The Art of the Ancient Near East: The Dawn of Civilization

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The Art of the Ancient Near EastThe Dawn of
Civilization
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• Well before farming communities arose in Europe,
  agriculture emerged in the Ancient Near East in
  the area known as the Fertile Crescent

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Goals

• Understand the cultural changes in the Neolithic
  Revolution as they relate to the art and
  architecture.
• Understand the concept of civilization and the
  importance of Sumer in the ancient Near East.
• Examine the artistic materials, techniques,
  subject matter, styles and conventions developed
  in the ancient Near East.

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Evolution of Earliest Settled Farming Communities

• Arose around 9000 BCE
• First in the hills above the rivers
• Later in the river valleys
• Gradually these communities evolved into cities
• Prosperous cities developed into city-states, in
  an area called Mesopotamia
• Eventually larger kingdoms absorbed these city
  states

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The Dawn of CivilizationUrban Life Population
Density

• Gave rise to specialized skills other than
  agricultural skills
• Social hierarchies evolved. Whats that?
• Workshops for milling flour, making bricks,
• pottery, textiles and metal ware opened
• Construction of temples and palaces kept many
  workers busy

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Specialists emerged to control rituals and sacred
rites

• People of ancient Near East were polytheistic
• Worshiped a variety of gods and goddesses
• Attributed them with power over human activity
  and nature
• Large temple complexes-clusters of religious,
  administrative, and service buildings-developed
  in each city
• Many of these kingdoms developed in an area
  called Mesopotamia

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Mesopotamia? Wheres that?Present day Iraq
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Mesopotamia (Greek for "between the rivers") was
in the Near East in roughly the same geographical
position as modern Iraq. Two great rivers flowed
through this land the Tigris and the Euphrates.
Along these two rivers were many great trading
cities such as Ur and Babylon on the Euphrates.
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Mesopotamia was the site of many important
kingdoms

• Its wealth and agricultural resources, as well as
  few natural defenses, made it vulnerable to
  repeated invasions. Over the centuries, the
  balance of power often shifted from one kingdom
  to another.

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Several important civilizations developed in this
fertile land area and competed for its control.

• The Sumerians
• The Akkadians
• The Babylonians
• The Assyrians
• The Persians

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The Sumerians
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The Sumerians

• Sumerian civilization arose in Mesopotamia
  between 3500 and 3000BCE
• They dominated Mesopotamia for over a thousand
  years
• Not much is left of their civilization, mud
  bricks
• They established a great city at Ur
• Gods and rulers were central to the creation of
  art
• Sumerians formalized the depiction of the human
  form
• Invented the wheel
• Developed the cuneiform writing style

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Cuneiform Writing

• Sumerians pressed cuneiform (wedge shaped)
  symbols into clay tablets
• They used a tool called a stylus to incise the
  symbols into clay tablets
• Thousands of Sumerian tablets document the
  gradual evolution of writing, arithmetic and a
  system of organized justice
• Sumerians also wrote the worlds first epic poem,
  The Epic of Gilgamesh
• King sets out in search of eternal life, there
  is also a flood and the building of a really big
  boat

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Pre-cuneiform pictographic writing, late fourth
millennium BCE                                 
                                                  
                                                  
                                          
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Cuneiform                                      
                                                  
                                                  
                                           
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Stylus
Cuneiform, from the Latin cunius, meaning
"wedge," is the term applied to a mode of
writing which used a wedge-shaped stylus to make
impressions on a clay surface, and also on stone,
metal, and wax. Most of the clay tablets were
sun-baked, making surviving tablets very
fragile.
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Mesopotamian Cylinder Seals Cylinder seals were
first made in Mesopotamia soon after 3500 BCE.
The seals were used to make an impression (or
'seal') in the soft clay, to indicate that the
message on the tablet was genuine. In the same
way, important documents are still sometimes
'sealed' by making an impression in bright red
sealing wax.
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Cylinder Seal                                   
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
                  
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Ziggurat at Uris a 4,000-year-old temple said to
mark the birthplace of Abraham, a key figure to
Muslims, Jews and Christians.
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The ziggurat is a stepped pyramidal structure.
There are about 25 such sites in areas of ancient
Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria. The ziggurat of Ur,
considered the best-preserved of the group, was
built around 2,100 B.C. by king Ur-Nammu the
structure is said to have honored the moon god
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Sumerian Sculpture

• Often associated with religion, but not always
• Sumerians produced highly decorative functional
  objects as well as religious figures
• Large statues, called Votive Figures, were
  commonly placed in temples
• This practice represents an ancient Near Eastern
  religious practice
• The placement in a shrine of simple, of small
  statues of individual worshipers before a larger
  image of a god. The votive statue stood in place
  of the actual worshipper, 24/7
• A simple inscription with an intention might also
  be included

