The Rise of Civilization

1
The Rise of Civilization

• Chapter 2
• The Art of the Ancient Near East

2
The Ancient Near East
3
Historical Context
Sumerian Akkadian Babylonian Hittite Assyrian Chal
dean (Neo-Babylonian) Persian Sasanian

• 3100 BCE Development of writing Mesopotamia
• 2900 BCE Independent Sumerian city-states
• 2300 BCE Akkadian empire (worlds first)
• 1800 BCE Hammaurabis Code - Babylon
• 1400 - 1300 BCE Zenith of Hittite kingdom
• 900 BCE Assyrian domination
• 612 BCE Chaldean (Neo-Babylonian) Nebuchadnezzar
• 538 BCE Persian Empire
• 330 BCE Alexander the Great defeats Persia
• 224 CE Sasanians defeat Roman emperor

4
Gifts for a Goddess

• FIG 2-4 Warka Vase
• Alabaster, 3.25 high
• From proto-literate period - 3200 BCE
• Composition and style
• Narrative relief sculpture
• Figures on ground lines, registers
• Lower register
• Animals in profile
• Aphrodisiacs - pomegranate and silphium
• Central register
• Priests carrying votive offerings
• Composite of frontal, profile
• Conceptual, not optical
• Upper register
• Priestess? Innana? Horned headdress

5
Warka Vase (Fig. 2-4)
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Provenance of Warka Vase

• 1933 German archaeologists discover pieces of
  vase while excavating ancient Uruk
• 1934 Reconstruction begins
• April 2003 Looters steal vase from National
  Museum of Iraq, breaking top of vase from base
• June 2003 Three men return vase in pieces -
  museum announces restoration
• 2006 - 7 Director of Museum flees after
  receiving death threats - museum boarded up

7
Compare Jomon pottery and Warka Vase
Japanese Jomon pottery 2500- 1500 BCE
Intricately modeled surface, partially sculpted
rimsPurpose storage, cooking, burial
8
Japanese Jomon Pottery
Pottery developed before agriculture Rope
markings, incised lines, applied coils of
clay Thick and heavy From mountainous inland area
of Japan
9
The Invention of Writing

• 3400 - 3200 BCE pictographs
• Inventories of commodities
• 3000 - 2900 BCE cuneiform
• Cuneus wedge-shaped
• Written with stylus
• Written on soft clay tablets
• Found in Sumer and Elam
• Fragmentary cuneiform texts of worlds first
  epic, Gilgamesh

10
City Planning and Religion

• City-states
• Led by priests
• Temple institutions
• Granaries, fields, businesses
• White Temple of Uruk
• Temple on ziggurat
• God served in cella (hall)
• Ziggurat names
• House of the Mountain
• Bond Between Heaven and Earth

11
Eye-Idols of Tell Brak, Syria
Right Max Mallowan and Agatha Christie,
excavator of Tell Brak, Syria

• Eye-Idols of Tell Brak
• Eye symbols found in many ancient Near Eastern
  cultures
• Perhaps a precursor to more sophisticated images
  from Eshnunna

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Eshnunna statuettesVotive Offerings

• Gypsum inlaid with shell and black limestone
• Simple forms - cones and cylinders
• Hierarchy of size
• Disproportionately large eyes
• Sacred figurines - represent worshippers

Fig 2-5 Eshnunna figurine
13
Treasures from the Royal Tombs at Ur
Leonard Woolley, British archaeologist, excavated
tombs at Ur in 1922 - 1934.
14
Standard of Ur
FIG 2-8 The Standard of Ur, ca. 2600 BCE From
Royal Cemetery at Ur Narrative art Styles
registers (cartoon style) Wood inlaid with shell,
lapis lazuli, red limestone
15
Peace and War Panels
Peace panel - banquet scene with king (large),
officials, musicians War panel - chariots,
donkeys,soldiers with weapons
16
Lyre Soundbox
Figs 2-9, 2-10 From Kings grave in Urs Royal
Cemetery Musical Instrument Bulls head of gold
leaf and lapis lazuli Anthropomorphic animals -
composite creatures Scorpion men, possibly from
Gilgamesh story
17
Cylinder Seals

• FIG 2-11
• Image carved onto stone cylinder
• Materials jasper, agate, lapis lazuli
• Seals surface pressed against clay, intaglio
  printing
• Purpose
• Legalize documents
• Signified high status
• Art historians use to chart development of
  pictorial style

Cylinder Seal from Akkadian Period 2350 - 2100
BCE Albite Contest between hero and
animalComposite creatures
18
Head of Akkadian Ruler

• FIG. 2-122250 - 2200 BCE, IraqBronze From
  Sumeria (but after it had been conquered by
  Akkadians)
• Stylized features - eyebrowsNaturalistic nose
  and beardBronze sculpturePre-eminence of king -
  the ruler in art

19
Victory Stele of Naram-Sin

• FIG 2-13
• Susa, Iran
• 2250 BCE
• pink sandstone, about 67 high
• Commemorates defeat of Lullubi
• What formal conventions does it share with
  earlier Near Eastern relief sculptures?
• What iconographic elements are used?

20
Gudeas Diorite Portraits

• FIG 2-25
• Made of diorite expensive, hard, black stone
• Ca. 2100 BCE
• Monumental construction
• Gudea, king of Lagash, neo-Sumerian city-state
• Kings role as intermediary of the gods
• Dedications to gods, temple plans inscribed on
  skirt
• This statue has not been made from silver, nor
  from lapis lazuli, nor from copper, nor from
  lead, nor yet from bronze it is made of
  diorite.

21
Hammurabi of Babylon

• FIG 2-26
• Hammurabi formulated law code for realm
• God bestows symbols of authority on king
• Black basalt stele, 74 high
• God Shamash depicted conventionally
• Horned headdress
• Composite view
• Stylized elements
• Hierarchy of size

22
Assyrian Lamassu

• FIG 2-21
• Lamassu divine genii
• Guardians of citadel of Sargon II
• Winged, human-headed bull
• High reliefs on adjacent sides of corner
• Conceptual as opposed to optical
• Shows all important parts
• Does not show as actually viewed

23
Palace Frieze ofAshurbanipal II

• FIG 2-24
• Nineveh, Iraq c. 640 BCE
• Power art
• Glorification of ruler
• Kings dominance over lions symbolizes
  subjugation of enemies
• Naturalistic depiction of powerful, muscular
  lions
• Ashurbanipal also collected a library of 20,000
  cuneiform tablets

24
Triumph of (Neo-)Babylon

• FIG 2-25
• Ishtar Gate, Babylon
• Glazed brick, ca.575 BCE
• Nebuchadnezzar
• Chaldean ruler
• Restored Babylon
• Built Hanging Gardens
• Profile figures of Marduks (mushushu) dragon and
  bull alternate
• Gate straddled processional way

25
Persepolis of the Persians

• FIG 2-27
• Processional frieze from apadana of Persepolis
• Ca. 521 - 465 BCE
• Higher relief than Assyrian friezes
• Treatment of drapery like Archaic Greek
• Palace contained man-headed winged bulls

26
Sasanians vs. Romans

• FIG 2-30 Triumph of Shapur I over Valerian, ca.
  260 CE

27
Sasanian Kings

• FIG 2-29
• Head of Sasanian king (Shapur II?)
• Silver and mercury, ca. 350 CE
• Testifies to wealth
• Repousee
• Hammered from single sheet of metal
• Features pushed out from behind
• Mercury gilding adds color

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Portrait of the Ruler
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Which culture?
30
Which culture?
31
Compare (and contrast)