Chapter 2
Art of the Ancient Near East
SABAN
Sumer
Akkad
Babylon
Assyria
Neo-Babylonia
THE FIRST CITIES
Jericho
• Walls – 20 feet high, 5 feet wide
– Defense against neighbors
– Diversion of flood waters
• Burials beneath the floors of houses
– Skeletons often lacked skulls, which were
buried separately
• Plaster casts of human bodies & skulls have
been found
– Ancestor worship?
Great Stone Tower of Settlement Wall
Jericho, Israel/Gaza
ca. 8000- 7000 B.C.E.
Human Skulls with Restored
Features
from Jericho, Israel/Gaza
ca. 7000-6000 B.C.E.
skulls, plaster, shells
Çatalhöyük, Turkey
• Neolithic village; 6500 – 5500 BCE
– 1,000 houses with population of 5,000
• Religious images of mother goddess
• Trade with other local villages
• Specialized skilled workers –
toolmakers/jewelers
– Obsidian
• Easy defense
– No open areas; unbroken exterior walls
Çatalhöyük
Turkey
ca. 6500-5500 B.C.E.
Deer Hunt
detail of a wall painting from Level III
Çatalhöyük, Turkey
ca. 5750 B.C.E.
Çatalhöyük
Turkey
ca. 6000-5900 B.C.E.
Landscape with Volcanic Eruption
Çatalhöyük, Turkey
ca. 6150
watercolor copy of a wall painting
Southern Mesopotamia
SUMERIAN ART
Emergence of Civilization
• Civilization – Complex culture in which large
numbers of humans share a number of common
elements
–
–
–
–
–
–
Cities
Government – organize & regulate human activity
Religion – explanation of nature & existence
Writing – creative expression & record keeping
Artistic activities
Economy
Mesopotamia
• Mesopotamia – “Land between two rivers”
– Tigris & Euphrates
– Fertile Crescent – from the Mediterranean Sea
to the Persian Gulf
• Rich soil sustained abundant crops – silt deposits
from the rivers
• River flood yearly because of melting snow
– Unpredictable – how much & when?
• Rivers brought water but could also be destructive
Fertile Crescent
Sumerian Civilization
• Economy
– Farm-based
– Trade
• Inventions
– Wheel, sundial, arch,
numbers based on 60;
12 month calendar
based on the moon
– Writing – first writing
system
• Cuneiform
Stairway to Heaven
White Temple and ziggurat
Uruk (modern Warka) Iraq
ca. 3200-3000 B.C.E.
mud brick
White Temple and ziggurat
Uruk (modern Warka) Iraq
ca. 3200-3000 B.C.E.
mud brick
Sumerian Ziggurat
He built Uruk. He built the keeping place
of Anu and Ishtar. The outer wall
shines in the sun like brightest copper; the inner
wall is beyond the imagining of kings.
Study the brickwork, study the fortification;
Climb the greatest ancient staircase to the terrace;
Study how it is made; from the terrace see
The planted and fallow fields, the ponds and orchards.
This is Uruk, the city of Gilgamesh.
Ziggurats
• Built out of mud brick; most do not survive
– Did not have access to limestone
• Long staircases ascending from terrace to
terrace, climbing toward heaven
– Only priests were allowed to use the stairs &
enter the temple at the top
RECOVERED
Female head
from Uruk (modern Warka) Iraq
ca. 3200-3000 B.C.E.
marble
approximately 8 in. high
SOME MISSING
Statuettes of worhippers
from Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar) Iraq
ca. 2700 B.C.E.
gypsum, shell, black limestone
tallest 30 in. high
Statuettes of worhippers
from Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar) Iraq
ca. 2700 B.C.E.
gypsum, shell, black limestone
tallest 30 in. high
Statuettes of worhippers
from Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar) Iraq
ca. 2700 B.C.E.
gypsum, shell, black limestone
tallest 30 in. high
The Eyes Have It!
• Votive Statue – an image created as a
devotional offering to a god or other deity
• Votives were created to represent
Sumerian worshippers; they were placed in
front of statues of the gods
• Why are they bug-eyed?
– Meant you were devout or awestruck in the
presence of a god – couldn’t take your eyes off
him or her
Ziggurat
at Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar) Iraq
ca. 2100 B.C.E.
mud brick
Ziggurat (restored)
at Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar) Iraq
ca. 2100 B.C.E.
mud brick
Bull-headed lyre
from Tomb 789, Royal Cemetery Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar)
ca. 2600 B.C.E.
wood, gold leaf, lapis lazuli
approximately 65 in. high
Iconography
• Iconography – meaning of images
• Register – horizontal bands that tell a story
– Bottom register – scorpion man = land
of demons
– 2nd register from bottom = animals
playing an instrument
– 3rd register = a hyena (butcher?) carries
meat while a lion follows with a large jar
– Top register = athletic man (the dead
man)
Ram in a thicket
from Tomb 789, Royal Cemetery Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar) Iraq
ca. 2600 B.C.E.
gold, silver, lapis lazuli, copper, shell, red limestone, bitumen
42.6 cm. high
MANY MISSING
Cylinder seals
ca. 2600-2000 B.C.E.
approximately 2 in. high
Cylinder seal
from the tomb of Pu-abi
Royal Cemetery Ur
(modern Tell Muqayyar) Iraq
ca. 2600 B.C.E.