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Sumerian Votive Figures
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Votive figures

• Simplified faces and bodies and dress that
  emphasized the cylindrical shape
• Figures are solemn, hands clasped in respect
• Arched brows and large staring eyes
• Both men and women are broad chested and square
  shouldered, although the women are a little less
  so

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Votive Worshiping Figures
                                                  
                                
                                                  
                                        
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Registers, divided sections or layers in a work
of art, were used to organize space and tell a
story
Uruk Vase, from Uruk, Mesopotamia, c. 3300-3000
BCE, alabaster
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• The "Ram in the Thicket.
• Ur (Southern Iraq)
• c. 2600-2400 BCE,
• Gold, silver, lapis lazuli, copper, shell, red
  limestone, and bitumen H. 42.6 cm,

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• Puabi's Headdres
• Ur (Southern Iraq),
• c. 2600-2400 BCE
• includes comb, hair rings, wreaths, hair ribbons,
  and earrings
• Gold, lapis lazuli, and
• carnelian,

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Bull Lyre

• Summerian
• Made of wood, gold, shell and lapis lazuli
• Musical string instrument
• Music, especially funerary music was important to
  the Sumerians

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Bull Lyre, detail Tomb of Queen Puabi, Ur
(Iraq), 2685BCE, wood with gold, lapis lazuli
shell, 18"h, Notice the use of registers
again
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Standard of Ur

• Found crushed in one of the largest graves in the
  Royal cemetery at Ur
• Original function is still unknown
• Perhaps was a standard carried by an inserted
  pole
• One side, the war side, features scenes of battle
  and the Sumerian army
• The other side, the peace side, features a rich
  banquet scene

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Peace Panel
The Standard of Ur, from Ur (Southern Iraq), c.
2600-2400 BCE, wood, shell and lapis lazuli
British Museum, London
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War Panel
The Standard of Ur, from Ur (Southern Iraq), c.
2600-2400 BCE, wood, shell and lapis lazuli
British Museum, London
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Detail from the Panels
The Standard of Ur, from Ur (Southern Iraq), c.
2600-2400 BCE, wood, shell and lapis lazuli
British Museum, London
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The Akkadians
Head of Akkadian ruler2250-2200 B.C.Original
Location Nineveh, Iraq
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TheAkkadians

• About 2300 BCE the Akkadians moved in from the
  north and conquered the Sumerians
• Led by a powerful and ambitious leader, Sargon I
• Sargon ruled his empire from Al Akkad, whose
  actual site has yet to be discovered
• The Akkadians had hoped to create an Empire and
  rule the world.
• However, their rule was short lived and the
  Sumerians regained control of region in about
  fifty years

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The First "Empire" in History  Sargon of Akkad,
2370 BC                                         
                                                  

• Sargon of Akkad gradually conquered the area
  between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers
  around 2300 BCE.
• The Akkadians spoke a Semitic language, like the
  Amorites. Sargon, according to Sumerian
  literature, was born to an Akkadian high
  priestess and a poor father, maybe a gardener.
• His mother abandoned him by putting him in a
  basket woven out of reeds and letting it float
  away down the river (like Moses a thousand years
  later).
• But Sargon was rescued, made friends with the
  goddess Ishtar and was brought up in the king's
  court.

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Stele of Naramsin

• A stele is an upright stone slab
• This stele commemorates the military achievements
  of Naramsin (Sargons grandson)
• Sculptors used the pointed shape of the slab to
  emphasis the mountain
• Horizontal registers were replaced with wavy
  ground lines
• Naramsins greater size is in hieratic
  relationship to his soldiers

2254 2218 BCE Limestone, low relief
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Lagash a Sumerian City State

• About 2180 BCE the Akkadian Empire fell to the
  Guti people
• The Guti then controlled most of Mesopotamia
• One large Sumerian city state, Lagash remained
  independent
• Gudea was the ambitious ruler of Lagash

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Gudea of Lagash

• Of all the rulers of ancient Mesopotamia, Gudea,
  of Lagash, emerges the most clearly across the
  millennia due to the survival of many of his
  religious texts and statues.
• He ruled his city-state in southeast Iraq for
  twenty years, bringing peace and prosperity at a
  time when the Guti, tribesmen from the
  northeastern mountains, occupied the land.
• The inscriptions found on his many statues
  describe vast building programs of temples for
  his gods.

