1. The Ancient Near East Mesopotamia Neolithic Era 9000-4500/4000BC
Art History
Vincent Baldassano
Invention of writing
Poetry
History
Economic records
Religious texts

4. Neolithic Era Ancient Near East
Farming began in the Middle East in an area called the Fertile Crescent
Development of agriculture-irrigation systems (People noticed that seeds which had fallen on the ground grew into plants. They began to collect the seeds and plant them on purpose. The first crops grown were wheat and barley)

5. Neolithic Era Ancient Near East (con’t)
Domestication of sheep and goats
Earliest cities in Mesopotamia
Copper smelting developed
Development of complex urban societies
Urban planning
Mud-brick mainstay of architecture

6. Key Visual Art Historical Monuments
Babylon
Stele- Law of Hammurabi BC, Basalt (stone) 7 feet by 28 inches
Anatolia (Turkey)
The Hittites
Hittite War God, from Kings Gate, Hattusas Boghazkoy, Turkey, 1400BC, 6 feet , 6 inches high
Assyrian
King Assurnasirpal II hunting lions, from Nimrud, Irag, BC, Alabaster Relief, 3 feet by 8 feet
Dying Lioness (detail from the Lion Hunt) from the palace of King Assurbanipal II, Nineveh, BC, Alabaster relief, Height 13 inches
Neo-Babylonian
Ishtar Gate
C575 BC, Glazed Brick
Scythian
Stag, Russia, 7th C BC, Gold, 12 ½ inches
Stag, 4th C. BC, gold, bronze, siver, wood, 20 inches

7. Inventions
Writing
Poetry
History
Economic records
Religious texts

8. Key Terms Armature Mural Polytheistic From Greek- Poly (many)
Theos-(God)
Anthropomorphic
Human in form
Cuneiform
Cone mosaics
Registers
Inlaid
Glyptic

9. The First Towns Jericho Near present day Jerusalem
People lived houses made of mud brick
Dead were buried beneath their homes
Town was protected by a massive stone wall
Textbook Photo- “Neolithic Plaster Skull from Jerico” c.7000 BC

10. The First Towns (con’t)
Catal Huyuk (pronounced chatal hoo-yook) was the largest of the early towns. Contained nearly 6000 people.
Catal Huyuk in Anatolia (modern day Turkey)
Deity – Mother Goddess made of clay reminiscent of the “Venus of Willendorf”
Town planned without streets,connected by roofs
skeletons were buried beneath floors and bences

11. Catal Huyuk c bce. Largest neolithic site in ancient Near East. Deliberate city planning took place here. There were rooftop walkways/no streets. Preliterate society (no known written language)

16. Focus on the Object
Two cowrie shells were set horizontally into the eye sockets creating a ‘sleepy expression’ which resonates through to the present day.
It is thought that the jaw bone was removed intentionally and that the clay would have been built up to create a neat artificial chin.
The plasterwork does not extend over the back of the skull, which was perhaps originally provided with some other material to look like hair.
Separation of the skull was a common practice among the early farming populations.
This example was found, together with six other skulls in a pile beneath the floor of a house.
It is suggested that the heads preserved were those of venerated ancestors. They were kept for some sort of ancestor worship and then discarded after a generation or two.
                                                                                                          
                           
Jericho Skull c.8000 – 7000 BC Ancient Jericho, West Bank (formerly Jordan)
Gallery 32, Ancient Near East

17. The skull formed the basis of a sculpture
The skull formed the basis of a sculpture. Below… on the surface of the skull there are the remains of clay and plaster. It was made over 9,000 years ago. Then we would have seen little or none of the skull itself. Clay was built up around the skull and then plaster was applied to provide a smooth surface.

20. Mother Goddess, c bce,
baked clay, h. 8”, Chatal Huyuk, Turkey.

21. Mesopotamia Near Eastern Conventions:
Creation of composite view of human form
Legs and head in profile
Torso turned slightly
Eyes frontal

24. Sumarian

25. Ziggurat
Ziggurat- means raised up or high- a uniquely Mesopotamian architectural form
Imitation mountains as platforms for the gods who protected the city
Mountains believed to embody immanent posers of nature (life giving water that flowed in the plains and made agriculture possible)
Ziggurat considered a transition space between people and gods
Example of load-bearing construction- solid, step structures tapering towards the top with wide bases made of solid clay reinforced with brick an asphalt, white potter jars were embedded in the walls
Top of Ziggurat was the Temple

