- The document provides an overview of ancient Mesopotamian cultures and art from 3500 BCE to 331 BCE, including the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Hittite, Assyrian, and Persian empires. - It describes some of the key innovations and developments in this region, such as the first writing system of cuneiform, the building of ziggurats, and advances in sculpture, painting, and architecture using materials like mud bricks, stone, and glazed tiles. - Several important works of ancient Mesopotamian art are highlighted, including the Standard of Ur, sculptures from Tell Asmar, the Stele of Naram-Sin,

2.  Sumerian (3500 – 2340 BCE)
 Akkadian (2340 – 2180 BCE)
 Babylonian (1792 – 1750 BCE)
 Hittite (16o0 – 1200 BCE)
 Assyrian (1000 – 612 BCE)
 Persia (559 – 331 BCE)
S.A.B.H.A.P (help yourself remember them in order!)

3. Iraq and Turkey (all Iraq except Hittite, which is Turkey)

5. KEY IDEAS:
•Birth of art in the service of the state and religion
•Objects and writing give us 1st systematic record of
human development
•Buildings made for religion (ZIGGURATS)
•Buildings made for the state (palaces)
•Built of mud-brick, painted or tiled/stone covered
•Large STELAI erected throughout Mesopotamia
(commemorate rulers’ achievements)
•Guardian figures (man-animal) protect site
entrances
•Assyrian lion reliefs- first organized narrative art in
history

6. EVERYTHING Started in Mesopotamia!!! Wow!
Writing
Cities
Organized Religion
Organized Government
Laws
Agriculture
Bronze Casting
The Wheel!
•Big population in fertile river valley between Tigris and
Euphrates rivers
•City centers, urbanization
•Groups overtaking each other for control of area
(layering of cultures)

7. STELE OF NARAM-SIN
From Sippar; found at Susa
(present-day Shush, Iran).
Naram-Sin r. 2254-2218
BCE. Limestone, height 6'6”
•Kings used artists to help glorify their careers.
•Artists make them look grand
•Brought the gods to life
•Sculpted narrative tales for legacy
•Patron/Artist relationships form

8. -wrote in CUNEIFORM
-royal names on tablets and sculptures
-permanent records of business
-wedge-shaped script
-laws written down
-tax records
-first written epic, “Gilgamesh”
-narrative painting to illustrate stories

12. CYLINDER SEAL = private communication between people
CYLINDER SEAL AND ITS MODERN IMPRESSION
From the tomb of Queen Puabi (PG 800), Ur
(present-day Muqaiyir, Iraq).
c. 2600-2500 BCE. Lapis lazuli
•written document is folded
and sealed with stamp
•stamp is made of clay
•pressed cylinder into clay
•arrives with seal unbroken
= no one messed with your
mail!

13. INNOVATIONS IN ARCHITECTURE:
•urbanization
•buildings for living, government, and worship
•not much stone or wood- used baked mud bricks
(cheap and sustainable)
•built ZIGGURATS (tall, solid structures of mud bricks)
•ZIGGURATS dominated the flat landscape

14. INNOVATIONS IN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE:
•clothed humans with anatomical precision
•active figures (hunting, praying, rituals)
•people are settled in cities = big sculptures (lamassus)
•palaces filled with large relief sculptures carved into stone
•represent animals with human characteristics and emotions
•trend to combine animal parts with the human head

15.  Development of Cuneiform
 Building of Ziggurats
 Small Scale Sculpture in marble, diorite,
hammered gold and lapis lazuli
 The writing of Gilgamesh

17. Votive Figures from Tell Asmar(Iraq c. 2900 – 2600
BCE), limestone, alabaster, and gypsum (biggest one is 30” high)

19. Can you describe their characteristics?

20. •different heights = hierarchy of scale
•men: bare chest, skirt, beard in ripple pattern, belt
•women: dress draped over one shoulder
•inscription on back- “it offers prayers”
•figures held cups or branches in their hands
•hands folded in prayer
•huge eyes in awe
•staring at the god(s)
•arms and feet cut away from body
•represent real people
•praying to god Abu?

