Fall 2013 - Day 2, Ch 2 from Stokstad's "Art History" 3rd ed.

1. Art History Survey I – Ancient
Near East
ARTS 1303.51001
P327
12PM-1:20PM
Professor Paige Prater

2. Ancient Near Eastern
Cultures/Capitols/Timeperiods
• Sumerian – Uruk (Warka, Iraq) – 5000 BCE-26 CE,
flourished 3600-2100 BCE
• Babylonian – Babylon – 1st mention: 2200 BCE
• Assyrian – Kalhu (Nimrud, Iraq), flourished 900-800
BCE
• Neo-Babylonian – Babylon, flourished 605-312
BCE
• Persian – Persepolis, est. 515 BCE

3. Notable Historical Details: Sumer
• 3500-2340 BCE
• Feuding city-states
• Developed writing: CUNEIFORM
• Wagon wheel & plow (?)
• Epic of Gilgamesh

4. Notable Art Objects: Sumerian
• Warka Head
• White Temple Ruins
• Uruk Vase
• Votive Figures
• Nanna Ziggurat
• Great Lyre with Bull’s Head

5. Warka Head, 3300-3000 BCE
• Iraq Museum, Baghdad
• (stolen/recovered 2003)

6. White Temple (Ruins) 3300-3000BCE
• Present day Warka, Iraq

7. Uruk Vase 3300-3000 BCE
• Alabaster, 36” high; Iraq
Museum, Baghdad (recovered 2003)
• Registers, stylized, ¾ profile

8. Votive Figures 2900-2600 BCE

9. Nanna Ziggurat 2100-2050 BCE
• Moon god, Nanna (aka “Sin”)
• 205’ x 141’ feet; mud brick; built over earlier
temple

10. Great Lyre with Bull’s Head 2550-
2400BCE – Royal Tomb, Ur

11. Akkad
• From north of Uruk (specific city
undiscovered)
• Sargon I, ruled Mesopotamia: 2332-2279 BCE
• Spoke a Semitic language

12. Head of an
Akkadian Ruler:
2300-2200 BCE
• Earliest known major
work of hollow-cast
copper sculpture in
the Ancient Near East

13. The Stele of Naram-Sin: 2200-2184
BCE
• 6’ 6” high, limestone.
Found at Susa.
• Celebrates Sargon’s
grandson’s military
victory
• Hieratic scale
• Wavy registers

14. Notable Historical Details: Babylon
• Mesopotamian region reunited under the
Amorites, with ruler Hammurabi (reigned
1792-1750 BCE).
• WRITTEN LEGAL CODE

15. The Code of Hammurabi (1792-1750
BCE)

16. Notable Historical Details: Assyria
• 1400BCE-600BCE – by end of 9th century, they
controlled most of Mesopotamia
• Huge palaces on high platforms in the capitals
• Mud bricks with alabaster or limestone
veneers
• Good irrigation
• Three notable kings:
– Assurnasirpal II (883-859 BCE)
– Sargon II (721-706 BCE)
– Assurbanipal (669-627 BCE)

17. Assyria: Art from Assurnasirpal’s reign
• Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions, 850 BCE

18. Assyria: Art from Sargon II
• Citadel and Palace Complex of Sargon II (721-706 BCE)

19. Assyria: Art from Assurbanipal’s Reign
• Assurbanipal and his Queen in the Garden
(647 BCE). Palace at Nineveh (Kuyunjik, Iraq).

20. Notable Historical Details:
Neo-Babylonian
• 612 BCE: Medes (western Iran), Scythians
(nomadic people from northern Asia,) and
Babylonians captured Nineveh.
• Nebuchadnezzar II (ruled 605-562 BCE) –
transformed Babylon (2 sections straddling
the Euphrates river by a bridge!)
• Huge empire from Mesopotamia to the
Mediterranean
• Glazed bricks used

21. Neo-Babylonia: Ishtar Gate (575 BCE)

22. Notable Historical Details: Persia
• 559BCE – Cyrus II the Great (ruled until 530 BCE)
• Darius I (ruled 521-486 BCE) – “I am Darius, great King, King of
Kings, King of countries, King of this earth.” (Only the Greeks
stood against them.)
• Organized government; local/native leaders/customs left in
place.
• 515 BCE: Parsa/Persepolis constructed; new style reflective of
many cultures
Daric Coin minted under Darius I, 4th century.

23. Persia: Apadana of Darius and Xerxes
(518-460 BCE)
• Grid of 1500 x 900 feet (total palace complex)
on 40’ raised platform.

24. Persia: Apadana of Darius and Xerxes
(518-460 BCE) – Receiving Tribute
• Detail