Art History Mesopotamia

What innovations allowed them to live in permanent settlements?

Agriculture and irrigation

What two economic institutions came up during this time?

Temple and palace

What important thing was invented at this time in the form of cuneiform?

Writing

What was very important to them, reflected in art?

Devotion to religious figures/ gods

Beaker with decorations of animals/ Ubaid beaker

geometrically abstract animals on ceramics

Uruk Period

3800-3100 BCE

Temples

Religious and economic institutions from Uruk

The Eanna Temple Precinct

Multiple structures overlapping and built up over time. Had temples dedicated to the god Inanna, storerooms, and administrative buildings. Built with ashlar technique (foundations built with limestone bricks that were laid into courses/rows) that was abandoned quickly because there wasn’t enough stone.

Cone Mosiacs

Made with cone-shaped and tapered terra-cotta pieces. Made to look like textile patterns. Process quickly abandoned. Used to decorate the mudbrick walls.

Temples

First Urban administrations(?), places for worship and other purposes

The Stele of Naram-Sin

Shows a military victory, only one register

Cuneiform Styluses

Made of wooden reeds, had a triangular tip

Lion Hunt stele

Has a bearded figure (priest-king) that shows up twice

Early Dynastic Period

2950-2350 BCE

Great Lyre of Ur

Found in a royal tomb, associated with funerary ceremonies.