Advanced Placement History of Art Dr. Schiller: Mesopotamian Art: The Art of the Ancient Near East
Mesopotamia:
Mesopotamia: Geography: Mesopotamia occupies the fertile crescent valley of the Tigris and Euphrates River few natural defenses continuous invasions frequent changes in control Culture/Religion: pessimistic/no after-life
Sumer Mesopotamia: 3000 BCE 2340 BCE Akkad Ur/Lagash Babylonia Assyria: Neo-Babylonia: 2340 BCE 2180 BCE 2125 BCE 2000 BCE 1900 BCE 1600 BCE 1000 BCE 612 BCE 612 BCE 539 BCE Achaemenid Persia:559 BCE 331 BCE Sasanid Persia: ~200s CE
Sumer Sumer: 3000 BCE 2340 BCE
Enduring Understanding 2-1 Artistic traditions of the ancient Near East and dynastic Egypt focused on representing royal figures and divinities and on the function of funerary and palatial complexes with in their cultural contexts Works of art illustrate the active exchange of ideas and reception of artistic styles among the Mediterranean futures and the subsequent influence on the classic world
Essential Knowledge 2-1a The art of the ancient Near East (present-day Iraq, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Cyprus, from 3500 to 330 BE) is associated with successive city-states and cultural powers: Sumerian, Akkadian, Neo-Sumerian and Babylonian, Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, ad Persian. Essential Knowledge 2-1b The study of artistic innovations and conventions developed in the ancient Near East and dynastic Egypt (facilitated by recorded information from the time) provides a foundation for comparative understanding of subsequent artistic traditions with the region and beyond
Enduring Understanding 2-2 Religion plays a significant role in the art and architecture of the ancient Near East, with cosmology guiding representation of deities and kings who themselves assume divine attributes
Essential Knowledge 2-2a Artists created fully developed formal types, including sculptures of human figures interacting with gods and stylistic conventions representing the human form with a combined profile and threequarter view. In these combinations, important figures are set apart using a hierarchical scale or by dividing the compositions into horizontal sections (registers), which provide significant early examples of historical narratives. Essention Knowledge 2-2b Architectural representations include towering ziggurats that provide monumental settings for the worship of many deities, as well as heavily fortified palaces that increased in opulence of the centuries, proclaiming the power and authority of the rulers.
Sumer: 3000 BCE 2340 BCE Culture: didn t believe in afterlife: comes from very harsh life in Mesopotamia unpredictable flooding and frequent war because it is a crossroads Epic of Gilgamesh : -- Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, tries to find his friend Enkidu in the after-life -- Learns there is no afterlife -- A goddess tells him to eat, drink, and be merry because when you die, that s it!
Culture: Sumer: 3000 BCE 2340 BCE invented wedge-shaped writing called cuneiform: based on originally on pictographs : simple pictures that represent a thing or a concept) marks pressed into clay with a stylus
Sumer: 3000 BCE 2340 BCE Culture, continued: each city-state was owned by a local god, who was represented by a ruler who acted as the god s steward ruler was a kind of priest-king: the head of temple and religion as well as the head of the state
At mercy of the gods! The Babylonian (Mesopotamian) Creation Myth climaxes in a cosmic battle between Marduk (the chief god of Babylon) and Tiamat (female personifying the salt sea)
At mercy of the gods! The Babylonian (Mesopotamian) Creation Myth Marduk cuts up Tiamat and makes the earth and sky from her body.
At mercy of the gods! The Babylonian (Mesopotamian) Creation Myth Then he creates the divisions of time, the celestial bodies, rivers, and weather. He creates humans from the blood of a defeated rebel god. Meant to explain the environment in which they were living.
Sumer: 3000 BCE 2340 BCE Architecture: ziggurat: from the Assyrian word "ziqquratu" meaning mountain-top or height a pyramidal tower built of mud brick and forming the base of a temple it was either stepped or had a broad ascent winding around it, which gave it the appearance of being stepped ziggurat reflects dominant role of temples as center of spiritual and physical existence
Sumer: 3000 BCE 2340 BCE Architecture: ziggurat: ziggurat had bent-axis approach, in contrast with the straight, single axis of Egyptian temples of the time A 'bent-axis' approach was fairly common in Mesopotamian temples (follow the arrows)
bent-axis: kind of like Ms.Pacman!
