Content Area 2:
Ancient Mediterranean
3500-300 CE
Mesopotamia and Egypt (15 works)
12. White Temple and its ziggurat. Uruk (modern Warka,
Iraq). Sumerian. c. 3500–3000 B.C.E. Mud brick.
14. Statues of votive figures, from the Square
Temple at Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar, Iraq).
Sumerian.
c. 2700 B.C.E. Gypsum inlaid with shell and
black limestone.
The Standard of Ur was an Ancient
Sumerian box that contained a
“Peace” side (left) and a “War” side
(below)
Sumerian
16. Standard of Ur from the Royal Tombs at Ur (modern Tell elMuqayyar, Iraq). Sumerian. c. 2600–
2400 B.C.E. Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red
limestone.
Sumerian
War side of the Standard of Ur, Royal Cemetery, Iraq, c.2600BCE. Wood
inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone, approx 8” x 1’ 7”.
Sumerian
Peace side of the Standard of Ur.
Babylonian: Stele with law code of
Hammurabi, Iran, c.1780BCE. Basalt,
7’4”H. being commissioned by sun god
Shamash to inscribe these 282 laws in
400 lines of text; united Mesopotamia
under his rule.
“the king who made the four quarters of the earth
obedient”
The top portion, shown here, depicts
Hammurabi with Shamash, the sun god.
Shamash is presenting to Hammurabi a
staff and ring, which symbolize the
power to administer the law.
Hammurabi, with the help of his
impressive Babylonian army, conquered
his rivals and established a unified
Mesopotamia. He proved to be as great
an administrator as he was a general.
The code of Hammurabi contained 282
laws, written by scribes on 12 tablets.
Unlike earlier laws, it was written in
Akkadian, the daily language of Babylon,
and could therefore be read by any
literate person in the city.
19. The Code of Hammurabi. Babylon (modern Iran). Susian.
c. 1792–1750 B.C.E. Basalt.
Hammurabi said that with this code of law he intended
“to cause justice to prevail in the land and to destroy the wicked and the evil,
that the strong might not oppress the weak nor the weak the strong.”
25. Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II, Dur Sharrukin
(modern Khorsabad, Iraq). Neo-Assyrian. c. 720–705
B.C.E. Alabaster.
PERSIA and the city of
PERSEPOLIS 521-465 BCE
(present day Iran)
Royal Audience Hall
(apadana, 60’H, 200’SQ.)
30. Audience Hall (apadana) of
Darius and Xerxes. Persepolis,
Iran. Persian. c. 520–465 B.C.E.
Limestone.
13. The Palette of King Narmer
Hierakonpolis, Egypt, Predynastic 3000-2920 BCE, greywacke, 2’1”H
Predynastic Egypt
The Palette of King Narmer is one
earliest historical artworks
preserved.
It was, at one time, regarded as
commemorating the foundation
of the first of Egypt’s thirty-one
dynasties around 2920 BC (the
last ended in 332 BC)
This image records the
unification of Upper and Lower
Egypt into the “Kingdom of Two
Lands” .
Egyptians prepared eye makeup on tablets such as this
for protecting their eyes against irritation and the sun’s
glare. This palette is not only important because of its
historical content, but it also serves as a blueprint of
the formula for figure representation that characterized
Egyptian art for three thousand years.
The back of the palette depicts
the king wearing the bowlingpin-shaped crown of Upper
Egypt accompanied by an official
who carries his sandals. The
king is in the process of slaying
his enemy and is significant in
the pictorial formula for
signifying the inevitable triumph
of the Egyptian god-kings.
Used to hold the eye makeup
The falcon is a symbol of Horus,
the kings protector.
Below the ground-line of the
king are two of his fallen
enemies.
Above the king are the two
heads of Hathor a goddess of
favorable dispose to Narmer and
shown as the cow with a
woman’s face. Between these
two faces is the hieroglyph of
Narmer’s name with a frame
representing the Royal Palace.
Symbolic of the unification
The front of the palette depicts the king wearing the red cobra
crown of Lower Egypt. The bodies of the dead are seen from
above, as each body is depicted with it’s head severed and
neatly placed between its legs.
15. Seated Scribe
Saqqara, Egypt, Dynasty IV Ca
2620-2500 BCE. Painted limestone.
The Scribe is a high court official- most
scribes were sons of pharaohs. (Alert
expression in face, individualized torsoflabby and middle-aged)
Old kingdom also invented the portrait
bust- whether it was an abbreviated statue
or had some greater significance is
unknown
Notice the realism depicted in this
sculpture, when compared to that of the
Pharaohs. His depiction in this manner is a
result of his lower hierarchy in Egyptian
society than that of a Pharaoh.
It has been said that it could take up to 10
years for a scribe to learn the language of
hieroglyphics that contained nearly 700
characters.
