APAH: Unit 1 - Prehistoic, Egyptian, & Mesopotamian Art

works 1-25 (unit 1 and most of unit 2)

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Apollo 11 stones

Apollo 11 stontes (date/location)

25,000-23,000 BCE; southwest Namabia

Apollo 11 stones (material)

charcoal on stone

Apollo 11 stones (use/facts)

* Broken on purpose, mostly likely for ritual/religious use
* portable
* named bc discovery coincided w/ Apollo 11 landing
* found in rock shelter
* brought to cave where it was discovered

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Running Horned Woman

Running Horned Woman (date/location)

Tassil n’Ajjer, Algeria; 6,000-4,000 BCE

Running Horned Woman (material)

paint on stone

Running Horned Woman (use/facts)

* Unknown, theories include for rituals, representing myth, initiation, lost religion


* realistic & abstract humans & animals

Great Hall of Bulls (Lascaux) (date/location)

Lascaux, France; 28,000-10,000 BCE

Great Hall of Bulls (Lascaux) (material)

pigment on rock

Great Hall of Bulls (Lascaux) (use/facts)

* Ensure luck on a hunt? Not meant to be seen by anyone other than painter
* collection of 600 paintings & 1500 engravings of animals
* lifelike animals
* painted by moss wick candlelight & animal hair candle

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Beaker with Ibex Motifs

Beaker with Ibex Motifs (date/location)

Susa (SW), Iran; 4,200-3,500 BCE

Beaker with Ibex Motifs (material)

terracotta & paint

Beaker with Ibex Motifs (use/facts)

* Ritual purpose bc found buried under man-made mound?
* shows use of pottery wheel
* abstract images of animals from early agrarian societies

Camelid Sacrum

Camelid Sacrum (date/location)

Tequixquiac, Mexico; 14,000-7,000 BCE

Camelid Sacrum (material)

bone

Camelid Sacrum (use/facts)

* Held religious value
* based off the Mesoamerican idea that sacrum = second skull

Anthropomorphic Stele

Anthropomorphic Stele (date/location)

Arabian Peninsula; 4,000-3,000 BCE

Anthropomorphic Stele (material)

sandstone

Anthropomorphic Stele (use/facts)

upright slab to mark a grave; has a human appearance, abstract (geometric) style

Jade Kong

Jade Kong (date/location)

Longzhu, China; 3,300-2,200 BCE

Jade Kong (material)

jade

Jade Kong (use/facts)

* cylinder & circle represent realms of life and death?
* jade is hard & translucent
* found at grave sights

Ambum Stone

Ambum Stone (date/location)

Papua, New Guinea; 1,500 BCE

Ambum Stone (material)

greywacke (variety of sandstone)

Ambum Stone (use/facts)

* pestle used to grind
* depicts an echidna embryo

Tlatilco Female Figurine

Tlatilco Female Figurine (date/location)

Tlatilco, Mexico; 1,200-900 BCE

Tlatilco Female Figurine (material)

ceramic clay

Tlatilco Female Figurine

* blessing for fertility or religious burial
* hallmarcked by tiny waist & huge thighs
* some have double heads = duality of life & death

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Terracotta Fragment

Terracotta Fragment (date/location)

Solomon Islands, North of Australia; 1000 BCE

Terracotta Fragment (material)

terracotta

Terracotta Fragment (use/facts)

* used to serve & store food?
* incised lines linked to early tattoos

Stonehenge

Stonehenge (date/location)

Salisbury Plain, England

Stonehenge (material)

bluestone & sarsen stone

Stonehenge (use/facts)

* burial site
* complex building process lasting from Neolithic Period to Bronze Age
* made of post & lintels
* lots of mystery around it

Palatte of Narmer

Palatte of Narmer (date/location)

Egypt; 3,100 BCE

Palatte of Narmer (material)

siltstone

Palatte of Narmer (use/facts)

* Essentially a ritual makeup palate (like for kohl) that represented the unification of Egypt
* depicted Narmer defeating enemies
* composite pose = composition of the body in most visible angle
* from Hierakonpolis
* Narmer is 1st pharaoh to unite Egypt

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Three Pyramids at Giza

Three Pyramids at Giza (date/location)

Giza, Egypt; 2770-2470 BCE

Three Pyramids at Giza (material)

limestone & granite

Three Pyramids at Giza (use/facts)

* Angled sides represent slanting sun rays?
* Tomb, burial site, & site of ritual mummification of 3 Egyptian pharaohs
* Each connected to a temple
* built for Khufu (oldest & largest), Khafre (2nd oldest & 2nd largest), and Menkaure (youngest & smallest)
* no one knows exactly how they were constructed
* connected to the Nile
* Top part of pyramid is called benben
* West of the Nile

The Sphinx

The Sphinx (date/location)

Giza, Egypt; 2520-2494 BCE

The Sphinx (material)

limestone

The Sphinx (use/facts)

