AHIS 120Prof. Eunice Howe2012 FallWeek 2Lecture 4September 6, 2012Announcements- Required readings:o http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/hammurabi.htm for Hammurabi’s Code of Lawso Scully, “The Sacred Mountain in Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Aegean”, pgs. 23-37.o Janson, Chapter 2 (pgs. 21-47)Ancient Middle East- Ancient Mesopotamia: 1. Sumer (4000 BCE)2. Akkad (2350 BCE)3. Babylon (1867 BCE)4. Assyria (1760-600 BCE)5. Neo-Babylonia (600-540 BCE)6. Persia (540-330 BCE)- Writing and historyo Distinct form of writing: cuneiform. Wedge-shaped sign used for administrative accounts.o Stele of Hammurabi (1760 BCE). - Role of public arto Used for public worship and communal learning. o Government-ordered. Public artwork was given certain intellectual prestige.o Symbolic of the specific kingdom. - Sumerian art o Works of art in the form of sculpture, relief, and pottery inform us about Sumerian society.o Uruk—the biblical Erech—was established among the fertile crescent of the Tigris and Euphrates. Uruk was the first settlement in the Near East.  Both rivers carried silt to the landlocked area.o Sumerians built predominantly with mud brick covered with plaster.o High temples were built on a platform based above ground level; these platformsgradually transformed into squat, stepped pyramids known was ziggurats. o Votive statues from Abu Temple (2900-2600 BCE) Votives: sacrificial object. Placed on the altar.  Abstract, not realistic depictions of human beings in prayer. These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. The exaggerated large eyes signify the statue’s engagement in prayer and worship. o Royal Standard of Ur (2600 BCE) Sumerian city of Ur is a main attraction to archaeologists due to its biblical associations.  A procession scene consisting of four panels of red limestone, shell and lapis lazuli inlay set in bitumen.  Juxtaposition of animal scenes along with military victory and a celebration or ritual feast, each unfolding in three superimposed registers, or horizontal bands.  Soldiers present the prisoners to a central figure, whose importance the artist signals through his position and larger size—a device known as hieratic scale.o Bull Lyre (2600 BCE) From the tomb of Queen Pu-abi. A lyre decorated with a bull’s head of gold gilt and lapis lazuli.  Scenes associated with the Epic of Gilgamesh.  In ancient culture, the bull functioned as a guardian of the culture, the protector of society and the city. - Art of Akkado Located northwest of Sumer, near present-day Baghdad.o Akkadian rulers increasingly exploited the visual arts to establish and reflect theirpower. o Stele of Naram-Sim (2254-2218 BCE) Depiction of the Akkadian king, Naram-Sim, conquering the Sumerians.  The defeated beg for mercy or lie contorted underneath. Above them. The king’s large scale and central position makes his identity clear.  King wears a helmet with horns, a symbol of the ruler’s divinity. The horned crown was formerly an exclusive accoutrement of the gods; Naram-Sim was the first Mesopotamian king to deify himself (See: apotheosis). - Babylonian arto During the reign of its most favorable ruler, Hammurabi (r. 1792-1750 BCE), the city of Babylon assumed the dominant role formerly played by Akkad. o Babylon held a role as an international cultural center of Sumer for almost 1000 years. o Law Code of Hammurabi (1760 BCE) One of the earliest written bodies of law, engraved on a black basalt stele reaching over 7 feet in height. The text consists of 3,500 lines of Akkadian cuneiform. The largest portion concerns commercial and property law, rules on domestic issues, and questions of physical assault, detailing penalties for noncompliers.  Hammurabi appears in relief, standing with his arm raised in greeting before the enthroned sun-god Shamash.  Hammurabi appears without the benefit—or need—of a divine intercessor, implying an especially close relationship with the sun-god. - Late Babyloniano The Assyrian Empire came to an end in 612 BCE.o City flourished by the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, the best known Late Babylonian ruler and builder of the biblical tower of Babel. o Ishtar Gate (575 BCE) Entrance to the city, heavily fortified.  Late Babylonians adopted baked and glazed brick, which they molded into individual shapes. Used both for surface ornaments and for reliefs ona grand scale. A framework of brightly colored ornamental bands contains a procession of bulls, griffins and other animals. Portrayed animals were sacred.- Iranian arto Located east of Mesopotamia, Iran was a flourishing agricultural center in Neolithic times circa 7000 BCE.o Persian kings did not construct monumental religious architecture; instead they concentrated on resources for royal palaces.o Persepolis Construction began by Darius I and was the most ambitious of the palaces.  Fortified and raised on a platform, it consisted of a great number of rooms, halls, and courts laid out in a grid plan.  The palace is an example of internationalism: a synthesis of materials and design forms from all over the empire.  This theme of internationalism, harmony and integration is seen in reliefs in the Audience Hall—Darius and Xerxes Giving Audience (ca. 490). Long rows of marching figures, superimposed by registers, represent the empire’s 23 subject nations each bringing a regional