18. King Menkaura and queen.
Old Kingdom. Gizeh, Egypt Dynasty IV, ca
2490-2472 BCE Graywacke, approx. 4’6 ½”H.
Standing (common pose), both have left foot forward,
yet their bodies are static .
The stone from which they were created still is still
visible, maintaining the block form.
These figures were meant to house the ka .
This was the stereotypical pose that symbolized
marriage. Notice how the figures are idealized and
emotionless. The artists depiction of these two people
is indicative of the formula for depicting royalty in
Egyptian Art.
Burial Chamber is in the center of the
pyramid rather than underneath
17. The Old Kingdom: Great Pyramids Gizeh,
Egypt, Dynasty IV: Menkaure, Khafre, Khufu
Originally covered in smooth stone
that would be reflective in the sun.
(Almost blinding to the eyes.)
Fourth Dynasty pharaohs considered
themselves to be the sons of the sun
God Re and his incarnation on Earth.
Egyptians always buried their dead
on the west side of the Nile, in a
necropolis, where the sun sets.
The largest of the pyramids, Khufu, is
about 450 feet tall and has an area of
almost 13 acres. It contains almost
2.3 million blocks of stone, each
weighing about 2.5 tons.
The Great Pyramid
at Gizeh is the
oldest and only still
existing of the seven
wonders of the
ancient world
The Great Sphinx
The Sphinx, a lion with a
human head, commemorated
the pharaoh and served as an
immovable, eternal silent
guardian of his tomb.
This guardian stood watch at
the entrances to the palaces of
their kings. It gives visitors
coming from the east the
illusion that it rests on a great
pedestal.
The face of the Sphinx is
thought to be an image of the
pharaoh Khafre, Khufu’s
second son.
17. Great Sphinx, Gizeh, Egypt, Dynasty IV
ca. 2520-2494BCE. 65’H
20. Temple of Amun-Re
and Hypostyle Hall. Karnak,
near Luxor, Egypt. New
Kingdom, 18th and
19th Dynasties. Temple: c.
1550 B.C.E.; hall: c. 1250
B.C.E. Cut sandstone and
mud brick.
Temple of Amen-Re, Karnak, Egypt,
Dynasty XIX Ca 1290-1224 BCE.
This temple is mainly the product of the
Eighteenth Dynasty pharaohs, but some of the
Nineteenth Dynasty pharaohs contributed to it
as well. Contributors include: Thutmose I and
II, Hatshepsut, and Ramses II.
This temple is a great example of the hypostyle
hall. ( A roof supported by many columns and
example of post and lintel construction).
The central section of
the roof is raised.
This architectural
feature is called a
clerestory. The
function of this was
to allow light and air
to filter into the
interior.
The columns were
decorated with a
series of sunken relief
sculptures.
The New Kingdom:
21. Queen Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple
Built 1480 BC (New
Kingdom) Deir elBahri, Egypt.
The colonnaded
terraces were
originally covered
with trees and plants.
.
Queen Hatshepsut became the Pharoah when her husband Thutmose II had
died. The heir to the throne was to be given to his twelve year old son, but he
was too young to rule. Hatshepsut then assumed the role of King, and
became the first great female monarch whose name was recorded.
Many of the portraits of Hatshepsut were destroyed at the order of Thutmose
III (the son too young to rule), as he was resentful of her declaration of herself
as pharaoh.
Akhenaton’s god was unlike any
other Egyptian God in that it
was not depicted by animal or
human form. Instead, Aton was
depicted only as a sun disk
emitting live-giving rays.
Stylistic Changes during the
Amarna Period included:
Effeminate elongated body and
skull with curving contours
Long full- lipped face, heavylidded eyes, and a dreamy
expression.
The body of Akhenaton is oddly
misshapen with weak arms, a
narrow waist, protruding belly,
wide hips, and fatty thighs.
22. Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and three daughters. New Kingdom
(Amarna), 18th Dynasty. c. 1353–1335 B.C.E. Limestone.
23. Tutankhamun’s tomb, innermost coffin. New Kingdom, 18th
Dynasty. c. 1323 B.C.E. Gold with inlay of enamel and
semiprecious stones.
24. Last judgment of Hu-Nefer, from his tomb (page from the Book of the Dead).
New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty. c. 1275 B.C.E. Painted papyrus scroll, 1’6’L.
Hu-Nefer was the royal scribe to the pharaoh Seti I.
This painting depicts the jackal-headed god, Anubis, leading Hu-Nefer down the hall of judgment.
His soul has been favorably weighed and he is being brought by Horus to the presence of the greenfaced Osiris. Books of the Dead held spells, prayers and incantations to instruct the dead.
This formula for imagery in Hu-Nefer’s tomb demonstrates a return to the Old Kingdom funerary
illustrations.