Pre-Historic/Ancient Near East

Pre-Historic Civilizations The Paleolithic Period – 30,000 B.C.E. to 10,000 B.C.E.

Pre-Historic Civilization (Cont.) Earliest examples of creativity of mankind Visual Arts – Sculptures and Cave Painting

Painting – The Cave of Lascaux France

Characteristics of Cave Paintings Animal Images in Profile Black Outlines Limited Colors (Red, Yellow, Ochre, Brown, Black) Attempt at Naturalism and Realism Purpose: Ritual (Hunting)

Human Figures in Cave Paintings No attempt at naturalism More stick-like in appearance Not creating realistic images of humans is probably from superstitions/beliefs in powers of images. These beliefs are still present in some cultures today.

How Were Prehistoric Cave Pictures Painted? Using sea-shells as paint containers and working by candlelight, Stone Age artists employed a wide variety of painting methods. Initially, they painted with their fingers; before switching to lumpy pigment crayons, pads of moss, or brushes made of animal hair or vegetable fiber. They even employed spray painting techniques using reeds or specially hollowed bones. They employed foreshortening and shadowing techniques. Each era introduced new cave painting methods, and caves decorated over many generations exhibit numerous styles - at Lascaux, for instance, archeologists have identified over a dozen different painting styles.painting

Sculpture Human and Animal Sculptures -Most common human figures were fertility figures and “Venus” figures. Most sculptures were “found objects” that required very little manipulation Used for Ritual Purposes

Bison Licking Its Flanks ca. 14,000 BC Dordogne, France

Venus of Willendorf c. 24,000-22,000 BCE Oolitic limestone 4 3/8 inches (11.1 cm) high

Architecture Post and Lintel Construction Use of Megalithic Stones Purpose: Ritual

Stonehenge between 3000 and 1700 B.C.E. Built in three stages Circular Arrangement Post and Lintel Construction

Stonehenge heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/stonehenge /discover/virtual-tour/

Music, Dance, and Drama Minimal Physical Evidence Footprints in dance-like patterns on cave floors (Dance) Objects possible used as instruments found in caves (Music) Images of masked figures (Drama/Storytelling) Purpose: Ritual

Mesopotamia The Fertile Crescent/The Cradle of Civilization

Earliest Civilizations in area between Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Known Civilizations of this Region (in Chronological Order): SumerianAssyrian AkkadianNeo-Babylonian Neo-SumarianPersian Babylonian

Cuneiform – Writing System Writing with Wedge- Shaped Characters on Clay Tablets created by Sumerians

How cuneiform changed over 3,000 years

Sumerian Visual Art Examples Sculpture Ceramics Jewelry

Tell Asmar Sculptures Free-Standing Sculptures of Human Figures Large Eyes (Windows to the Soul) Posed Frontal, Stiff and Formal Size Shows Rank or Importance Beards and Pleated Skirts Symbols of Power Hands Clasped as if Praying, Looking Upward Purpose - Ritual

Tell Asmar Statues Repetion Simplification (every gender looks the same) Hierarchy shown in size of statues

Sumerian Sculpture Use of Image of a Bull Common in Sumerian and other cultures Symbolic of Power and Strength

Ceramics Example ca B.C. Baked clay, painted 17.2 cm H, 23.5 cm W The potter’s wheel was created in Meso. around 6,000 and 4,000 BC.

Jewelry Example Puabi's headdress ca. 2550–2400 B.C

Architecture - Ziggurats Temples in the form of Stepped Mounds of earth and brick. Symbolic of man reaching toward the gods in heaven. In ancient Sumer, in the center of each town, was the Ziggurat. The Ziggurat was a temple. The ancient Sumerians believed that the gods lived in the sky. In order for the gods to hear better, you needed to get closer to them. Ziggurats were huge and built in steps, with a wide base, narrowing to a flat top. Ziggurat of Ur c B.C.E. built by the king Ur-Nammu

Sumerian Musical Instrument Bull-Headed Lyre - Lyre of Queen Puabi, Ur, c BCE

Dance and Drama Evidence of Singing and Dancing in Written Sumerian Texts and on Relief Sculptures – Usually Religious in Nature. Dance by both Men and Women in Religious Ceremonies and for Social Purposes in Assyrian Culture Babylonians had Religious Dance where Dancers Performed in a Ring around a Sacred Sculpture

