ah111b artifacts

woman of willendorf (paleolithic)
-nonrepresentational figure as face is obscured
-disproportionate human figure with emphasis on certain body parts that deal with fertility
-small size makes it portable and would be nonverbal communication

skulls from jericho (neolithic)
-demonstrates the great care people put into burying ancestors below homes
-lifelike faces with shells for eyes
-some people think it was a form of ancestor worship or its like a memorial type thing but no one is sure since theres no written records

standard of ur (sumer)
-the registers represent the political power and life of sumerian people
-war side and peace side with emphasis on military victory

great ziggurat of ur (sumer)
-looks like mountain which is symbol of abundance, like water comes down it
-elevates the temples to be closer to the sky and heavens/home of gods

victory sele of naram-sin (akkad)
-visual narrative but no registers
-naram-sin is the largest with hierarchic scale showing his power
-hat with horns is him aligning himself with gods
-display political power

law code of hammurabi (babylon)
-relief sculpture with cuneiform
-hammurabi brings justice with no oppression
-hammurabu speaks to the gods, shamash, political exchange
-king has power because of proximity to god

ishtar gate (babylon)
-reliefs with animals on each (Marduk, Adad, and Ishtar)
-celebrate King Nebuchadnezzar and how he is supported by gods
-blue gaze represents lapis lazuli (highly prized stone)
-brick lines never run through eyes-dont disrespect the gods

fugitives crossing river orthostat (assyria)
-The reliefs showed military conquests and glorification of the king.
-Orthostat emphasizing journey that one must make to get to the king
-protect wall and authority-naturalistic carving

audience hall (apadana) at persepolis (persian)
-relief on the eastern stairs, which consists of representations of all nations in the empire
-When people came to pay tribute, they saw on the stairs representations of themselves.
-architectural styles from all over
-materials from everywhere

palette of king narmer (pre-dynastic egypt)
-its original function as a ritual item dedicated to a god
-black cosmetic lines around the eyes served to reduce glare
-organized in regular horizontal zones known as registers
-use of hierarchical scale to indicate relative importance of the individuals
-visual aspects and religious concepts

step pyramid of king djoser (old kingdom egypt)
-The ideal cycle of eternal renewal
-he pyramid started off as a mastaba tomb
-shape that way resembes ben ben stone
-ladder fir king's ka to ra

menkaure and his wife (old kingdom egypt)
-young looking and vibrant because this is what you wanted in afterlife
-canon of proportion and balanced, rigidness mostly just so sculpture in tact
-wig of hathor is showing she is like ideal goddess
-mankaure looks like god- this is your eternal look for ka

temple of amun-ra (new kingdom egypt)
-pylon, courtyard, hypostyle hall, sanctuary
-bilaterally symmetrical to keep maat and order
-entrance faces east with direct axis for sun
-MICROCOSM FOR CREATION (marsh plants, direction, shape, in line with sun, irregular bricks like waters of creation, rising floor level like rising nile)
-more private as go through it (home of gods sanctuary only king and priest go)

fowling scene tomb painting (new kingdom egypt)
-scene of what living enjoyed doing so ka could continue to do that
-repetition of birds and creatures shows abundance and idealization done to give ka what it needs in afterlife
-hierarchic scale with tomb owner being largest and most important
-composite view of tomb owner shows importance in society

akhenaten and his family (amarna period egypt)
-new ideal that came with this new ruler
-new god aten is present as a sun(new iconography and is the sun and nongendered)
-sun is giving ankh which is symbol of life
-image of diving kingship