Lecture: 9/2/25 West Asia: Temples, Kings, and Visual Language (Lecture Notes)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the notes on West Asia’s temples, kings, and early art.

Temple (West Asia)

A center of administration and ritual where contracts and documents were deposited; breaking the contract at the temple signified completion and social function beyond worship.

Uruk phase / Warka phase

Early Mesopotamian phase characterized by major urban development and distinctive art/architecture, including the use of registers and the rise of writing for economic/administrative purposes.

Warka Vase

A monumental alabaster vessel from Uruk with a bottom-to-top sequence of scenes (water, vegetation, fauna) used as a votive offering in the temple and as a visual assertion of social order.

Registers (art)

Horizontal bands in artworks that divide space and convey layered meaning, often with figures and symbolic sequences read bottom-to-top.

Votive offerings

Objects given to gods or temples as gifts or offerings, including liquids, food, precious materials, or monumental versions of everyday objects.

Hierarchical scale

A compositional device where more important figures are depicted larger than less important ones to indicate status or power.

Cuneiform

A wedge-shaped writing system developed in Sumer for record-keeping; capable of representing multiple languages and used on clay tablets.

Cylinder seals

Small cylindrical impressions rolled onto clay to create continuous images or inscriptions; used to record ownership and agreements.

Ashnunna votive figures

Frontal limestone/alabaster figures with large staring eyes, often holding a vessel; typically inlaid with materials like lapis lazuli; buried in temple caches.

Big Staring Eyes

A hallmark of Ashnunna votive figures; eyes emphasized with inlay, interpreted as vigilant attention or ecstatic communion with the divine.

Ore (ancient city-state) and Kuwabi

A city-state site known for vast tombs and rich regalia; Kuwabi (Queen Puabi) buried with elaborate materials from long-distance trade networks.

Standard of Ur

A trapezoidal object with two sides: a war side depicting battles and enemies and a peace side depicting feasting; built from valuable materials and showing hierarchical composition.

Puabi (Queen Puabi)

Royal woman of Ur buried with retainers and musicians; her tomb reveals wealth, funerary practices, and cross-cultural trade connections.

Naram-Sin Stele

Akkadian ruler depicted as divine and monumental in scale, showing victory over enemies (Lullubi); horned crown and sun-god imagery reinforce kingship’s divine sanction.

Lullubi (mountain people)

Mountain-dwelling adversaries depicted as defeated foes on Akkadian monuments like the Naram-Sin stele.

Akkadian Empire

Early Mesopotamian empire that centralized power, often portraying kings as god-like; represents a shift from city-state rulership to imperial rule.

Enheduanna

Daughter of Sargon, priestess of the moon god, and the world's first known named author; wrote hymns to deities and appears in cuneiform records.

Gudea of Lagash

Ruler of Lagash known for numerous diorite sculptures and temple-building projects; exemplifies temple-centered, pious kingship in the post-Akkadian era.

Ziggurat

A temple built on a stepped, tiered base; core architectural form that preserves earlier sacred spaces while elevating the temple toward the heavens.

Trade networks and materials

Royal regalia often contained lapis lazuli (Afghanistan), carnelian, gold, shell, and red limestone (India), indicating extensive long-distance trade.

Public art and propaganda

Art and imagery moving from temple interiors to public spaces to project political power and legitimize rulers for broader audiences.

Temple architecture and “structure on top of structure”

A concept of layered temple construction where newer sanctuaries are built atop older foundations, preserving sacred space over time.

Saddam Hussein and archaeology

Modern political use of ancient sites in Iraq to connect contemporary power with past glories, raising questions about reconstruction and nation-building.