Chapter 2

Art of the Ancient Near East

SABAN

SumerAkkadBabylonAssyriaNeo-Babylonia

THE FIRST CITIES

Jericho• Walls – 20 feet high, 5 feet wide

– Defense against neighbors– Diversion of flood waters

• Burials beneath the floors of houses– Skeletons often lacked skulls, which were

buried separately• Plaster casts of human bodies & skulls have

been found– Ancestor worship?

Great Stone Tower of Settlement Wall

Jericho, Israel/Gaza

ca. 8000- 7000 B.C.E.

Human Skulls with Restored Features

from Jericho, Israel/Gaza

ca. 7000-6000 B.C.E.skulls, plaster, shells

Çatalhöyük, Turkey

• Neolithic village; 6500 – 5500 BCE– 1,000 houses with population of 5,000

• Religious images of mother goddess• Trade with other local villages• Specialized skilled workers –

toolmakers/jewelers– Obsidian

• Easy defense– No open areas; unbroken exterior walls

Çatalhöyük

Turkey

ca. 6500-5500 B.C.E.

Deer Hunt detail of a wall painting from Level III

Çatalhöyük, Turkey

ca. 5750 B.C.E.

Çatalhöyük

Turkey

ca. 6000-5900 B.C.E.

Landscape with Volcanic Eruption

Çatalhöyük, Turkeyca. 6150watercolor copy of a wall painting

SUMERIAN ARTSouthern Mesopotamia

Emergence of Civilization

• Civilization – Complex culture in which large numbers of humans share a number of common elements– Cities– Government – organize & regulate human activity– Religion – explanation of nature & existence– Writing – creative expression & record keeping– Artistic activities– Economy

Mesopotamia

• Mesopotamia – “Land between two rivers”– Tigris & Euphrates– Fertile Crescent – from the Mediterranean Sea

to the Persian Gulf• Rich soil sustained abundant crops – silt deposits

from the rivers• River flood yearly because of melting snow

– Unpredictable – how much & when?• Rivers brought water but could also be destructive

Fertile Crescent

Sumerian Civilization

• Economy– Farm-based– Trade

• Inventions– Wheel, sundial, arch,

numbers based on 60; 12 month calendar based on the moon

– Writing – first writing system

• Cuneiform

White Temple and ziggurat

Uruk (modern Warka) Iraq

ca. 3200-3000 B.C.E.mud brick

Stairway to Heaven

White Temple and ziggurat

Uruk (modern Warka) Iraq

ca. 3200-3000 B.C.E.mud brick

Sumerian ZigguratHe built Uruk. He built the keeping place

of Anu and Ishtar. The outer wallshines in the sun like brightest copper; the inner

wall is beyond the imagining of kings.Study the brickwork, study the fortification;

Climb the greatest ancient staircase to the terrace;Study how it is made; from the terrace see

The planted and fallow fields, the ponds and orchards.This is Uruk, the city of Gilgamesh.

Ziggurats

• Built out of mud brick; most do not survive– Did not have access to limestone

• Long staircases ascending from terrace to terrace, climbing toward heaven– Only priests were allowed to use the stairs &

enter the temple at the top

Female head

from Uruk (modern Warka) Iraq

ca. 3200-3000 B.C.E.marbleapproximately 8 in. high

RECOVERED

Statuettes of worhippers

from Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar) Iraq

ca. 2700 B.C.E.gypsum, shell, black limestonetallest 30 in. high

SOME MISSING

Statuettes of worhippers

from Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar) Iraq

ca. 2700 B.C.E.gypsum, shell, black limestonetallest 30 in. high

Statuettes of worhippers

from Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar) Iraq

ca. 2700 B.C.E.gypsum, shell, black limestonetallest 30 in. high

The Eyes Have It!

• Votive Statue – an image created as a devotional offering to a god or other deity

• Votives were created to represent Sumerian worshippers; they were placed in front of statues of the gods

• Why are they bug-eyed?– Meant you were devout or awestruck in the

presence of a god – couldn’t take your eyes off him or her

Ziggurat

at Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar) Iraq

ca. 2100 B.C.E.mud brick

Ziggurat (restored)

at Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar) Iraq

ca. 2100 B.C.E.mud brick

Bull-headed lyre

from Tomb 789, Royal Cemetery Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar)

ca. 2600 B.C.E.wood, gold leaf, lapis lazuliapproximately 65 in. high

Iconography• Iconography – meaning of images• Register – horizontal bands that tell a story

– Bottom register – scorpion man = land of demons

– 2nd register from bottom = animals playing an instrument

– 3rd register = a hyena (butcher?) carries meat while a lion follows with a large jar

– Top register = athletic man (the dead man)

Ram in a thicket

from Tomb 789, Royal Cemetery Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar) Iraq

ca. 2600 B.C.E.

gold, silver, lapis lazuli, copper, shell, red limestone, bitumen 42.6 cm. high

Cylinder seals

ca. 2600-2000 B.C.E.approximately 2 in. high

MANY MISSING

Cylinder sealfrom the tomb of Pu-abi Royal Cemetery Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar) Iraqca. 2600 B.C.E.approximately 2 in. high

