Art History Unit 2

White Temple and Ziggurat, Uruk

3500-3000 BCE, Sumerian, mud brick, stepped tower with temple dedicated to sky god Anu, religious center with cella for divinity to appear, early city-state architecture

Code of Hammurabi

1792-1750 BCE, Babylonian, basalt, Hammurabi receiving laws from sun god Shamash with 282 laws inscribed, public legal code to establish justice, "eye for an eye" principle and social accountability

Standard of Ur

2600-2400 BCE, Sumerian, wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone, narrative registers showing war and peace with hierarchical scale, possibly used as a soundbox for musical instrument, early narrative style in art

Statues of Votive Figures, Square Temple at Eshnunna

2700 BCE, Sumerian, gypsum inlaid with shell and black limestone, wide-eyed figures with clasped hands in prayer, votive offerings for perpetual worship, stood in temples on behalf of donors

Lamassu

c. 720-705 BCE, Assyrian, alabaster (gypsum), winged human-headed bulls guarding city gates, protective spirits at entrances, five legs for front and side perspectives

Audience Hall (Apadana) of Darius and Xerxes, Persepolis

520-465 BCE, Persian, limestone, hypostyle hall with 72 massive columns and capitals of bulls and lions, ceremonial hall for receptions and tribute processions, reliefs show empire's diversity

Palette of King Narmer

3000-2920 BCE, Predynastic Egypt, hard siltstone, unification of Upper and Lower Egypt with King Narmer depicted, ceremonial palette for mixing cosmetics, early Egyptian composite human form

Great Pyramids (Menkaura, Khafre, Khufu) and Great Sphinx

2550-2490 BCE, Old Kingdom, cut limestone, monumental pyramids as royal tombs and sphinx with Khafre's face on lion's body, funerary complexes for kings' afterlife, Khufu's largest and tallest structure for centuries

King Menkaura and Queen

2490-2472 BCE, Old Kingdom, greywacke, idealized rigid royal couple in frontal pose, funerary statue for ka (spirit) of king, ensured eternal life

Khafre Enthroned

2520-2494 BCE, Old Kingdom, diorite, pharaoh seated with Horus protecting his head, statue for ka of king, divine kingship emphasized

Seated Scribe

2620-2500 BCE, Old Kingdom, painted limestone, realistic non-idealized figure of a scribe, funerary statue for ka, importance of literacy in Egypt

Temple of Amun-Re and Hypostyle Hall, Karnak

Temple 1550 BCE, Hall 1250 BCE, New Kingdom, cut sandstone and mud brick, massive religious complex with hypostyle hall and clerestory windows + pylone architecture, ceremonial and religious center for Amun-Re, largest religious structure built

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

1473-1458 BCE, New Kingdom, sandstone carved into cliff, terraced temple with colonnades and shrines, funerary temple and political monument for female pharaoh, symmetry and grand scale emphasized

Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut

1473-1458 BCE, New Kingdom, granite, Hatshepsut kneeling with offering jars, devotion to Amun-Re, depicts female pharaoh as traditional male king

Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters

1353-1335 BCE, Amarna Period, limestone, royal family under Aten's rays in intimate scene, stele for religious devotion to Aten, monotheistic shift and Amarna style informality

Bust of Nefertiti

1353-1335 BCE, Amarna Period, painted limestone, elegant symmetrical portrait of queen Nefertiti, likely artist's model, idealized beauty standard of Amarna period

Innermost Coffin of King Tutankhamun

1323 BCE, New Kingdom, gold inlaid with enamel and semiprecious stones, crook and flail with protective goddess wings, funerary coffin for king's afterlife, masterpiece of Egyptian art

Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer (Book of the Dead)

c. 1275 BCE, New Kingdom, painted papyrus scroll, Hu-Nefer's soul judged by Osiris with heart weighed against feather, funerary text guiding soul in afterlife

Portrait of Queen Tiye

1353-1335 BCE, Amarna Period, wood with gold, silver, alabaster, and lapis lazuli, naturalistic portrayal of aging queen mother, royal portrait emphasizing realism