30. Nanna Ziggurat Ur, c.2100- 2050 BC Mud-Brick
Ziggurats linked earth with the heavens
Mesopotamian rulers were viewed as the gods chosen intermediaqries on earth, thae basis for the continuing belief in the divine right of kings
Three stages were constructed around the mud-brick core and culminated in a shrine, accessible by a short stairway on the northeast side.
The mud-brick was faced with baked brick embedded in mortar made of bitumen (a type of asphalt)

33. Bull Lyre 2680 BC Wood,gold, Lapis Lazuli, & Shell
From the tomb of Queen Pu-abi, Ur (modern Iraq)

37. Sumarian

38. Gudea with a temple plan
Lagash,Iraq
c. 2100
Diorite
29 inches high
Neo-Sumerian Culture (c /1800BC)
A system of kingshiip gradually developed in the Sumerian city-states.
Control of man’s destiny was believed to lie with the gods.
Each major urban center was the home of a different divinity, although other gods were worshipped as well.
Gudea was a governor of Lagash a Sumerian city-state.
On the skirt of a stature of the seated Gudea is an inscription listing various temples he erected as ruler.
Medium- Diorite Stone
Height- 29 inches

39. Seated statue of Gudea, c
Seated statue of Gudea, c bce, diorite, NeoSumerian period, Tello (Lagash), Iraq.

40. Gudea with Temple Plan(left) Seated Gudea (right) c. 2150 B. C. E
Gudea with Temple Plan(left) Seated Gudea (right) c B.C.E. 29" h. diorite 

41. PLEASE NOTE The Many Versions Of Gudea…
Note the similarities also how the artist consistently renders certain elements such as around the eyes and the shoulder/bicep/forearm
Seated statue of Gudea, 2150–2100 B.C.; Neo-Sumerian period southern Mesopotamia Diorite; H. 17 3/8 in. (44 cm) Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1959

42. Statue of Gudea (standing figure) From Lagash
c BC
Diorite
Height 29 inches

43. Akadian

49. Neo- Sumerian

53. Hammurabi stands before the Akkadian sun god, Shamash
Stele (detail)
Law code of Hammurabi
Susa,Iran
Hammurabi stands before the Akkadian sun god, Shamash
Medium Basalt
Page 63 in text
Height 7 feet
This is a detail of the top
Hammurabi stands be for the Akkadian sun god Shamash
Receiving the blessing on the Law Code
Reign of Hammurabi ( BC)
The First Dynasty of Babylon ruled much of Mesopotamia
Hammurabi best know for his law code
Law code was inscribed on black basalt (stone) stele which articulated the relationship of law to society.

55. Hittite

57. Lion Gate (Royal Gate)Hattusas,Turkey
Media- stone
1400 BC
Hattusa, Turkey (Anatolia)
Hittite
Kept cuniform records on clay tablets
Stored on shelves (prototype of our modern day library)
Cremated their dead and placed them in funeral urns
Stone lions face the visitor approaching the citadel (urban fortress)
Served as a warning and symbolically protected the inhabitants
Lion Gate (Royal Gate)Hattusas,Turkey

61. Audience Hall of Darius,Persepolis,Iran 500bc

63. Neo-Babylonian

65. Ishtar Gate
Babylon
C575
Glazed brick

66. Neo-Babylonian

67. Lamassu, from the gateway,SargonII’s palace at Dur,720BC,Limestone,Iraq

70. King Assurnasirpal II,Hunting Lions,Nimrud,Iraq,c883-859,Alabaster relief,3x8ft

71. Dying Lioness (detail of the great lion hunt),668-627BC,Alabaster relief,13inches high,Iraq

72. Synthian

73. Stag, from Kostromskaya, Russa, 7thC,Chased gold ,121/2 in

74. Key Visual Art Historical Monuments
Babylon
Stele- Law of Hammurabi BC, Basalt (stone) 7 feet by 28 inches
Anatolia (Turkey)
The Hittites
Hittite War God, from Kings Gate, Hattusas Boghazkoy, Turkey, 1400BC, 6 feet , 6 inches high
Assyrian
King Assurnasirpal II hunting lions, from Nimrud, Irag, BC, Alabaster Relief, 3 feet by 8 feet
Dying Lioness (detail from the Lion Hunt) from the palace of King Assurbanipal II, Nineveh, BC, Alabaster relief, Height 13 inches
Neo-Babylonian
Ishtar Gate
C575 BC, Glazed BrickScythian
Stag, Russia, 7th C BC, Gold, 12 ½ inches
Stag, 4th C. BC, gold, bronze, siver, wood, 20 inches

75. The End