22. • 2 sides: war and peace
• historical narrative
• part of a soundbox for musical
instrument?
• figures have broad frontal
shoulders, body in profile
• emphasized eyes, eyebrows,
and ears
• repetition of forms
• horses placed behind each
other to suggest depth
• organized- reads bottom to top
Standard of Ur, c. 2600 BCE, panel inlayed
with shell, lapis lazuli, and limestone

23. • hierarchy of scale
• Sumerian king ½ head
taller
• came down from his
chariot to inspect captives
• enemies nude to suggest
defeat and debasement
< peace
< war

24. More information about The Standard of Ur
A mysterious object with one of the earliest representations of a Sumerian army
This object was found in one of the largest graves in the Royal Cemetery at Ur, lying
in the corner of a chamber above the right shoulder of a man. Its original function is
not yet understood. Leonard Woolley, the excavator at Ur, imagined that it was
carried on a pole as a standard, hence its common name. Another theory suggests
that it formed the soundbox of a musical instrument.
When found, the original wooden frame for the mosaic of shell, red limestone and
lapis lazuli had decayed, and the two main panels had been crushed together by the
weight of the soil. The bitumen acting as glue had disintegrated and the end panels
were broken. As a result, the present restoration is only a best guess as to how it
originally appeared.
The main panels are known as 'War' and 'Peace'. 'War' shows one of the earliest
representations of a Sumerian army. Chariots, each pulled by four donkeys, trample
enemies; infantry with cloaks carry spears; enemy soldiers are killed with axes,
others are paraded naked and presented to the king who holds a spear.
The 'Peace' panel depicts animals, fish and other goods brought in procession to a
banquet. Seated figures, wearing woollen fleeces or fringed skirts, drink to the
accompaniment of a musician playing a lyre. Banquet scenes such as this are
common on cylinder seals of the period, such as on the seal of the 'Queen' Pu-abi,
also in the British Museum.

26. THE SOUND BOX OF THE GREAT LYRE
c. 2600 BCE
From Ur (present-day Muqaiyir, Iraq).
Wood with gold, shell, and lapiz lazuli
what do you know about this piece?

27. THE SOUND BOX OF THE GREAT LYRE, c. 2600 BCE
From Ur (present-day Muqaiyir, Iraq).
Wood with gold, shell, and lapiz lazuli
•bulls head (in previous picture)
•four panels on this side
Sumerian wrestling two man-headed bulls
wolf carries table with animal parts, preparing
for a ceremony, lion bears wine, jug, cup
donkey plays a bull-harp, bears dance, seated
fox plays rattle
jackal waves rattles, scorpion-man
•animals in profile; people have frontal shoulders
•animals have human characteristics (typical)
•lyre was found in royal grave, funerary object?

28. ZIGGURAT!!!

29. What do you remember about ZIGGURATS?

30. NANNA ZIGGURAT, Ur (present-day Muqaiyir, Iraq). c. 2100-2050 BCE.
•mud-brick building on colossal scale
•buttresses spaced across surface to create light and shadow pattern
•whitewash to disguise mud appearance
•holes in surface (flags?)
•tapers down = rain water washes off
•small temple on top was set back and removed from general public
•resembles a mountain
•four corners oriented to compass
•three large staircases lead to upper story entrance from three different directions
•dedicated to moon god Nanna
buttresses

32. Remember
this guy?
Describe him

33. Head of Gudea
c. 2150 BC

34.  Gudea = peaceful ruler of Lagash
 expresses a sense of calm
 express a sense wisdom
 folded hands, long fingers
 right arm bare, broad shoulders
 narrow waist, simple contours
 carved in imported diorite or
dolorite = wealthy/important guy
 Gudea commissioned many
temples
 Many statues of him = he’s
familiar

35.  deification of the king (king is god-like)
 king rules with gods’ approval, but not assistance
 erected permanent stone markers- STELAI
 STELAI mark imiportant religious/civic sites

36. Victory Stele of Naram-Sin
(Iran c.2254-2218 BCE)
sandstone
What do you remember
about this?

37.  victory over the Lullubi (mtn. people)
 Naram-Sin deifies himself
 composition leads up to the heavens as
he and his army climb the mountain
 stars symbolize three gods
 defeats his enemies: one thrown off
cliff, one begs for mercy; one has a spear
through his throat
 Naram-Sin acts with the gods’
blessings, but is independent of them
 he wears the horned crown of divinity
and carries weapons
 figures in composite views
 narrative in art
 hierarchy of scale, isolation of king
 relief sculpture
 commemorates victory

38. Stela of King Naram Sin
(Iran c.2300-2200 BCE)
Palette of Narmer
c. 3400 – 3000 BCE
Coming up in Egypt…

39.  Babylon is a well-ordered state
 strict laws handed down from Shamash (god)
 Babylon is highly decorated (hanging gardens
and glazed tile)
MAJOR WORKS: BABYLONIAN…….

