Lecture 4: Mesopotamia

Surplus

Extra of something

Monumental architecture

• Citystates are small and theocracies

• Power/identity of these cities

Corveé labor

Unpaid labor

Ziggurat

• Made from mud bricks with a shrine at its summit

Cella

Approached from main entrance (best access) → encouraged humility and time to contemplate before we meet with the divine

Bent access

A building’s layout

Cuneiform

Used for legal texts; clay tablets written on with a reed stylus

Composite view

Seeing something from the fronts and side

Relief sculpture

Sculptured elements poke out from a solid, flat background, remaining attached to it

Registers

Groundlines (baseline that figures or objects stand on in an artwork)

Hierarchy of scale

Usage of difference in size (if something is big, it’s typically more important!)

Iconography

Culturally interested

Votive offerings

A material object/action dedicated to a deity/saint as a promise as thanks for a pray being answered/blessing received

Abstract

Non-realistic art that doesn’t try to create an accurate image

Naturalistic

Goal: represent something as it looks in the real world

Stele

Public monument

Temple of Anu (White Temple)

It is a Sumerian ziggurat dedicated to the sky god Anu. It served as a religious and political center. It is made of mudbrick and stone bracing. It has a cella, which encouraged humility and time to contemplate before we meet with the divine.

Uruk Vase

The vase is made of alabaster. It was the first great work of narrative relief sculpture. It has registers and groundlines. There is a composite view of the people. The upper band shows the goddess Inanna with surplus being delivered to her.

Royal Standard of Ur

The material is wood inlaid with lapis and red limestone. It is an example of narrative art. It demonstrates social hierarchy, with the king in the center and being the largest. It gives us insight into military, economy, and ritual life during this time. 

Stele of Naram-Sin

It is a limestone relief commemorating King Naram-Sin’s victory over Lullubi. It is carved in low relief. The king is the largest with his helmet symbolizing divinity and is an example of hierarchy of scale. There is a shift from kings as servants of gods to kings as godlike figures themselves.