Near Eastern and Egyptian Art Midterm

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1
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White Temple and Ziggurat, Uruk, Sumer, Iraq, 3300 BCE, mudbrick and plaster, Protoliterate (sumerian)

  • dedicated to god Anu

  • Ziggurat = mountain to heaven

    • built on platform to raise above (man made construction)

    • projections and recesses (play with light and reflection)

      • indicate religious space

  • staircase and ramp for animal sacrifice

  • Large temple space

    • small interior spaces (only select few could enter)

    • main entrance is along the side

      • bent access approach (controlled vision)

      • long cella

  • Temple’s floors and walls where plastered with white gypsum

    • controlled entry; one could not walk directly into the temple

    • tripartite plan with a main cella, and subsidary surrounding rooms

  • Monumental stairway (experience of climbing upwards) was an elemental part of the ritual.

  • Exterior of temple had niched walls and grooved buttresses

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Uruk/Warka Vase, Eanna precinct, Uruk, 3300 BCE, relief carved alabaster, Protoliterate (Sumerian)

  • representation of New Years festival represented (1st narrative relief sculpture)

    • performative/narrative image

  • nature was significant to religion → shows cycle of life and ritual of goddess Inanna

  • Broken down into registers

    • bottom registers → water, plants, male and female sheep

    • middle register → men carrying variety of offerings (bowls, baskets, jugs)

    • top register → two figures in hierarchical scale; may represent priest king and priestess or Inanna and partner (blurred boundaries between gods and their representatives)

      • Inanna/priestess receiving offerings → see interior of temple with offerings

        • priest king identified by sash

        • Inanna/priestess identified by pair of ring and post (symbols)

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3
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Female head (Inanna), Eanna precinct, Uruk (Warka), 3300 BCE, marble, Protoliterate (Sumerian)

  • missing inlaid eyes, eyebrow, and hair

  • believed to represent Inanna and to have been originally connected to a body (maybe made of wood)

    • life size temple statue

  • combination of naturalism and stylization

    • naturalistic modeling in softly carved lips, rounded cheeks

    • may have naturalistic elements but does not desire to represent realism → representative of the divine (imaginative)

  • early example of monumental sculpture → may have been a cult statue

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Priest-King Hunting Stele, Uruk, 3300 BCE, relief carved basalt, Protoliterate (Sumerian)

  • shown with bow and arrow hunting animals

    • wears a long kilt with vertical fold at the center held by a wide belt

  • Priest king identified by hairstyle and skirt (belt)

  • priest king responsible for

    • making surrounding area safe

    • forces of the wild are subdued; priest king brings order

  • example of early political monument (legitimizing power)

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Silver Vase of Enmetena, Girsu, Iraq, Early Dynastic Period, 2400 BCE, silver, and copper

  • Votive vessel

    • inscription on neck identifies as being dedicated my Enmetena (ruler of Lagash)

  • inscription at the top → describes how the object is made of fine material, made for a god to hold oil for their consumption

  • below inscription are 2 engraved registers

    • recumbent calves circle upper register

  • Lower register → image of an eagle with lion head grasping oxen, lions, and goats

    • represents Imdugud bird often shown with god Ningirsu (dedicated god)

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Statuettes of Worshippers, Square Temple at Eshnunna, Iraq, 2700 BCE, gypsum inlaid with shell and black limestone, Early Dynastic Period

  • not found in temple but buried underneath

  • votive offerings = imbued with life force

    • believed to represent mortals perpetually worshipping god

      • the figures of people stand in for the person represented, and capture the gesture of prayer

    • reciprocal nature

  • hands folded in a gesture of prayer (holding a cup)

    • stone was not readily available in Mesopotamia

  • figures are abstracted images - reduced to basic geometrical shapes

    • stylized figures (not naturalized)

    • more abstract expression

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Votive Statue of Enmetena, Ruler of Lagash, Ur, Iraq, 2400 BCE, black diorite, Early Dynastic period

  • much larger in size compared to typical votive figures

  • carved from exotic stone

  • have a inscription dedicating the image of Enmetena to the god Enlil

    • details his lineage, his pious acts (built temples)

    • also gives the statue a title “Enmetena whom Enlil loves”

      • statement of performative declaration (desired outcome)

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Female votive statue, from Nippur, Iraq, Early Dynastic Period, 2550 BCE, greenstone and gold, lapis lazuli, and shell

