1. CONTENT AREA 2: THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
APAH – GARDNER CHAPTER 2-1 PP

2. And so they traveled until they reached Uruk
And so they traveled until they reached Uruk. There Gilgamesh the king said to the boatman: “Study the brickwork, study the fortification; climb the ancient staircase to the terrace; study how it is made; from the terrace see the planted and fallow fields, the ponds and orchards. One league is the inner city, another league is orchards; still another the fields beyond; over there is the precinct of the temple , Three leagues and the temple precinct of Ishtar.” Measure Uruk, the city of Gilgamesh —Tablet XI

3. ANCIENT NEAR EAST Chapter 2 Gardner’s 11th ed., p. 16

4. The Ancient Near East
The Neolithic Revolution = the move from hunter and gathering to farmer and herder
Began in Mesopotamia -> the land between the Tigris and Euphrates
The Fertile Crescent
Birth place of
Judaism
Christianity
Islam

5. KEY PERIODS: “SANBAN-P”
Sumerian Art: BCE
Akkadian Art:  BCE
Neo-Sumerian Art:  BCE
Babylonian Art:  BCE
Assyrian Art:  BCE
Neo-Babylonian Art:  BCE
Persian Art:  BCE -> Height of Persia ends with destruction of Persepolis by Alexander the Great

6. BCE
Founded the world’s first city-states between the Tigris and Euphrates
Sumerian rulers – gods’ rep. on earth
Specialization of labor
Invented writing in the 4th millennium
PICTOGRAPHS
CUNEIFORM
Epic of Gilgamesh
SUMER

7. BCE
Sumerian temple architecture -> mud brick building on a colossal scale
White wash used to disguise the mud appearance -> tapers down so rainwater washes off
(2-12/1) White Temple and its ziggurat Uruk (modern Warka, Iraq) Sumerian c B.C.E Mud brick
Flashcard

8. (2-12/2) White Temple and its ziggurat Uruk (modern Warka, Iraq) Sumerian c B.C.E Mud brick
The White Temple at Uruk
Temple stands atop a ZIGGURAT
BENT-AXIS PLAN
Dedicated to the sky god Anu
CELLA = central hall – stepped altar where priests await coming of the deity
Flashcard

9. White Temple and ziggurat, Uruk
Temple (cella)
Ziggurat
Reconstruction drawing of the White Temple and ziggurat
Bent Axis
White Temple and ziggurat, Uruk

10. ZIGGURAT
The ziggurat is an ancient architectural form, unique to Mesopotamia. Predating the Egyptian pyramid by several centuries, it is a load-bearing structure in the shape of a stepped platform with inward-sloping walls that have few or no openings. At the summit sat a shrine, approached by stairs built along the outer walls of the ziggurat. In some cases, a steep ramp for hauling carts and sacrificial animals led straight up one of the ziggurat walls onto the open landing of the platform .

11. WARKA VASE Warka Vase from Uruk
First great work of narrative relief sculpture
Religious festival in honor of goddess
Reliefs dived into bands = FRIEZES or REGISTERS
New type of composition
Votive offering = gift of gratitude to a deity
Twisted perspective
Hierarchy of scale
WARKA VASE

12. (AKA Twisted Perspective)
Warka Vase
Hierarchy of Scale
Votive Offering
Composite
Perspective
(AKA Twisted Perspective)
Registers
Frontal
Side View

13. (2-14) Statues of votive figures, from the Square Temple at Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar, Iraq) Sumerian c B.C.E. Gypsum inlaid with shell and black limestone
Flashcard
Soft gypsum inlaid with shell and black limestone
Range from under a foot to 30 inches
Mortals – hands folded in front holding goblets
Name of the donor, god, sometimes prayer
Form – cone, cylinders
Oversized eyes – eternal wakefulness – duty was to offer constant prayers to the gods

14. ESHNUNNA STATUETTES
SUMERIAN VOTIVE OFFERINGS

15. Statuettes of Worshipers
Votive Figures

16. STELE OF THE VULTURES
STELE = carved stone slab to commemorate and event or mark a grave
Cuneiform recording of military victory

17. (2-16/1) The Standard of Ur, Peace Standard of Ur, peace side and war side Sumerian c B.C.E. Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone
Peace side – food brought in a procession to banquet; musician plays a lyre; hierarchy of scale
Reflects extensive trading network -> lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, shells from Persian gulf, red limestone from India
Example of historical narrative
Flashcard

18. (2-16/2) The Standard of Ur, War Standard of Ur, peace side and war side Sumerian c B.C.E. Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone
Found at Royal Cemetery at Ur
Rectangular box decorated with shell, lapis lazuli, red limestone
Woolley – said it was a war standard/sign carried into battle
War side – Sumerian king who is taller descends from his chariot to inspect captives; chariots advance over the dead in lowest register
Flashcard

19. Standard of Ur
Narrative
Registers

20. Bull-Headed Lyre and Soundbox Heraldic Composition (symmetrical)
Registers
Animals are
in profile
Composite
View

21. BULL-HEADED LYRE

22. CYLINDER SEALS Cylinder seal found at Ur Inch or so in ht.
Pierced for attachment to a cord
Made of various stone
Prized objects/worn
INTAGLIO = incised
Raised pattern used to roll in soft clay

23. AKKAD AND THE THIRD DYNASTY OF UR
Akkadian Empire takes control of region 2300
Sargon of Akkad -> great king and conqueror
Semitic peoples -> but adopted Sumerian culture
New concept of royal power -> all obedience to the king not to the city state

24. HEAD OF AN AKKADIAN KING
Political work of art – 2200 BCE
Found at Nineveh
Damaged -> eye gouged out, beard broken off
Balance between naturalism and stylization
First great work of bronze cast sculpture

25. Head of an Akkadian Ruler

26. (2-additional) Stele of Naram sin Susa, Iran Akkadian 2254-2218 B.C.E. Pink sandstone
Commemorates an Akkadian victory
Depicts grandson of Sargon leading his troops up wooded slope
Hierarchy of scale
Twisted perspective
First landscape
Figures shown in successive tiers within the landscape -> not horizontal registers
Flashcard

27. Victory Stele of Naram-Sin

28. ZIGGURAT, UR 2000 BCE Neo-Sumerian architecture
Akkadians are replaced by a resurgent Sumeria under the kings of Ur

29. Reconstruction drawing of the Ziggurat of Ur
Bent Axis

30. Seated Statue of Gudea
Holding Temple Plan

31. GUDEA OF LAGASH Neo-sumerian art
Seated sculpture of Gudea -> governor of Lagash
Votive statues
Less regal than the Sargon statues -> plain, simple dress
2100 BCE
Carved of diorite
17 ¼ “ high