Sumer: 3000 BCE 2340 BCE Architecture: ziggurat: houses clustered around sacred area with temple on ziggurat in middle
Sumer: 3000 BCE 2340 BCE Architecture: ziggurat: temple itself had a cella (inner room of a temple) down the middle with a statue of the god before which sacrifices were made Stokstad plate 2-4
White Temple and ziggurat: 5000 years old! outstanding preserved example of early Sumerian temple architecture made of mud bricks most have eroded because they are more fragile than stone had white-washed walls (that s why it s called the White Temple) the temple is on a 40-foot ziggurat: --consistent with idea that gods reside above the world of humans --that is a central belief of most of the world s religions --also equated extreme height for political might A stairway leads to the top but doesn t end in front of any of the temple doorways, necessitating 2 or 3 angular changes in direction (bent-axis approach)
White Temple and ziggurat, cont d: Like other Sumerian temples, the corners are oriented to the cardinal points of the compass this temple probably dedicated to Anu, the Sky god modest size --not meant to accommodate huge crowds of worshippers --large enough for the priests and a few community leaders temple had several chambers: --one was the cella, central hall, set aside for the god and a stepped altar --Sumerians referred to their temples as waiting rooms reflected belief that the god would descend from the heavens to appear before the priests in the cella Loftiness of great ziggurat and temple profoundly impressed Mesopotamians
The Tower of Babel Was a real ziggurat! It was the tallest ziggurat -- was about 270 high! --known to the Hebrews as the Tower of Babel --became centerpiece of biblical story about the insolent pride of humans Pieter Bruegel the Elder The Tower of Babel 1563 Oil on oak panel
Stokstad plate 2-5 Great (Nanna) Ziggurat of Ur Iraq, ca. 2100 BCE
The Mesopotamians invented large-scale architecture. Their buildings were the first designed for aesthetic effect.
Sumer: 3000 BCE 2340 BCE Sculpture: generally 1) enormous eyes 2) statuettes were often representative of gods, sometimes worshipper 3) gods were believed to be actually present in their images 4) no attempt at real likeness, but definitely anthropomorphic 5) geometric--form is basically cone and cylindrical shaped, unlike in Egypt where sculpture more cubic
Statuettes of worshippers, from modern-day Tell Asmar, Iraq, ca. 2700 BCE, gypsum inlaid with shell and black limestone, tallest figure approx. 2 6 high. Stokstad plate 2-9
Sumerian Statuettes: made out of gypsum found beneath the floor of a temple different heights hierarchy of scale can tell they are worshippers, not gods, because of prayer gesture of hands used for votive figures (votive figures: statues made as an act of worship to the gods) often representative of gods, sometimes worshippers gods were believed to be actually present in their images no attempt at real likeness: --form is basically cone and cylindrical shaped, unlike in Egypt where sculpture more cubic --geometric aspects of human figures note the stylized hair and robe hems
Excavations of Royal Cemetery of Ur during Sumerian Period War side and Peace side of the Standard of Ur, from royal Cemetery Ur, Iraq, ca. 2600 BCE. Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone, approx. 8 x 1 7.
Excavations of Royal Cemetery of Ur during Sumerian Period Ur was biblical Abraham s home archaeologists found many luxurious objects in graves, plus musicians, servant, charioteers and soldiers to help rulers in the afterlife most historically significant find is the Standard of Ur rectangular box=don t know function there s a war side and a peace side, read them left to right historical narrative
Excavations of Royal Cemetery of Ur during Sumerian Period War side: Upper register: soldiers present naked (to degrade them) captives to a kinglike figure notice his central placement in the composition and his bigger size; also, his head breaks through top of register Middle register: foot soldiers gather up and lead away captured foes Lower register: 4 wheeled war chariots drawn by donkeys mow down enemies, accelerating as they go
Excavations of Royal Cemetery of Ur during Sumerian Period Peace side victory celebration; banquet in connection with cult ritual
The pictures were made with what is called a stamp seal, an object similar to the rubber stamps we use for similar purposes today./cultural DIFFUSION INDUS RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATION SEALS FOUND IN MESOPOTAMIA Mesopotamian cylinder seals Banquet scene
Akkad: 2340 BCE 2180BCE spoke Akkadian (related to Hebrew) but adopted cuneiform characters for writing new concept of royal power: --king now called king and ruler of the earth, sort of like a god --King Sargon the greatest one; Naram-Sin his grandson new purpose for art: art for personal glorification of ruler
Victory Stele of Naram-Sin Stokstad plate 2-16 Victory stele of Naram-Sin (Sargon s grandson), from Susa, Iran, 2254-2218 BCE. Pink sandstone, approx. 6 7 high.
Also shows godlike sovereignty of kings of Akkad commemorates his defeat of the Lullabis, an Iranian mountain people inscribed twice-once in honor of Naram- Sin and once by a king who took the stele as booty Enemies fall, flee, die, or beg for mercy king wears the horned helmet (firs time king appears as a god in Mesopotamian art) 3 favorable stars shine on his triumph Victory stele of Naram-Sin (Sargon s grandson), from Susa, Iran, 2254-2218 BCE. Pink sandstone, approx. 6 7 high.
Notice sloping wooded mountain looks like king is scaling a ladder to the heavens--same conceit behind the great ziggurat towers king s men in order, enemy in disarray king and soldiers in composite view but innovation in other ways first landscape in Near Eastern Art since the one in Çatal Hüyük! also, setting the figures on successive tiers of the landscape rejects the standard means of telling a story through series of horizontal registers Victory stele of Naram-Sin (Sargon s grandson), from Susa, Iran, 2254-2218 BCE. Pink sandstone, approx. 6 7 high.