40. Stele of Hammurabi, c. 1780 BCE, basalt
 One of the earliest law codes (below scene).
Laws given from Shamash to Hammurabi.
 Sun god, Shamash, enthroned on ziggurat
 He’s handing Hammurabi a rope, ring, and rod
of kingship
 Hammurabi with a speaking/greeting gesture
 Shamash: frontal and profile at same time,
headdress in profile; rays from behind his
shoulder
 Shamash’s beard is fuller than Hammurabi’s
 Stare at each other
 300 law codes under scene- punishment
depends on social standing

41. It’s in Paris at
the Louvre!
Smolinski photos

42. Upper part of stele inscribed with the
Law Code of Hammurabi. C. 1760 B.C.
Diorite, height of stele approx, 7'; height of relief 28".
Detail of inscription

43. Ishtar Gate, c. 575 BCE, glazed brick, Neo-Babylonian
•Glazed brick covers mud walls of city
•Animals guard entrance to city
•Crenellations = warlike appearance
•Reconstructed in Berlin, Germany from ruins in Babylon
Crenellations hanging gardens of Babylon

44. Ishtar Gate
 Colorful, sumptuous exterior
 Blue background enhances earth-
colored animal figures
 Lions sacred to goddess Ishtar
 Dragons sacred to gods Marduk and
Nabu
 Bulls sacred to the god Adad

45. Nebuchadnezzar II built….
•Ishtar Gate
•Ziggurat (tower of babel)
•Hanging gardens of Babylon

46. HITTITE ART
•Used stone (not mud-brick) as building material
•Large uncut boulders are impressive fortifications (protective walls)
MAJOR WORK:
LION GATE
Hattusha (near
present-day
Boghazkoy,
Turkey).
c. 1400 BCE.
Limestone.

47. •Gate to city
•Guardian Lions
•Huge boulders, no mud-brick
•Massive impression

48.  Artists praised greatness of king
 Killing enemies, hunting, masculinity
 Humans are stoic (emotionless)
 Animals have emotion (lions cry out)
 King’s domination over wild animals = authority
 CUNEFORM everywhere!
 Words written across scenes and figures
 Shallow RELIEF SCULPTURE is popular
MAJOR WORKS……

49. Palace of Sargon II, 720-705 BCE, Khorsabad, Iraq,
•City on a platform 40 feet high
•Mud-brick
•Contains ziggurat
•Huge palace complex: 25 acres, 30 courtyards, 200 rooms
•High exterior walls protected city from attack

50. More info about Sargon’s Palace
•A walled CITADEL (fortress containing palaces and temples) was built near the palace
•Sargon’s Palace complex = buildings where Sargon governed and lived
•Built at the rear of the citadel on a 40-foot platform (man-made)
•Art as propaganda to support political power
•Guarded by 2 towers
•Accessible only by a wide ramp leading up from an open square
•Main courtyard with service buildings and temples
•Courtyards within courtyards
•Narrative relief panels
•King’s throne room guarded by huge guardian figures at gate
•Ziggurat was highest point- functioned symbolically as lofty bridges between the earth
and the heavens (a meeting place for humans and their gods)

52. Lamassu, c. 700 BCE
limestone
•Human-headed animal guardian
•Winged
•5 legs (2 seen from front, four
from side)
•Ward off enemies
•Feeling of harmony and stability.

53. Four legs seen from side

54. Two legs seen from front (five total- seems to walk by you as you walk by it!

56. AssurnasirpalII Killing Lions, c. 850 BCE, alabaster
• A ceremonial hunt
• Relief sculpture, bold contours
• Animals show emotion, humans none.
• Lion is most feared beast. King has power over nature.
• Chaotic arrangement of lions
• Organized arrangement of humans
• Humans as stoic and severe
• Ledge acting as ground line

60.  Largest empire at that time
 Impress locals and dignitaries from abroad
 Monumental architecture
 Huge audience halls
 Massive buildings for grand ceremonies to
glorify the rulers and country
 Architecture is characterized by columns
topped by two bull-shapedCAPITALS holding
up a wooden roof.
MAJORWORKS….

61. Persepolis (c. 500 BCE), Iran
•Built by Darius I and Xerxes I
•Destroyed by Alexander the Great
•Built for spectacular receptions and festivals
•Built on artificial terraces
•Mud-brick with stone facing
•Giant lamassu gates
Relief sculptures show gifts
being brought to the treasury
Central location of Persepolis
=protection of treasury
Columns had bell-shaped
base that is an inverted
lotus blossom
Capitals are bulls or lions
“Immortals” carved onto stairs
(the King’s guard, over 10,000)

62. •Held thousands of people
•Used for king’s receptions
•Decorated with reliefs of the New Year’s festival with representatives from 23 nations
•Many cultures (Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonians) contributed to the building of the site.
Persepolis Audience hall:
36 columns with wooden roof