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There are many surviving statues of Lagash. All
have the same thoughtful expression and are
embellished with cuneiform writing
                                               
                                                  
                                                
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The Babylonians

• Emerged in 1700 BCE to become the rulers of
  Mesopotamia
• First leader was Hammurabi
• Developed a humane code of laws
• Defeated by the Hittites in 1595 BCE

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Stele of Hammurabi Babylonian 1760 BCE Louvre,
Paris
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• Hammurabi's Code.
• The gods, as guardians of Mesopotamian cities,
  gave laws to mankind their role is made clear in
  Hammurabi's Code, where the king enacts their
  instructions.
• Hammurabi, king of the first dynasty of Babylon
  (1792-1750 BCE), is credited with the compilation
  of the famous Code of Laws, the most important
  single written document from Mesopotamia.
• Preserved on a black stone stele, the code states
  that the gods of Sumer had exalted Marduk, and
  instructed Hammurabi to create justice in the
  land.
• He is shown before Shamash, the sun-god, who was
  also god of the justice. Among laws governing
  society, the code also recognizes the social
  obligations of the temple.

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The Assyrians

• People from Northern Mesopotamia
• Became powerful around 1000 BCE and by 900 BCE
  controlled most of Mesopotamia
• Assyrian rulers built large palaces on hilltops
• They decorated their palaces with detailed relief
  sculptures

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Scenes from Assyrian Relief Sculpture

• Victorious battles
• Presentations of tribute to the king
• Combat between men and beasts
• Religious imagery

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Assyrian 850 BCE Alabaster

• Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions
• The dramatic action of this image marks a shift
  in Mesopotamian art away from a sense of
  timelessness and toward visual narrative.

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Dying Lioness, Assyrian, limestone 650BCE
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A Winged Genius Assyrian Alabaser 883-859 B.C.
This low relief, once painted in bright colors,
belonged to a series of slabs adorning the
fabulous palace of the great ruler Assurnasirpal
II. Standing in profile, according to artistic
convention, the figure in the frieze is a winged
"genius," or protective being.
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Lamassu, from the palace of Sargon II, Dur
Sharrukin
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Neo-Babylonia

• Babylonians regained power by defeating the
  Assyrians in 612 BCE
• Most famous ruler of new Babylon was
  Nebuchadbezzar II
• Great patron of architecture
• Built temples to Babylonian gods
• Transformed Babylon to one of the most
  beautiful cities of the day

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The Ishtar Gate

• The Ishtar Gate was the eighth gate to the inner
  city of Babylon.
• It was constructed in about 575 BC by order of
  King Nebuchadrezzar II
• Dedicated to the Assyrian goddess Ishtar, the
  Gate was constructed of blue glazed tiles
• The roof and doors of the gate were of cedar,
  according to the dedication plaque.
• Through the gate ran the Processional Way which
  was lined with walls covered in lions on glazed
  bricks (about 120 of them).
• Statues of the gods were paraded through the
  gate and down the Processional Way each year
  during the New Year's celebration.
• A reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate and
  Processional Way was built at the Pergamon Museum
  in Berlin out of excavated material in the 1930s.

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Reconstruction drawing of the city of Babylon and
the Ishtar Gate
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• Reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate
• Berlin

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• The walls along the main road in Babylon were
  tiled with glass glazed bricks decorated with
  striding lions

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And FinallyThe Persians
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The Persians

• Persians a nomadic people from present day Iran
• 539BCE Persians defeat the Assyrians in
  Mesopotamia
• Went on to create an enormous empire
• Under King Darius they built enormous palaces
• Remained in control of Mesopotamia until
• defeated by Alexander the Great in 332BCE

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Relief Sculpture Paying tribute to King Darius

Which figures are the most important?
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Audience Hall of Darius and Xerxes518-460 BCE,
Iran
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• Floor plan of the
• Audience wall of Darius and Xerxes

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Stairway at Persepolis  

• The rock platform is carved from a natural rock
  formation.
• The relief sculpture that decorates the walls of
  the stairway depict subjects of the empire
  bringing gifts and tribute to the king.
• They bring a broad variety of goods from sheep to
  fabric and jewels. 
• It is very orderly and realistic as if they are
  climbing the stairs.  It is carved in higher
  relief and with more rounded forms than Assyrian
  reliefs.

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Bull Column Capital 

• This column capital, in the form of two bulls,
  supported a wooden beam that was the main
  structural support for the roof of the audience
  hall. Each one of the 40' columns was topped by a
  capital such as this one. You can get a sense of
  the the size of the capital by the doorways on
  either side of it  The animal column capital is
  a unique creation of the Persian artists. They
  are very fluid and decorative in their form.