Babylonia: 1900 BCE-1600 BCE founder of first Babylonian dynasty: Hammurabi greatest figure of the age combined military prowess with deep respect for Sumerian tradition saw self as favorite shepherd of the sun-god Shamash, whose mission was to cause justice to prevail in the land
Babylonia: 1900 BCE-1600 BCE Code of Hammurabi: compilation of laws that applied to everyone an eye for an eye between members of same class less than an eye for an eye if a higher rank person harms a lower rank person more than an eye for an eye if a lower rank person harms a higher rank person
Stele with law code of Hammurabi, from Susa, Iran, ca. 1780 BCE. Basalt, approx. 7 4 high. Stokstad plate 2-18
Stele of Hammurabi tall black-basalt stele The relief: Hammurabi in presence of flame-shouldered sun-god, Shamash king raises hand in respect god bestows on Hammurabi right to rule and enforce the laws Although Shamash in composite front and side views-there s a departure Great Headdress with four pairs of horns is truly in profile (can only see four of them) some attempt at foreshortening torso at an angle also, god s beard is series of diagonal rather than horizontal lines, suggesting its recession from the picture plane
Assyria: c.1000-612 BCE
Assyria: c.1000-612 BCE By early 7 th c. BCE, empire extended as far west as Egypt Largest empire the world had seen up to that point! Fierce, cruel, and hated! Soon after, internal weakness and external enemies caused empire to collapse by 600 BCE
Lamassu (winged, humanheaded bull), from the Citadel of Assyrian ruler Sargon II, modern Iraq, ca. 720 BCE. Limestone, approx. 16 high. This is a guardian figure from the walled citadel (fortress) of Assyrian Sargon II known as a lamassu Stokstad plate 2-23 [actually, this one isn t in Stokstad but fill in the info in your packet anyway]
These are other guardian figures from the walled citadel (fortress) of Assyrian Sargon II These are smaller-- only approx. 13 10 high.
Gates and doorways in Assyrian royal complexes often protected by figures of winged bulls with human heads Believed to guard against evil influences Rendered with very realistic details Note the veins in the legs and the plumage of the wings Bodies articulated in a lifelike way But sometimes provided with a very unrealistic 5th leg, so when viewed from the front they appeared to stand still, but when viewed from the side they seemed to be in motion
Achaemenid Persia: c.559-331 BCE Cyrus of Persia captured Babylon in the 6th c. BCE Cyrus founded the Achaemenid dynasty By 480 BCE, the Persian Empire was the largest the world had yet known Only the successful Greek resistance in the 5 th c. BCE prevented Persia from moving into Europe Alexander the Great conquered and ended this empire in 330 BCE
Stokstad plate 2-30 Royal audience hall (apadana) and stairway, palace of Darius I and Xerxes I, Persepolis, Iran, ca. 521-465 BCE
Many powerful rulers created monuments to serve as visible symbols of their authority Darius I had a capital city built between ~521 and 465 BCE at what is today called Persepolis, in Iran One of the best-preserved sites in the Middle East. Designed with a new style of art that combined many different cultural traditions, including Persian, Mede, Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Greek This artistic integration was a side effect of Darius s political strategy of ruling an ever-larger empire
The imperial complex at Persepolis was set on a raised platform, which had been the Assyrian custom Laid out in a rectangular grid (system of crossed lines) Platform was 40 feet high and measured 1500 by 900 feet! Accessible only from a single ramp made of wide, shallow steps to let mounted riders ride up on their horses Plan of Persepolis Darius son and successor, Xerxes, finished the complex
Darius and Xerxes Receiving Tribute, detail of a relief from the stairway leading to The audience hall, ceremonial complex, Persepolis, Iran, 491-486 BCE, limestone, Ht 8 4. Stokstad plate 2-31
Large relief panels from Persepolis also show influence from Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Greek cultures The garments that reveal the body beneath and have fine, knifeedge pleats especially reflect Greek sources and may have been done by Greek sculptors These reliefs were concerned with displays of allegiance and economic prosperity, rather than heroic exploits Here, Darius is on throne holding an audience, while Xerxes listens from behind the throne These panels would have been painted in rich tones of deep blue, scarlet, green, purple, and turquoise, with metal objects such as Darius crown and necklace covered in gold leaf (sheets of hammered gold)
Key Terms: Chapters 1 and 2
1.apadan: 2.bent-axis: 3.cardinal points: 4.cella 5.cosmology 4. creation myth: 5. cuneiform: 6. cylinder seal: 7. epic: 8. frieze: 9. Gilgamesh: 10. groundline: 11.Hammurabi: 12. hierarchy of scale: 14. lamassu: 15. lapis: 16. monumental architecture: 17. relief sculpture: 18. sculpture in the round: 19. standard: 20. stylus: 21. Tigris and Euphrates: 22. votive offering: 23. ziggurat:
20. standard: 22. stylus: 23. Tigris and Euphrates: 24. votive offering: 25. ziggurat: