Ancient Near East 3500 BC- 500 BC The Artist as Magician.

Ancient Near East3500 BC- 500 BC

The Artist as Magician

•Developed at the same time as Egypt•Physical region had few natural defenses- many different cultures dominated•Discouraged uniting under single ruler•No defining culture, but art thrived•Sumerians were the first to settle- language was unrelated to any other•Sumerians had own developed writing- Cuneiform•Not a lot of archeological evidence of the culture•Used brick and mud which leaves very little remains•Most information found on inscribed clay tablets

•Temples were dominent form of architecture- •religion was city-state-based. Each had its own god who was regarded as king. Human ruler was seen as the god’s steward on earth who governed people to worship the God. In return, the God was expected to plead the case of the city-state among the other deities who controlled fertility, the weather, water, etc.•Administrative and religious center was the temple

White Temple, Uruk, 3000 BC

Ziggurat of King Urnammu, Ur, 2500 BC

The temple was in the center of the city on a raised platform- called Ziggurat- most famous was the Tower of Babel. Height of 40 Ft- mountain tops are the dwelling place of the gods, stairs and ramps lead up to the sanctuary. Main room is called the cella, where sacrifices were made. The entrance faces away from the stairs- the worshipper must work to be able to worship- an angular spiral path

Female Head, Uruk, 3500-3000 BC

Sculpture was found in Cella- used as cult statue- eyes and eyebrows were originally inlaid with colored materials and the hair was covered with gold/copper wig- the rest of the figure was probably made up of wood- severe style

Statues from Abu Temple, c.2700-2500 BC

•Geometric•No real likeness•Important gods are taller•Simplified faces and bodies•No distraction from the eyes•Forms based on cone and cylinder

Close up of worshipper

Ram and Tree, c.2600 BC

•Made of bronze•More flexible and fluid style•Made with addition rather than subtraction•Much more expressive•Ram associated with the god Tammuz, male god of nature- animals were often associated with deities- in Egypt also

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin c.2300-2200 BC

Akkadians- after the decay of the Sumerian society (due to ambitious rulers trying to conquer each other)- nomadic people moved in•Sargon of Akkad and successors (2340-2180 BC) proclaimed ambition to rule the earth•New task for art- personal glorification of rulers•Steele- immortalizing military victory•Both soldier and leader are active•Only celestial bodies are above him in importance

Head of Akkadian Ruler c.2200 BC

•Persuasive likeness•Very detailed and elegant•Surface texture•Cast in bronze, a complex technique

Head of Gudea, c.2150 BC

One of the Sumerian city states remained independent- Gudea was the ruler- still retained ruler- god idea, but he did have many statues of himself in shrines•Carved of diorite, extremely hard stone•Not very individualized features•More realistic human characteristics

Stele ofHammurabi c.1760 BC

Babylon-•1760-1600 BC- power was controlled by the Babylonians•Hammurabi was its founder•Main goal was to provide justice to the people•Hammurabi’s Code- earliest form of written law•Top of code shows Hammurabi confronting the sun god- announcing code•Related to the Gudea sculpture in style and technique•Very high relief•Eyes are in the round- establishes the relationship between god and man

Assyrians-•Controlled all of Mesopotamia and surrounding areas•Drew on Sumerian achievements and reinterpreted them•Sack of city-has foreground and middle ground and background

The Sack of the City of Hamanu by Ashurbanipal, c. 650 BC

Ashurnasirpal II Killing Lions, c. 850 BC

•Subject used for personal glorification of king•not real hunts- ceremonial- lions were already caged and then released•Energy and emotion are obvious

Dying Lioness c. 650 BC

Great sense of volume and mass despite shallow carving

Ishtar Gate, C.575 BC

Neo-Babylonians•Assyrians fell in 612 BC•Babylon had a final era of artistic growth 612-539 BC•Used glazed bricks rather than stone slabs- used for surface ornamentation•Ishtar Gate has been completely rebuilt and restored•Continuation of the theme of animals in Mesopotamian art

Painted Beaker, 5000-4000 BC

Persia--•Area which is now called Iran- always a nomadic land- art is a collection of objects known as the “Animal Style”•Decorative use of animal motif in an abstract manner

Pole Top Ornament from Luristan, 9th-7th c. BC • Animal Style reappears in bronzes used by nomadic tribes•Symmetrical and elongated, distorted for design•Stag is far less abstracted•Scythians were from Southern Russia, but spent time in Iran learning bronzework

Stag, Scythian, 7th-6th c.

Palace of Darius and XerxesPersepolis, Iran c. 500 BC

•Babylon became huge empire-included Egypt and Asia Minor- only toppled by Alexander the Great (331 BC) •Religion was Zoroastrianism- altars were in open air so no religious architecture was created•Secular palaces instead

•Columns were used on a grand scale- Egyptian influence•Use of the motif of animals everywhere

Darius and Xerxes Giving Audience c. 490 BC

•Relief within the palace is formal and stiff, solemn, repetitive and ceremonial•Subservient to the architecture•Assyrian’s energy and expression has been rejected•Overlapping garments are completely new•Body parts can be seen underneath the fabric (probably taken from the Greeks)