Mesopotamian Arts Lecture Review

A collection of vocabulary flashcards covering the historical periods, major figures, and artistic achievements of ancient Mesopotamia, including Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures.

Mesopotamia

Literally meaning "The land between the twin rivers," this region is located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in modern Iraq, Turkey, and Syria.

Cradle of Civilization

A reputation earned by Mesopotamia as the site of the earliest civilizations where writing, schools, libraries, law codes, agriculture, and irrigation were first developed.

Diorite

A gray-black stone material used by the Sumerians for portraits and sculpture, such as those found in the Louvre in Paris.

Ziggurat

A brick terrace formed by the construction of successive buildings on a site, such as the one at Ur built c. $2100\,\text{B.C.}$ or the one at Warka.

Sargon of Akkad

The ruler who reigned c. $2334$ to c. $2279\,\text{BC}$ and unified Sumerian city-states to create the first Mesopotamian empire.

Naram-Suen

The grandson of Sargon and first Mesopotamian king to claim divinity and use the title "King of the Four Quarters."

Babylon

Derived from the Akkadian word "babilani," meaning "the Gate of God(s)," it served as the capital of Babylonia.

Code of Hammurabi

A comprehensive set of civil and criminal laws instituted c. $1780\,\text{BC}$ by the King of Babylon.

Shamash

The sun god depicted in Babylonian art with flames issuing from his shoulders, seen delivering the law code directly to Hammurabi.

Amytis of Media

The wife of Nebuchadnezzar II for whom the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were reportedly built because she longed for the plants of her homeland, Persia.

Ishtar Gate

The eighth fortified gate of Babylon, built c. $575\,\text{BC}$, decorated with glazed brick reliefs of dragons and young bulls.

Ishtar

The Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex, who was the divine personification of the planet Venus.

Polychrome carved stone relief

The characteristic Assyrian art form used to decorate imperial monuments, typically depicting royal hunting and war making.

Ashurbanipal

Assyrian king ($668$ to $627\,\text{bce}$) famously depicted in palace reliefs hunting onagers or stabbing an attacking lion with a sword.

Lamassu

Colossal winged human-headed bulls or guardian animals, such as those at Khorsabad, placed in doorways for protection against malevolent forces.

Nisroch

An Assyrian eagle-headed deity with wings and exaggerated muscles, depicted in Nineveh reliefs sprinkling a sacred tree with water.