Egyptian Civilization 3100 B.C.E. – 322 B.C.E

3 Kingdoms – Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms divided into Dynasties – a Single Family in Power Following Last of Dynasties, Ruled by Hellenistic Greece 30 B.C.E – Egypt becomes a province of Rome

Egyptian Culture Dependence on the Nile River Life and Culture Centered on Religion Belief in Life After Death Pharoah (ruler) a God on Earth Ka (soul) reborn after death to join the gods in the afterlife Body preserved to house the ka (mummification and pyramid burial)

Egyptian Painting Most for Tombs and Temples Scenes First Carved in Low Relief into Limestone Walls, then Painted in Bright Colors on Top of a Layer of Dry Plaster. Scenes Reflected Egyptian Dieties and Daily Life – Necessary to Ease the Journey to the Land of the Dead and to Provide for them in the Afterlife

Painting Rules Body in Correct Proportion Faces and Legs in Profile Eyes, Shoulder, and Torso from Front Pharaohs and Nobles in Stiff Poses, Standing or Sitting on Lines Representing the Ground Persons of Less Importance in Comfortable Movement and Natural Poses. Flesh of Men – Dark Red or Brown Flesh of Women – Yellow, White, or Pale Brown

Egyptian Painting (cont.)

Paintings from the tomb of Unsu New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty

Sculpture Commemorate a Person or Event or Substitute for a real person Huge in Scale Stone and Wooden Statues placed in tombs to represent the dead Relief carvings and model figures of daily life or activities of the dead in the next world

Old Kingdom Sculpture Pharaohs – Seated with hands on knees or Standing, one leg forward, arms at side or crossed in front. Stiff, Formal, and Solemn Size to show social order: Pharaohs larger than life Scribes and Court Officials life-sized Workers/Peasants smallest, always shown working Statues of Gods as Animals reflecting their personalities

Khafre!

Middle Kingdom

New Kingdom

The Great Sphinx

Facts about the Sphinx Head of Sphinx carved in about 2500 BC Face is that of the Pharaoh Khafre, measures 4.1 m wide. Body of a lion Sphinx is 73 m long, 20 m high. Carved from the rock, different layers eroding at different rates. Head cut from harder strata than the lower body. Guards Khafre’s Pyramid

Egyptian Architecture Primary focus was creation of temples and tombs Most famous tombs, the pyramids, were built to protect the bodies of Pharoahs for the afterlife and to serve as a symbol of the pharoah’s power.

Development of Pyramids: Phase One Developed from Mastabas which were flat roofed, single story buildings with sloping sides. “Cities of the dead”

Phase Two– Stepped Pyramids Most Commonly had four or six steps Stepped Pyramid of Djoser, 2600 B.C.E. Designed by Imhotep

Phase Three – True Pyramids The Great Pyramids at Giza (Menkaure, Khufu, Khafre – left to right)

Inside Khufu’s Pyramid

Egyptian Dance, Drama, and Music Egyptians the first great culture to make music and dance a part of life for all social classes Music and Dance also used for religious/ritual purposes Tomb and Temple paintings show evidence of music and dance, but no written music survives.

Egyptian Drama, Dance, and Music (cont.) Egyptian music based on Pentatonic scale of 5 whole steps (no half steps) Choreography of Egyptian dance appears to consist of complex range of movements from acrobatics (splits, cartwheels, and backbends) to slow, elegant, and more formal dance steps. Drama – religious performances of drama and Satirical plays

Evidence of Music in Egyptian Art Works

Resources et1.html et1.html mesosyria_object_61ae.asp mesosyria_object_61ae.asp

Resources (cont.) p p %3Ecnt_id= &CURRENT_LLV_NOTICE%3C% 3Ecnt_id= &FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id= &fromDept=false&baseIndex=28&bmUID= &bmLocale=en %3Ecnt_id= &CURRENT_LLV_NOTICE%3C% 3Ecnt_id= &FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id= &fromDept=false&baseIndex=28&bmUID= &bmLocale=en Images from Collection of Melisa Gano