AKKADIAN ART

Mesopotamian Empires

• Akkadia– Sargon I – 2340 BC – leader created an empire, a vast

political state that controlled many people/territories• Used art as propaganda rather than to honor the gods

– Empire fell due to weak leadership following his death• Babylon

– Hammurabi – expanded his empire through military – Code of Hammurabi – effort to reorganize,

consolidate, and preserve previous laws– Code based on social levels

Head of an Akkadian ruler

from Ninevah (modern Kuyunjik) Iraq

ca. 2250-2200 B.C.E.copper14 3/8 in. high

MISSING

Compare

Head of Akkadian Ruler Abu Temple Statuette

Victory stele of Naram-Sin

from Susa, Iran

ca. 2,254-2,218 B.C.E.sandstone79 in. high

• Stele – Stone slab placed vertically and decorated with inscriptions or reliefs– Used as a grave

marker or memorial

Victory stele of Naram-Sin

from Susa, Iran

ca. 2,254-2,218 B.C.E.sandstone79 in. high

Seated statue of Gudea holding temple plan

from Girsu (modern Telloh) Iraq

ca. 2,100 B.C.E.diorite29 in. high

Stele with code of Hammurabi

from Susa, Iran

ca. 1,780 B.C.E.basalt88 in. high

Stele with code of Hammurabi

from Susa, Iran

ca. 1,780 B.C.E.basalt88 in. high

The laws were intended to “cause justice to prevail in the land and to destroy the wicked and the evil, that the strong might not oppress the weak nor the weak the strong.”

ASSYRIAN ART

Assyrian Empire

• Upper Tigris River – no natural defense• Empire included Mesopotamia; parts of

Iranian plateau; sections of Asia Minor; Syria; Palestine & Egypt to Thebes

• King with absolute power• Iron weapons• Army was large, well organized & disciplined

– Foot soldiers; charioteers; cavalry; archers• CRUEL, CRUEL, CRUEL warriors

Reconstruction drawing

of the citadel of Sargon II, Dar Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad) Iraq

ca. 720-705 B.C.E.

The Architects: Urban Planning

• Complex city centered around the temple– 7 story ziggurat– Workshops, storehouses

& residential quarters• The Palace

– 25 acres– 200 rooms & courtyards

• Destroyed c. 600 B.C.E.

Lamassu (winged human headed bull)

from the citadel of Sargon II, Dar Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad) Iraq

ca. 720-705 B.C.E.limestone13 ft. 10 in. high

12

34

5

Assyrian archers pursuing enemies

from the Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, Kalhu (modern Nimrud)

ca. 875-860 B.C.E.gypsum2 ft. 10 3/8 in. high

Ashurbanipal hunting lions

from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal, Ninevah (modern Kuyunjik) Iraq

ca. 645-640 B.C.E.gypsumapproximately 5 ft. high

Ashurbanipal hunting lions

from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal, Ninevah (modern Kuyunjik) Iraq

ca. 645-640 B.C.E.gypsumapproximately 5 ft. high

Ashurbanipal hunting lions

from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal, Ninevah (modern Kuyunjik) Iraq

ca. 645-640 B.C.E.gypsumapproximately 5 ft. high

Sculpture

• Bas relief (or low relief) – A sculpture that sticks out slightly from the surface it is carved from, but is not completely detached from it.

NEO-BABYLONIAN ART

Neo-Babylonia• Ancestors of

Hammurabi’s Babylonia

• King Nebuchadnezzar – 605 – 562 BC – rebuilt Babylon into most city of ancient world

• Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Ishtar Gate (restored)

from Babylon, Iraq

ca. 575 B.C.E.glazed brick

Ishtar Gate (restored)details of dragon (Marduk) and bull (Adad)

from Babylon, Iraq

ca. 575 B.C.E.glazed brick

Ishtar Gate (restored)details of lion (Ishtar)

from Babylon, Iraq

ca. 575 B.C.E.glazed brick

CompareDetail of Lion,Ishtar Gate

Detail of Lion,Assurnasirpal series

PERSIAN ART

The Persians• Modern-day Iran• Indo-European nomads came from north of the Black Sea;

settled in 2000 BC• Cyrus – 559 – 530 BC; created strong army

– Immortals – best 10,000 fighters in the army– Captured Mesopotamia & Babylonia

• Allowed enslaved Jews to return to Jerusalem• Darius I – 522 – 486 BC

– Extended Persian Empire to the Indus River; invaded Greek mainland– Divided Persian government in 20 provinces, called satrapies

• Satrap (governor) collected taxes, provided justice & security, and recruited soldiers for the royal army

– Well maintained roads

Persian Empire under Darius

Palace of Darius I and Xerxes I

Persepolis, Iran

ca. 521-465 B.C.E.

Palace of Darius I and Xerxes I

Persepolis, Iran

ca. 521-465 B.C.E.

Palace of Darius I and Xerxes I

Persepolis, Iran

ca. 521-465 B.C.E.

Palace of Darius I and Xerxes I

Persepolis, Iran

ca. 521-465 B.C.E.

Daric coinFrom Persia4th century B.C.E.gold

Essential Questions

• What is the difference between prehistoric art and ancient Near Eastern art?

• What developments occur with civilization as time passes?

• How does greater civilization change the way people see themselves, each other, and their relations?