* Spiritual guardian for the tombs of the 3 pharaohs in the Giza pyramids
* located behind Kafre’s temple/pyramid
* West of the Nile

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (date/location)

Luxor, Egypt; 1490-1460 BCE

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (material)

limestone, sandstone, and granite

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (use/facts)

* Used in funeral rites and commemorative ceremonies
* Across the valley from Karnak
* Built by/for prominent female pharaoh
* Hatshepsut was depicted as a male king
* She is not buried here

Temple of Amun-Re and the Hypostyle Hall

Temple of Amun-Re and the Hypostyle Hall (date/location)

Luxor, Egypt; 1550-1190 BCE

Temple of Amun-Re and the Hypostyle Hall (material)

sandstone and red granite

Temple of Amun-Re and the Hypostyle Hall (use/facts)

* Temple dedicated to the worship of Amun-Re; used for royal coronations?
* Built at Karnak, long standing Egyptian sacred site
* hypostyle hall = vast hall filled with columns; inner are taller, outer is shorter, indirect light
* the columns are covered in pictorial sunken reliefs and inscriptions
* pylon gate entrance

Seated Scribe

Seated Scribe (date/location)

Egypt (south of Cairo); 2552-2528 BCE

Seated Scribe (material)

painted limestone with inlaid eyes of rock crystal, calcite, and magnesite mounted in copper

Seated Scribe (use/facts)

* Most likely placed in a tomb so whoever was buried there could take a scribe with them to the afterlife


* Found near tomb of Kai, Saqqara
* no movement in Ancient Egyptian sculpture
* scribe sitting on ground (showing he is a worker)
* sagging breasts/belly fat
* frontal view

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Menkaure and Queen

Menkaure and Queen (date/location)

Giza, Egypt; 2490-2472 BCE

Menkaure and Queen (material)

graywacke with traces of red and black paint

Menkaure and Queen (use/facts)

* Used to ensure rebirth for the pharaoh and his queen in the afterlife
* Found in Menkaure’s valley temple, near his tomb
* all Egyptian art based off Ka (spirit/soul), afterlife, and death
* frontal view
* engaged (attached) limbs

Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters

Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters (date/location)

Tell el-Amarna, Egypt; 1350 BCE

Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters (material)

painted limestone

Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters (use/facts)

* made for a home altar
* inspire piety in his court/depict the royal family?


* New Egyptian style emerged as the reign of Akhenaten began
* Found in Akhetaten

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Last Judgement of Hunefer

Last Judgement of Hunefer (date/location)

Thebes, Egypt; 1275 BCE

Last Judgement of Hunefer (material)

painted papyrus

Last Judgement of Hunefer (use/facts)

* Guide the dead through to the afterlife past the tests and judgements


* part of the “Book of the Dead”
* set proportions and scale for all human figures

Tutankhamun’s tomb, innermost coffin

Tutankhamun’s tomb, innermost coffin (date/location)

Valley of the Kings, Egypt; 1323 BCE

Tutankhamun’s tomb, innermost coffin (material)

gold inlaid with glass and semiprecious stones

Tutankhamun’s tomb, innermost coffin (use/facts)

* Encase the sarcophagus of King Tut


* Glass work was recent invention


* Shown with crook and flail

Standard of Ur

Standard of Ur (date/location)

Southern Iraq; 2600-2500 BCE

Standard of Ur (material)

shells, lapis lazuli, red limest

Standard of Ur (use/facts)

* use unknown
* 3 scenes depicting success in battle
* Sumerian techniques
* standard = flag
* peace side & war side

White Temple and Ziggurat

White Temple and Ziggurat (date/location)

Warka, Iraq; 3400-3200 BCE

White Temple and Ziggurat (material)

whitewashed mud brick

White Temple and Ziggurat (use/facts)

* Temple for worship to Inanna (goddess of love & war) & Anu (sky god)
* 40ft tall ziggurat
* overlooked city of Uruk in Mesopotamia (Sumer)
* resembles a mountain
* white temple was on top but bc made of mud brick it eroded

Votive Figures

Votive Figures (date/location)

Tell Asmar, Iraq; 2900-2600 BCE

Votive Figures (material)

limestone, alabaster, & gypsum

Votive Figures (use/facts)

* Served as stand in for a person so they would always be praying for fertility & abundant crops
* found in the Square Temple, Eshnunna lining a room
* Sumerian religious art
* wide eyes bc eyes window to the soul
* bigger figures = priests

Stele of Hammurabi

Stele of Hammurabi (date/location)

Sush, Iran; 1792-1750 BCE

Stele of Hammurabi (material)

basalt

Stele of Hammurabi (use/facts)

* Served as the written form of Hammurabi’s Code (Babylon’s laws) to guarantee fair treatment across his kingdom
* Emphasized accomplishments of the king
* probably from Sippar & found at Susa
* where “an eye for an eye” comes from
* written in cuneiform
* made of durable hard stone so the laws would last

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Lamassu from the Citadel of Sargon II