  • women made votive sculptures too

  • no lasting inscription telling us identity of woman who commissioned statue - but must have been wealthy (made of expensive material)

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Stele of the Vultures, Girsu, Early Dynastic Period, 2450 BCE, limestone

  • public monument commemorates defeat of enemies

  • left top register → king leading infantry into battle

    • marching over bodies of enemies

    • vultures carrying of deceased

  • right top register → hierarchical scale

    • God Ningirsu holding enemies in bag - and hitting them

      • way in which enemies are defeated and humiliated

  • public monument (meant for consumption)

    • could evoke a variety of responses

  • contractual agreement that war was over (declared end of battle)

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Dagger and sheath of Meskalamdug, Royal Cemetery of Ur, Iraq, Early Dynastic Period, 2550-2400 BCE, gold with lapis lazuli handle

  • metal work techniques

    • granulation

    • filigree

    • repousse

    • chasing

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Headdress of Queen Puabi, Royal Cemetery of Ur, Ur, Early Dynastic period, 2550-2400 BCE, gold, lapis lazuli, and carnelian

  • metal work technique

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Royal Standard of Ur, Ur iraq, Early Dynastic period, 2550-2400 BCE, lapis lazuli and red limestone

  • not sure how it function

    • may have been part of furniture

  • ends depict mythological creatures

  • Peace side → banqueting scene

    • hierarchical scale

  • War side → battle scene

    • bodies shown beneath chariots

    • group of prisoners of war being taken to king

  • most likely historical narrative

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13
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Bull-headed lyre, King Meskalamdug’s Tomb, Royal Cemetery of Ur, Ur, 2550-2400 BCE, Early Dynastic period, gold, silver, lapis lazuli, bitumen, wood

  • plaque → humanoid mythical creatures preforming a ritual

    • correlation with nature and man - man dominating nature

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Cylinder seal of Queen Puabi, Ur, Iraq, Early Dynastic period, 2600 BCE, lapis lazuli

  • two register banquet scene

    • often represent kings, queens, and perhaps priestesses and priests drinking from cups

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Head of an Akkadian ruler, from Nineveh, Iraq, 2250 BCE, bronze or copper alloy, Akkadian period

  • life size → monumental metal work

    • most likely part of full scale figure of king

  • hollow-cast lost wax technique

  • level of humanism/naturalism we haven’t seen before

    • more stylized eyebrows

    • inlaid eyes

    • stylized hair (human but divinesque)

  • balancing naturalism and stylizations

  • seems eyes and ears have been intentionally destroyed

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Disc of Enheduanna, Ur, 2300-2250 BCE, alabaster, Akkadian period

  • Enheduanna → portrayed in hierarchical scale (isosepoli - heads on same level)

    • not in actively pouring libation

  • 4 figures moving towards altar/ziggurat

    • pouring libations

  • Enheduanna - daughter of Sargon, and wife of Inanna (priestess)

  • may have been intentionally smashed

    • Akkadians → consolidating and solidifying power and connection to gods (legitimization)

  • Contextual Significance

    • women as goddesses → indicated women may have played significant roles in society

    • priestess → oversees rituals

      • most public representation of women

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Victory Stele of Naramsin, found in Susa, Iran, 2250 BCE, limestone, Akkadian Period

  • King took on divine status

    • concept of divine produced new visual rhetoric

  • naturalistic landscape → moving within scene climbing over bodies

    • hierarchic scale

  • Naramsin shown with horned helmet

    • muscular perfection

    • standing/climbing over bodies of enemies

  • stars above represent immortality

    • organized army - compared to enemies in disarray

  • Reception Theory (power of political monument)

    • was taken by later king as booty (important enough to save and re display)

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Statue of Gudea holding temple plan, Girsu, 2150 BCE, diorite, Neo-Sumerian Period

  • diorite → expensive and strong material

  • votive statues indicate piety

    • prayerful dedication to gods and requesting something in return

  • Gudea = Ruler of Lagash, rejected tactics of previous rulers

    • rebuilt temples where his statues were found

      • inscriptions tell a lot about where he got materials and how he rebuilt the temples and who they were dedicated too

  • less focus on active body - shown in frontal view

    • rounding of the body

  • change in how rulers choose to represent themselves

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Statue of Gudea standing, Girsu, 2150 BCE, diorite, Neo-Sumerian period

