Art History: Mesopotamia Art + Ancient Egyptian Art/Architecture

Sumerian Art: Standard of Ur

Artifact is mosaic made of wooden fragments that shows people everyday life. It gave researchers an idea of the what the regions culture was like.

Akkadian Art: Statue of Gudea

King carved in Sumerian style to look calm and motionless. The carving had large eyes and head but lacked a neck, which showed the statue’s lack of realism

Babylonian Art: Ishtar Gate

Nebuchadnezzar ordered this structure built to show the world their power and cultural advances. Depicted cattle and lion. It was glazed and believed to be covered by lapis lazuli

Orthostats

Stone slabs placed at a wall’s base in building constructed by the Assyrians, who were the only people to use these slabs

Sumerian Art: Great Ziggurat of Ur

Temple was 100ft tall and was dedicated to the worship of Nanna, the moon goddess.

Ziggurat

A building with multiple levels was most often used as a temple. Assyrian’s top level was to serve as a place for the specific deity to rest

Mesopotamian Art: Anthropomorphic

To show the person possesses traits of the animal the person was mixed with. For example, human with an lion body meant that they were fierce.

Reliefs

Type of carving that stands away from the background of panel

Akkadian Art: Depiction of Kings

Represented rulers in dynamic poses, emphasizing the culture and kings power. They were frequently shown in battles

Akkadian Art: Victory Stele of Naram-Sin

8ft tall uses relief carvings to depict an Akkadian king defeating his rivals

Babylonian Art: Clay

Plentiful of clay in the region for this reason it was widely used

Uruk

Early city in Mesopotamia believed to possess the earliest examples of writing were found. Writing used to track inventory of the temple

Free-Standing Statues

Carving stood on their own without being connected to walls or panels

Mesopotamian Art: Depiction of Kings

Potrayed rulers as larger. They were given exaggerated physical features to show their strength

Cuneiform

early form of writing attributed to the Sumerians

Frieze of Archers

Persian relief reflected motifs borrowed from the Greeks

Babylonian Art: Code of Hammurabi

First legal system in the world developed by Babylonian kings. Engraved and in relief on a stele

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin

Stele uses reliefs to depict Akkadian king defeating his rivals

Babylonian Art: Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Called one of the seven wonders of the ancient world but hasn’t been found. A series of balconies and terraces filled with plants.

Sumerian Art: Statues

Made with marble with indents in the eyes to hold stones. They were made at different heights, with hierarchy importance. Gods got the tallest

The Book of the Dead

Book created in the New Kingdom period of Egypt to provide instruction on reaching afterlife.

Egyptian History: Old Kingdom

Period began in 2680 BCE and lasted until 2259 BCE. Egyptian civilization really took off and the first pyramids were made

Egyptian History: New Kingdom

1550-1070 BCE. The construction of pyramids stopped during this era

Pharaohs

Individuals rules in Egypt. Responsible for the structure and pyramids to demonstrate their power

Ma’at

Goddess of truth, justice, harmony, and balance. Ancient Egyptians believe that this eternal order kept the universe going. The temples, prayer, maintenance of the temples will keep Ma’at from destruction

Egyptian History: Amarna Period

Short period of time during the rule of Akhenaten who worshiped the god Aten and he shifted the culture and art for a little while

Pyramids of Giza

Three famous pyramids were tombs for three pharaohs: Khafre, Khufu, and Menkaure. The construction was begun by Khufu

Egyptian Art: Materials

Granite, basalt, porphyry, limestone, acacia wood, copper. Artists incorporated silver, gold, ivory, and ebony

Egyptian History: Middle Kingdom

2258-1786 BCE. Temple and pyramid design changed.

Bust of Nefertiti

Artwork created during Egypt’s New Kingdom period. Depicts wife of Akhenaten

Eyptian History: Early Dynastic Period

3680-3000 BCE: Egypt’s first kings came to power during this period

Amarna Period: Consequences

Egyptians didn’t look favorably on this period after Akhenaten died. They did their best to remove it from their records.

Egyptian History: Belief in the Afterlife

Culture believed that the spirit was immortal if it had some place that it could rest. This led to a large focus on what happened after a person died.

Amarna Period: Characteristics of Art

Artists crafted figures with enlarged stomachs and hips. Used elongated and narrow arms, hands, and heads

Tutankhamen’s Tomb

Found by Howard Carter in 1922. It is believed that tomb wasn’t intended for royalty but was later adapted into a burial chamber because the walls are sparsely decorated compared to other tombs.

Temple of Karnak

Religious structure guarded by the large statues of Ramses II. The size of the statues indicate he was an important ruler

Pyramids

Massive tombs built by Egyptian pharaohs for themselves. Rulers believed they would reside in the tombs after death as gods.

Egyptian Art: Influence of Other Cultures

Artwork impacted by Greece and Persia especially the New Kingdom. Royal commission began to incorporate gold

Pyramids: Use of Art

Tombs were usually filled with pieces of art and other items for the pharaoh in the afterlife. Their construction preserved these goods especially well, most of the ancient Egyptian art is from the tombs.

Step Pyramid

Type of pyramid consists of large levels placed atop one another. The tombs were located underground

Luxor Temple: Pylon

Entrance into Luxor Temple. Ramesses II constructed this and made statues of himself to guard it.

Mastabas

An Egyptian tomb is located underground that was covered with a structure built out of bricks of mud. It had a flat roof and was rectangular

Pyramid: Purpose

Pharaoh, considered mediators between man and gods, believed that they would become a god after death and built pyramids to provide a postmortal place for their spirits and pacify the gods

Luxor Temple: Outer Courtyard

Beyond the pylon gate. Two outer courtyards in the temple. One named for Ramesses II and the other for Amenhotep III.

Egyptian Column

Found in temples and temple complexes. Columns were topped by carvings of lotuses, plants, and papyrus. Columns were decorated with reliefs detailing the deed of the kings

True Pyramid

Style of pyramid was built to have walls that looked smooth and the pharaoh was buried in them above ground. Developed in Egypt’s 4th Dynasty.

Mummification

Process keeps body preserved after death. All Egyptians used this in some way because they thought their spirits required a physical home

Luxor Temple: Hypostyle Hall

An area in the Luxor Temple that is full of 32 columns in 8 rows. Priests and the pharaoh were the only people allowed to enter this area.

Luxor Temple

Large complex for religion found in Thebes was dedicated to Amon-Ra, king of the gods. Amenhotep III began construction of this temple and Tutankhamen completed it.

Snofru

First pharaoh from the Egypt’s 4th dynasty. Known for building two pyramids, first the bent pyramid, which was a failure and had an underground tomb. The second the red pyramid.

Red Pyramid

Second pyramid constructed by Snofru. We believe this to be the first true pyramid

King Djoser

This ruler was credited with the earliest construction of a pyramid. This was the step pyramid, but it wasn’t designed by the king.

Imhotep

royal architect from Ancient Egypt. Given credit for designing the earliest pyramid style

Great Pyramid

Biggest pyramid found at Giza. Not less than 400 ft tall. Khufu was buried inside

Luxor Temple: Inner Sanctuary

Final area of Luxor Temple. It was the temples highest point and used to represent the gods’ home.