Ancient Near East

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Ancient Near East 3500 BC- 500 BC
The Artist as Magician
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• Developed at the same time as Egypt
• Physical region had few natural defenses- many
  different cultures dominated
• Discouraged uniting under single ruler
• No defining culture, but art thrived
• Sumerians were the first to settle- language was
  unrelated to any other
• Sumerians had own developed writing- Cuneiform
  used for records, but also for literature
  (Gilgamesh)
• Not a lot of archeological evidence of the
  culture
• Used brick and mud which leaves very little
  remains (poor natural resources- depended on
  trade)
• Most information found on inscribed clay tablets

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White Temple, Uruk, 3000 BC

• Temples were dominant form of architecture-
• religion was city-state-based. Each had its own
  god who was regarded as king. Human ruler was
  seen as the gods steward on earth who governed
  people to worship the God. In return, the God
  was expected to plead the case of the city-state
  among the other deities who controlled fertility,
  the weather, water, etc.
• Administrative and religious center was the temple

Ziggurat- platform on which the temple stood
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Ziggurat of King Urnammu, Ur, 2500 BC
- most famous was the Tower of Babel. Height of
40 Ft- mountain tops are the dwelling place of
the gods, stairs and ramps lead up to the
sanctuary. Space not meant for crowds- select
few. -Main room is called the cella, where
sacrifices were made. The entrance faces away
from the stairs- the worshipper must work to be
able to worship- an angular spiral path
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Sculpture was found in Cella- used as cult
statue- eyes and eyebrows were originally inlaid
with colored materials and the hair was covered
with gold/copper wig- the rest of the figure was
probably made up of wood- (because of expense)
severe style
Female Head, Uruk, 3500-3000 BC
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• Geometric
• No real likeness
• Important people are taller
• Simplified faces and bodies
• No distraction from the eyes
• Forms based on cone and cylinder

Statues from Abu Temple, c.2700-2500 BC
Votive Statues
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Close up of worshipper

• Big eyes now interpreted as the eternal
  wakefulness needed to worship their deity
• Votive sculpture

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• Akkadians- after the decay of the Sumerian
  society (due to ambitious rulers trying to
  conquer each other)- nomadic people moved in from
  the Near East
• Sargon of Akkad and successors (2340-2180 BC)
  proclaimed ambition to rule the earth
• New task for art- personal glorification of
  rulers
• Steele- immortalizing military victory
• Both soldier and leader are active
• Only celestial bodies are above him in importance
• Space is more real, less organized horizontally

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin c.2300-2200 BC
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• Persuasive likeness
• Very detailed and elegant
• Surface texture
• Cast in copper, a complex technique

Head of Akkadian Ruler c.2200 BC
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• One of the Sumerian city states remained
  independent- Gudea was the ruler- still retained
  ruler- god idea, but he did have many statues of
  himself in shrines
• Carved of diorite, extremely hard stone, imported
  and difficult to sculpt
• Not very individualized features
• More realistic human characteristics

Head of Gudea, c.2150 BC
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• Babylon-
• 1760-1600 BC- power was controlled by the
  Babylonians
• Hammurabi was its founder
• Main goal was to provide justice to the people
• Hammurabis Code- earliest form of written law
• Top of code shows Hammurabi confronting the sun
  god- announcing code
• Related to the Gudea sculpture in style and
  technique
• Very high relief
• Eyes are in the round- establishes the
  relationship between god and man
• Entire Stele is 7 ft. tall

Stele ofHammurabi c.1780 BC
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• Assyrians-
• Controlled all of Mesopotamia and surrounding
  areas
• Drew on Sumerian achievements and reinterpreted
  them
• Sack of city-has foreground and middle ground and
  background
• Artists purpose was to show the story clearly
  and economically- people are in composite view

The Sack of the City of Hamanu by Ashurbanipal,
c. 650 BC
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Ashurnasirpal II Killing Lions, c. 850 BC

• Subject used for personal glorification of king
• not real hunts- ceremonial- lions were already
  caged and then released
• Energy and emotion are obvious- meant to show
  courage, nobility, and strength of the king

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• Neo-Babylonians
• Assyrians fell in 612 BC
• Babylon had a final era of artistic growth
  612-539 BC
• Used glazed bricks rather than stone slabs- used
  for surface ornamentation
• Ishtar Gate has been completely rebuilt and
  restored
• Continuation of the theme of animals in
  Mesopotamian art

Ishtar Gate, C.575 BC
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• Persia--
• Area which is now called Iran- always a nomadic
  land- art is a collection of objects known as the
  Animal Style
• Decorative use of animal motif in an abstract
  manner

Painted Beaker, 5000-4000 BC
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• Babylon became huge empire-included Egypt and
  Asia Minor- only toppled by Alexander the Great
  (331 BC)
• Religion was Zoroastrianism- altars were in open
  air so no religious architecture was created
• Secular palaces instead

Palace of Darius and Xerxes Persepolis, Iran c.
500 BC

• Columns were used on a grand scale- Egyptian
  influence
• Use of the motif of animals everywhere

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Darius and Xerxes Giving Audience c. 490 BC

• Relief within the palace is formal and stiff,
  solemn, repetitive and ceremonial
• Subservient to the architecture
• Assyrians energy and expression has been
  rejected
• Overlapping garments are completely new
• Body parts can be seen underneath the fabric
  (probably taken from the Greeks)