ARH 2050: History of Visual Arts I
Prof. S. Bundrick
3 and 5 September 2002
ART OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
Mesopotamia:
Protoliterate Period (ca. 3500–3000 BC):
Female head, from Uruk (modern Warka), ca. 3200-3000 BC
White Temple, Uruk (modern Warka), ca. 3200–3000 BC
View, reconstruction drawing
“Warka vase,” with presentation of offerings to the goddess Inanna,
from Uruk (modern Warka), ca. 3200-3000 BC
Early Dynastic period (ca. 3000–2350 BC):
Statuettes from the Abu temple, Eshnunna (Tell Asmar), ca. 2700 BC
Statuette of Ur-Nanshe, from the Ishtar temple at Mari,
ca. 2600-2500 BC
“Standard of Ur,” Royal Cemetery (Tomb 779), Ur,
ca. 2600 BC
Cylinder impression with banquet scene, Royal Cemetery (Tomb of
Puabi, 800), Ur, ca. 2600 BC
Harp, Royal Cemetery (Tomb 789), Ur, ca. 2600 BC
Akkadian period (ca. 2350-2150 BC):
Copper head of a ruler, ca. 2250-2200 BC
Victory stela of Naram-Sin, 2254-2218 BC
Neo-Sumerian period (Ur III, ca. 2150-2000 BC):
Seated statue of Gudea, governor of Lagash, ca. 2100 BC
cf. Standing statue of Gudea
Ziggurat dedicated to Nanna, Ur, ca. 2100 BC
Old Babylonian Period (ca. 2000-1600 BC):
Stela with law code of Hammurabi, ca. 1780 BC
Assyrian Empire (ca. 900-612 BC):
Northwest palace of Ashurnasirpal II, Kalhu (Nimrud),
ca. 875-860 BC
Reliefs: King hunts lions; Enemies attack a fortress
Palace of Sargon II, Dur Sharrukin (Khorsabad), ca. 720-705 BC
Reconstruction of palace complex
Guardian figure (lamassu)
North palace of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh, ca. 645-640 BC
Reliefs: King hunts lions; Dying lioness;
King and queen feasting
2.3
2.1–2.2
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.8
2.11
2.9–2.10
2.12
2.13
2.15
2.14
2.16
2.22
2.20
2.21
2.24–2.25
Neo-Babylonian Empire (612-539 BC):
Ishtar Gate and Processional Way, Babylon, ca. 575 BC
2.26
Persia:
Achaemenid Empire (ca. 539-331 BC):
Palace complex of Kings Darius I and Xerxes I, Persepolis
Plan of the complex
Audience hall (apadana) and eastern stairway
Relief from apadana with subjects bringing gifts
Relief with king giving audience
Terms:
polytheism
Abu
lost-wax technique
Assur (=Ashur)
Ahuramazda
cuneiform
Leonard Woolley
Shamash
Henry Austen Layard
Nebuchadnezzar
2.27
lapis lazuli
bitumen
lamassu
Inanna/Ishtar
Sargon of Akkad
diorite
Lagash
Alabaster vase with scenes of offering to Inanna,
from Uruk (Warka), ca. 3500-3000 BC
-decoration in registers (three)
-top: presentation to the goddess
-imported stone—luxury object
-over 3 ft high, one of a pair—restored in antiquity, eg ancient repairs to head of goddess
-clues to temple ritual
-top register: naked figure approaching Inanna with basket of fruit—priests approaching
nude, perhaps to show difference in status b/w priest and deity? (or humility?)—contrast
this with the nudity on the Narmer Palette
-figure behind priest clothed in long ribe (king?), servant behind holds girdle of king’s
skirt
-behind goddess, assortment of objects, inc 2 vases, 2 vessels, one in shape of goat
another in shape of lion, baskets of fruit—temple possessions or offerings?
-middle register: procession of nude males bringing offerings to the temple
-bottom register: procession of sheep and rams, register of grain and flax below—
animal/crops referring to temple possessions and to abundance that goddess can provide
-decoration emphasizes vase shape and is pleasing to eye
-no attempts at depth, no background
-conceptual rendering of human figure
-valuable vasedonated by ruler or some other elite person
-“first great work of narrative relief sculpture known” (Gardner)
-lower registers: staple commodities of the Sumerian economy
-use of groundlines here is new
-note use of hierarchy of scale here for the “priest-king” and the goddess/priestess figure
-symbolic marriage of priest-king and the goddess?