ARTH 103 1nd Edition Lecture 2 Outline of Last Lecture II Paleolithic Period c 38 000 8 000 BCE III Neolithic Period c 8 000 2 300 BCE Outline of Current Lecture IV Sumer to Persia ca 3 500 300 BCE V Ancient Sumer c 3 500 2 100 BCE VI Akkad c 2 340 2 180 BCE VII Babylon c 1 792 1 530 BCE VIII Assyria c 1 000 612 BCE IX Neo Babylonia c 612 539 BCE Current Lecture IV Sumer to Persia Mesopotamia land between the Tigris Euphrates Rivers aka the Fertile Crescent Problems volatile climate unpredictable floods volatile politics shaped art Primary subject of art religion gods and goddesses politics propaganda Religion and politics often went hand in hand V Ancient Sumer Invented first written language known as cuneiform text which was written by pressing a wedge shaped stylus into wet clay Writing was a form of art Most famous piece of writing The Epic of Gilgamesh Cylinder Seal A form of signature in picture form for those who were not literate Carved Vessel alabaster c 3 300 3 000 BCE 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 Alabaster was an imported material Religious in nature purely ceremonial use Contains 3 bands of carvings the bands are known as registers Bottom band contains plants and animals 2nd register human beings divine beings Thought to be have made for Inanna the goddess of love and war 3rd register Great Lyre with Bull s Head wood with gold silver lapis lazuli bitumen and shell Found in a King s tomb Lyres have a connection to death and funerals believed that music would help journey into the afterlife Mythological Figures a part of Great Lyre with Bull s Head Divided into registers 1st register represents the king 2nd register animals preparing for feast 3rd register animals playing music 4th register underworld greeting king The story of the king s burial Nanna Ziggurat unbaked and sun baked bricks bitumen c 2 100 2 050 BCE Solid base labor used slave labor Implicit honor to work on religious buildings Each Ziggurat is dedicated to a god only priests were allowed in Bitumen thick tar like substance that the base was covered in acted as a type of waterproofer Top of Ziggurat is covered in mosaics Votive Figures limestone c 2 900 2 600 BCE Found within the temple left outside the temple by common people as a stand in Priests would bring them up the Ziggurat Votive Statue of Gudea diorite c 2 120 BCE Gudea last Sumarian king known to be very religious and pious Diorite is a very hard stone and rare material shows how important his votive is compared to the common people This particular votive is for Geshunanna the goddess of poetry and dreams Holds a jar with two waterfalls spilling out symbolizes the two rivers and how he is the protector of Mesopotamia Contains text something that the common people votives did not contain VI Akkad The Akkadian people attempted to overtake the Sumerians took over part of Mesopotamia Adopted some ways of Sumerian culture Different from Sumerian art because they glorified their kings through art Stele of Naramsin limestone c 2 254 2 218 BCE Stele honors political or military victory Naramsin great military leader name literally meant Son of Sin son of the sun god Story of the Stele conquering the Lullubi people No clear registers everything is one big story VII Babylon Stele of Hammurabi basalt c 1 992 1 750 BCE Hammurabi just ruler just punishment to fit the crime Mostly text which outlined all the laws On top of the Stele seated figure which is Shamash god of Justice and Hammurabi accepting the law from Shamash Iconography very specific symbolism On top of the Stele there is a rod symbolizing the administration of justice and a coil of rope symbolizing measuring out justice VIII Assyria Invading people from modern day Syria Conquered all of Mesopotamia Most of their art glorifies military power and aggressiveness Lamassus limestone from Palace of Assurnasirpal II Guardian figures 10 ft tall Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions Assyrian art is graphically violent Element of naturalism very life like Assyrians tend to not use a hierarchy scale ie The only distinction of Assurnasirpal is that he is wearing a crown IX Neo Babylonia Ishtar Gate glazed brick c 575 BCE Crenellation a fortified look on top of a gate ie The gate like look on top of a castle Thought of have represented Inanna because of the lions on the gate but there are many more other animals on gate Original is in the Berlin museum and a remake sits at the original site