by scratching or pecking the surface of a stone
• Off the coast of Australia
• Meaning is unclear
• These petroglyphs are in danger due to wearing from whether and economic development
Neolithic Period
• Known as the New Stone Age• Appears to have risen in what is now
Iraq between 9000 and 6000 BCE– BCE is before common era– AD is anno domini, in the year of our lord
• Life is changing in this period from nomadic hunter gatherers to a more stable existence that includes farming
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Earthenware Beaker. Susa, Iran. c. 4000 B.C.E.Height 11-1/4".
Earthenware Beaker
• From Susa, Iran
• More abstract than the cave drawings
• Shows animals that are less natural– Long necked birds– Long bodied dogs– Triangular shapes make up the goat
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Stonehenge. c. 2000 B.C.E.
Stonehenge
• Located in south central England• Built in layers taking over a millennium• The road in aligned to the northernmost
winter moonrise• The stone weigh more than 25 tons each and
were brought from 19 miles away• The use for Stonehenge is a matter of debate
Mesopotamia
• Mesopotamia- “the land between the rivers”
• What is now Iraq
• Sumer is considered the first Mesopotamian civilization
• The Sumerians worshipped a hierarchy of nature gods
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Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu. Iraq. c. 2100 B.C.E.
Lyre
• The bull’s head represents royalty
• Dipicts scenes from the Epic of Gilgamesh
Ziggurat Ur-Nammu
• Temples set of huge platforms
• Embodied the idea of the “sacred mountain” that links heaven and earth
• Filled with sun baked bricks and faced with colored glazed bricks
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Lyre. Front plaque of reconstructed lyre from "The King's Grave" tomb RT 789. Ur. c. 2650–2550 B.C.E.
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Lyre. Soundbox of reconstructed lyre from "The King's Grave" tomb RT 789. Ur. c. 2650–2550 B.C.E.
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Head of an Akkadian Ruler. Nineveh. c. 2300–2200 B.C.E.Height 12".
Head of an Akkadian Ruler
• The region north of Sumer is Akkadia
• Scattered cities were ruled by one king
• This piece potrays one of the kings
• Careully observed naturalism blended with rhythmic pattern and stylization
Egypt
• Egypt is surrounded by desert allowing the culture to be unaffected by outside influence
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The Great Pyramids. Giza, Egypt. Pyramid of Mycerinus, c. 2500 B.C.E.; Pyramid of Chefren, 2650 B.C.E.; Pyramid of Cheops, c. 2570 B.C.E.
The Great Pyramids
• Burial structures built for kings that were thought to be gods
• Workers cut huge stone blocks, transported them to the site, and stacked them without mortar to form the pyramid
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The Ancient Middle East.
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Funerary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Deir el-Bahari.c. 1490–1460 B.C.E.
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Mask from Mummy Case. Tomb of Tutankhamen. c. 1340 B.C.E.Height 21-1/4".
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Wall Painting from the Tomb of Nebamun. Thebes, Egypt. c. 1450 B.C.E.