The Ancient World

Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age) 1 million years B.C. A. History 1. Hunters/gatherers 2. Discoveries & developments a. Fire b. Clothing c. Techniques for hunting/gathering

d. Simple social organization e. Religion—perhaps as early as 100,000 B.C. f. Notions of selfhood & individuality g. Awareness of death & burial h. Art to express themselves i. System of notation—30,000 B.C.—Spain to Russia

a. Great shifts in climate b. Three interglacial periods 3. Ice Ages a. Great shifts in climate b. Three interglacial periods c. Drops in sea level (Britain & Scandinavia joined Europe)

B. Art 1. 30,000 to 15,000 B.C.—cave etchings

2. Woman of Willendorf—Venus figurine

a. In burial sites in a 1,100. mile band from western a. In burial sites in a 1,100 mile band from western France to central Russia b. Fertility symbol c. Vitality in obesity d. Realism in folds and contours— “sophisticated balance in symbolic overstatement” e. Mystical significance of womanhood

a. Discovery made by children in 1940 3. Cave of Lascaux a. Discovery made by children in 1940 b. Main hall (Hall of bulls)— montage of larger- than-life bulls, horses, deer, and one mythological creature— up to 12’

c. Powerful, grand, warm in color d. Created over a long period of time with overall effect of a single, dramatic, communicative work

Neolithic Age (New Stone Age) 8,000 to 3,000 B.C. A. History 1. Crops 2. Stone tool improvement 3. Pottery & textiles 4. Small villages

2. Monumental architecture 3. Writing 4. Centralized bureaucracies B. Civilization 1. Metal work 2. Monumental architecture 3. Writing 4. Centralized bureaucracies 5. Social classes

III. Mesopotamia A. Sumer—6,000 B.C. 1. Religion a. Permeated Sumerian life b. Found in the Gilgamesh epic—7th century B.C. 1) episodic tale of hero’s adventure

2) based on historical rules of Erech or Uruk 3) description of flood which parallels story of Noah c. Developed pantheon of gods— 2250 B.C. 1) ensured harvest 2) took human form 3) Ishtar—goddess of love and procreation

4) city gods 5) elaborate rituals 6) dismal afterworld requiring earthly possessions 7) ritual suicides 2. Developments a. Writing 1) most important Sumerian contribution

2) pictures indicating syllabic sound 3) baked into clay 4) stabilizing effect on society b. Technology 1) bronze 2) glass 3) wheel a) math based on 60

b) time c) circles d) thus—architectural progress e) thus—brick- making f) thus—potter’s wheel g) thus—wheel for transportation (3,000 B.C.)

3. art a. Depictions of kings in acts of devotion b. The Tell Asmar statues 1) temple god statues 2) suggest dignity despite crude execution 3) lines which point to the heart

4) suggestive of prayer 5) cone or cylindrical shape typical of Sumerian style 6) eyes a) large b) expressive c) source of power

d) windows of the soul e) “all- seeing vigilance” of the gods

Standing Male Worshipper from Tell Asmar

4. Music a. Stringed instrument b. Probably lyrical, soft, and restrained 5. Babylon—1700 B.C. a. Considered the “hub” of the world b. Sumerian cities along the Tigris & Euphrates 1) Nineveh

2) Aleppo c. Hammurabi and the law 1) rigid class system 2) “eye for an eye” B. Assyria 1. Babylon plundered by northern Assyrians—1000 B.C. 2. Citadel at Dur Sharrukin a. Sargon II—722 B.C.

b. 250, 000 square feet c. Image of the cosmos