Art of the Ancient Near East

Last Lesson Recap (work in groups of two or three) 1.What does the term prehistory mean/what chronological period does it refer to?

2. Define Paleolithic and Neolithic

3.How might we define the term “culture”?

4.What did we learn about the Woman of Willendorf (context, but also date, size, area found etc)?

5.What was the function of cave art? Which cave did Werner Herzog go into, and how old is the art in it? What was painted on the walls? When was the cave art at this site discovered by modern man?

6.What did you fill out in your Stonehenge Graphic Organizer? Compare with your partner.

Some characteristics of civilization:  1)the creation of permanent urban and administrative centers;

2) the invention of basic political (a political system based on territory instead of kinship), social, and economic institutions (which then attempt to solve man’s basic needs: food, shelter, and security);

3) a method of taxation;

4) the division and specialization of labor;

5) external trade;

6) a hierarchical system of classes;

7) the development of the arts and sciences;

8) the creation of a complex religious life;

9) the invention of a written language for communication, record keeping, and the transmission of culture.  Civilization possibly first appeared among the ancient Sumerians and then among the Egyptians. 

The Ancient Near East.

Sumerians

The term "Sumerian" is the common name given to the ancient inhabitants of southern Mesopotamia, Sumer, by their successors, the Akkadians.

Cuneiform Writing

One of the earliest known forms of writing, emerging in Sumer c. 3000 BCE.

The Epic of Gilgamesh may be the oldest written story unearthed to date. It depicts the adventures of the historical King Gilgamesh of Uruk in Babylonia on the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq. The Epic of Gilgamesh dates to about 2700 BC and was originally written on 12 clay tablets in the cuneiform script of ancient Sumeria.

Tablet 11 of the Epic of Gilgamesh contains an extensive flood story that’s similar in many ways to the biblical account in Genesis.

Cuneiform writing – stylus.

Cuneiform writing symbols.

White Temple at Uruk, Uruk III period c. 3000 BC

Nanna Ziggurat. c. 2100–2050 BCE.

Carved Vessel, Uruk. c. 3300–3000 BCE, height 36”.

Cylinder Seal and its modern impression, c. 2600–2500 BCE, height 1 9/16”; diameter 25/32”.

Cult scene: the worship of the sun-god, Shamash, limestone cylinder-seal, Mesopotamia.

Votive Figures. c. 2900–2600 BCE, height of largest figure approx. 30”.

Close Lyre with Bearded Bull's Head and Inlaid Panel, Royal Cemetery, Ur, Iraq, Early Dynastic III, 2550-2450 BCE, wood, lapis lazuli, gold, silver, shell,

The Ancient Near East.

Head of an Akkadian Ruler c. 2250-2200 BCE.

Stele of Naram-Sin. 2254–2218 BCE, height 6'6”.

Votive Statue of Gudea, c. 2090 BCE, height 29”.

Stele of Hammurabi, c. 1792–1750 BCE, height of stele approx. 7'; height of relief 28”.

Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions, c 875 BCE (Iraq), height approx. 39".

Assurbanipal and his Queen in the Garden,The 'Garden Party' relief from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal (Room S), Nineveh,

northern Iraq. Assyrian, about 645 BC.

Human-headed Winged Bull and Winged Lion, Neo-Assyrian, ca. 883-859Height 10 ft. 3 ½ in.

Reconstruction drawing of Babylon in the 6th Century BCE.

Ishtar Gate and Throne Room Wall. c. 575 BCE, height of gate originally 40’, with towers rising 100’.

Photo of the remains from the 1930s of the excavation site in Babylon.

Model of the main procession street (Aj-ibur-shapu) towards Ishtar Gate.

Palace of Nebuchadnezzar (reconstruction during Saddam Hussain’s gvnmt).

New bricks stand atop ancient foundations at the wall of Babylon.

Saddam’s Presidential Palace and ruins of ancient Babylon (aerial view).

Air View of the Ceremonial Complex, Persepolis. 518–c. 460 BCE.

Apadana (Audience Hall) of Darius and Xerxes, Persepolis, 518–c. 460 BCE.

Ceremonial complex, Persepolis, Iran, Apadana (audience hall) of Darius and Xerxes, stairway, relief detail, Darius and Xerxes Receiving Tribute, 491-486 BCE.

1) What was the purpose of votive figures?

2) What is the subject of the carving on the Stele of Naramsin, and what was its function?

3) How/where did Cuneiform develop, and for what purpose?

4) What relationship can you describe between the relief on top of the Code of Hammurabi stele, and the written code itself?