approximately 2 in. high
AKKADIAN ART
Mesopotamian Empires
• Akkadia
– Sargon I – 2340 BC – leader created an empire, a vast
political state that controlled many people/territories
• Used art as propaganda rather than to honor the gods
– Empire fell due to weak leadership following his death
• Babylon
– Hammurabi – expanded his empire through military
– Code of Hammurabi – effort to reorganize,
consolidate, and preserve previous laws
– Code based on social levels
MISSING
Head of an Akkadian ruler
from Ninevah (modern Kuyunjik) Iraq
ca. 2250-2200 B.C.E.
copper
14 3/8 in. high
Compare
Head of Akkadian Ruler
Abu Temple Statuette
• Stele – Stone slab
placed vertically and
decorated with
inscriptions or reliefs
– Used as a grave
marker or memorial
Victory stele of Naram-Sin
from Susa, Iran
ca. 2,254-2,218 B.C.E.
sandstone
79 in. high
Victory stele of Naram-Sin
from Susa, Iran
ca. 2,254-2,218 B.C.E.
sandstone
79 in. high
Seated statue of Gudea holding temple plan
from Girsu (modern Telloh) Iraq
ca. 2,100 B.C.E.
diorite
29 in. high
Stele with code of Hammurabi
from Susa, Iran
ca. 1,780 B.C.E.
basalt
88 in. high
The laws were 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.”
Stele with code of Hammurabi
from Susa, Iran
ca. 1,780 B.C.E.
basalt
88 in. high
ASSYRIAN ART
Assyrian Empire
• Upper Tigris River – no natural defense
• Empire included Mesopotamia; parts of
Iranian plateau; sections of Asia Minor;
Syria; Palestine & Egypt to Thebes
• King with absolute power
• Iron weapons
• Army was large, well organized &
disciplined
– Foot soldiers; charioteers; cavalry; archers
• CRUEL, CRUEL, CRUEL warriors
The Architects: Urban
Planning
• Complex city centered
around the temple
– 7 story ziggurat
– Workshops, storehouses
& residential quarters
• The Palace
– 25 acres
– 200 rooms & courtyards
• Destroyed c. 600 B.C.E.
Reconstruction drawing
of the citadel of Sargon II, Dar Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad) Iraq
ca. 720-705 B.C.E.
1
2
3
4
5
Lamassu (winged human headed bull)
from the citadel of Sargon II, Dar Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad) Iraq
ca. 720-705 B.C.E.
limestone
13 ft. 10 in. high
Assyrian archers pursuing enemies
from the Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, Kalhu (modern Nimrud)
ca. 875-860 B.C.E.
gypsum
2 ft. 10 3/8 in. high
Ashurbanipal hunting lions
from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal, Ninevah (modern Kuyunjik) Iraq
ca. 645-640 B.C.E.
gypsum
approximately 5 ft. high
Ashurbanipal hunting lions
from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal, Ninevah (modern Kuyunjik) Iraq
ca. 645-640 B.C.E.
gypsum
approximately 5 ft. high
Ashurbanipal hunting lions
from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal, Ninevah (modern Kuyunjik) Iraq
ca. 645-640 B.C.E.
gypsum
approximately 5 ft. high
Sculpture
• Bas relief (or low relief) – A sculpture that
sticks out slightly from the surface it is
carved from, but is not completely
detached from it.
NEO-BABYLONIAN
ART
Neo-Babylonia
• Ancestors of
Hammurabi’s
Babylonia
• King
Nebuchadnezzar –
605 – 562 BC –
rebuilt Babylon into
most city of ancient
world
• Hanging Gardens of
Babylon
Ishtar Gate (restored)
from Babylon, Iraq
ca. 575 B.C.E.
glazed brick
Ishtar Gate (restored)
details of dragon (Marduk) and
bull (Adad)
from Babylon, Iraq
ca. 575 B.C.E.
glazed brick
Ishtar Gate (restored)
details of lion (Ishtar)
from Babylon, Iraq
ca. 575 B.C.E.
glazed brick
Compare
Detail of Lion,
Ishtar Gate
Detail of Lion,
Assurnasirpal series
PERSIAN ART
The Persians
• Modern-day Iran
• Indo-European nomads came from north of the Black Sea;
settled in 2000 BC
• Cyrus – 559 – 530 BC; created strong army
– Immortals – best 10,000 fighters in the army
– Captured Mesopotamia & Babylonia
• Allowed enslaved Jews to return to Jerusalem
• Darius I – 522 – 486 BC
– Extended Persian Empire to the Indus River; invaded Greek mainland
– Divided Persian government in 20 provinces, called satrapies
• Satrap (governor) collected taxes, provided justice & security, and
recruited soldiers for the royal army
– Well maintained roads
Persian Empire under Darius
Palace of Darius I and Xerxes I
Persepolis, Iran
ca. 521-465 B.C.E.
Palace of Darius I and Xerxes I
Persepolis, Iran
ca. 521-465 B.C.E.
Palace of Darius I and Xerxes I
Persepolis, Iran
ca. 521-465 B.C.E.
Palace of Darius I and Xerxes I
Persepolis, Iran
ca. 521-465 B.C.E.
Daric coin
From Persia
4th century B.C.E.
gold
Essential Questions
• What is the difference between prehistoric
art and ancient Near Eastern art?
• What developments occur with civilization
as time passes?
• How does greater civilization change the
way people see themselves, each other,
and their relations?