Comparative Analysis: *consider topics of Power and Society

Made from basalt and carved in high relief Victory stele of Naram-Sin, from Susa Iran Date 2254 – 2218 BCE Stele with law code of Hammurabi, from Susa Iran Date ca. 1780 BCE Made from pink sandstone and carved in low relief The king is leading is victorious army up the slopes of a mountain The king stands alone, much larger in scale than his men His troops march up the mountain in orderly lines suggesting discipline and organization of the king’s forces The first time that a King appeared as a god in Mesopotamian art He is represented as godlike, as if he is scaling the mountain up to the heavens Made from basalt and carved in high relief One of the first examples of an artist showing foreshortening A remarkably early example of a code of law The subject matter is Shamash the sun god handing Hammurabi a rod and ring symbolizing authority (possibly a tool of some kind) Hammurabi’s laws governed all aspects of Babylonian life

*consider topics of class, status and authority Comparative Analysis *consider topics of class, status and authority

Full-round sculpture carved from limestone and painted Seated scribe, from Saqqara, Egypt Date: Dynasty IV ca 2500 BCE Menkaure and Khamerenebty, from Gizeh, Egypt Date: Dynasty IV ca 2490-2472 BCE High relief sculpture carved from Graywacke (the figures are still attached to the stone block from which they are carved) The figures are idealized with well built bodies that convey eternal youth (quality typical of an Egyptian god-king) Khamerenebty’s arm clasps around the Pharaoh’s waist to present the couple as married Rigidly formal with arms hanging stiffly and clenched fists which indicates power The larger than life representation of the Pharaoh conveys power and authority Full-round sculpture carved from limestone and painted The figure is naturalistic with curves and sagging chest muscles showing signs of age More relaxed position, sitting with his writing tablet Informal, natural representation of the scribe conveys his lower status Well then why even make a sculpture of a scribe?? Because while not high-class, it is an honorable profession in an illiterate society

Comparative Analysis

Central motif of leaping fish Kamares ware jar, from Phaistos (Crete), Greece Date: ca 1800-1700 BCE Warriors Vase, from Mycenae, Greece Date ca 1200 BCE Mycenaean Used for mixing wine and water A simple narrative is depicted (no setting or landscape) Has a repeating pattern of marching warriors going across its surface On the left a woman bids farewell Subject matter is of warriors/ defense, a major focus of Mycenaean culture. Much more simplified pattern and style than the detailed carved Minoan Harvester’s vase Minoan Central motif of leaping fish Curvilinear & swirling abstract pattern/design Example of the lively marine life that abounded in the Aegean sea Shows the importance of the sea and its abundant resources to the island of Knossos Does NOT depict a narrative