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20
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Stele of Urnammu (restored), Ur, 2100 BCE, Neo-Sumerian Period

  • second from top resister → 2 seated figures on either side (wearing horned headdresses, wearing flounced skirts)

    • gods shown in hierarchical scale (holding rod and line; authoritative justice)

      • handing rod and line to king Urnammu

    • king (Urnammu) is shown giving offerings to both gods

      • burning offerings

      • in a gesture of piety

  • 3rd from top register → shows Urnammu walking with tools that would have been used to construct the temple

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Ziggurat of Ur, built by King Urnammu (patron), 2100 BCE, mudbrick, Neo-Sumerian period

  • dedicated o god Innanu

    • much larger - 3 platforms built of mudbrick

    • recesses in sidesof walls

      • signals religious structure (also helps stablize)

  • beielve first plantform had plants

  • served both religious and administrative functions

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22
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Private House, Ur, Isin-Larsa period, 2000 BCE

  • made of mudbrick - had 2 stories (upper class)

  • opened paved court yard in middle of center of the household

  • one entrance into the home

    • staircase that led o second story

    • wooden balcony

    • rooms on the upper story were more private

      • lower story rooms were more public

  • many homes had private altars shrines were also located at different parts of the city

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Relief of Lilith, Isin-Larsa period, 2000 BCE, terracotta

  • Relief → frontal composition

    • helped viewer to engage more directly with the divine

  • usually placed over an altar (could have been for private/localized devotion)

  • holding rod and line → represents justice

    • composite features shown with owls and lions

    • wearing horned headdress

  • shown in a specific setting (scaled section below her represents mountains)

  • debate about her identity → may represent Inanna

    • owl iconography

    • connection with Inanna (origin of words)

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Puzur-Ishtar of Mari, Istanbul, Isin-Larsa Period, 2000 BCE

  • emphasis on the body

    • more rounded forms

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Goddess holding a flowing vase, Mari, Isin-Larsa period, 2000 BCE, (life size fountain)

  • fountain from Mari courtyard

  • fish represented on her dress

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Investiture Scene, Palace of Zimiri-Lim, Mari, 19th century BCE, wall painting, Isin-Lara period

  • shows king has blessings from gods

    • divine authority from gods to rule → means agricultural plentitude

  • principle scene

    • goddess Ishatr (Inanna) standing on lions handing over line and rod (ability to enact justice)

  • other gods are present (horned headddresses)

  • lower register

    • one is holding vase w/ water - central to plentitude (abundance of water )

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Statuette of Hammurabi kneeling in adoration, 1760 BCE, bronze with gold, Old Babylonian period

  • votive statue → would have been placed in a temple

  • see new level of movement

    • looks like he’s in the middle of kneeling down

  • inscription on side shows him kneeling before n enthroned goddess

    • purpose of perpetual prayer

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28
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Stele with the law code of Hammurabi, showing the king before the sun god, Shamash, 1760 BCE, diorite, Old Babylonian period

  • shown being given rod and line standing before god Shamash

  • Hammurabi sown in pious position - more rounded figures

  • Shamash → hierarchical scale

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Inanna Temple, Eanna Precinct, Uruk, built by Karaindash, 1415 BCE, molded brick facade, terracotta Kassite period

  • Bilateral symmetry - straight line of sight from entrance (no longer controlled sight)

  • male and female deities shown in recesses on facade of temple

    • mountain and water god/goddesses

    • molded brick

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30
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Catal Huyuk, Turkey, wall painting, Deer Hunt (6000 BCE), Landscape with volcanic eruption (6150 BCE), Anatolia Neolithic period

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Gobeklitepe, near Urfa, Turkey, 9500 BCE, Neolithic (Anatolia)

  • oldest religious or ritual site that has yet been discovered

  • monolithic structures - engravings of animals

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Lion Gate, Bogazkoy (ancient Hattusas), Turkey, 1400 BCE, relief sculpture, Hittite Period

  • part of massive city wall

  • hidden tunnel beneath walls

    • ramps up to top of walls that allowed for easy defense

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Temple 1, Hattusas, Turkey, 1400 BCE, Hittite Period, mudbrick with stone foundation

  • surrounded by storage spaces and workshops

    • administrative and religious importance

  • priests, musicians, crafters were regularly present

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