Art of Ancient Civilizations

Art of the Old Stone Age

Although older cave paintings have been discovered

elsewhere, the oldest works of art that we will consider

are the cave paintings found in Chauvet Cave in

southeastern France. These paintings, discovered in

1994, date from c. 30,000 bce and thus are placed

in the Old Stone Age (Upper Paleolithic Period). It

should be noted that art historians use the best available

information to date works of art from the distant past.

Estimated dates are frequently contested and sometimes

revised as new information becomes available.

Except for a minimal use of yellow, the paintings and

engravings in Chauvet Cave were created using red

ochre and black charcoal and depict animals such as

horses, rhinoceros, lions, buffalos, and mammoths.

Additional cave paintings have been discovered in other

parts of France and in Spain, with those in Lascaux and

Altamira being the most famous. The art in these caves

takes the form of large colored drawings of animals such

as horses, bears, lions, bison, and mammoths, and the

paintings include several outlines of human hands. The

earliest scholarship on these drawings considered them

to be the spontaneous scribbling of primitive cavemen.

However, with further study, it became apparent that

the various groups of drawings had been created by

skilled artists working within an established tradition.

The artists used pigments of red and yellow ochre to add

color to the elegant black outlines they had created using

charcoal. Though we cannot be sure of their original

function, it is possible that these works were created as a

part of hunting ceremonies or other ritual behaviors.

Another well-known group of artworks from the

Old Stone Age are small stone female figures that

have exaggerated bellies, breasts, and pubic areas.

The best known of these figures is the Venus (or

Woman) of Willendorf (c. 28,000–25,000 bce), which

is about four and one-eighth inches high. In contrast

to the exaggerated female features of the body, the

facial features of the statue are undefined, the arms

are barely visible, and the feet are missing. Scholars

contend that these statues were fertility figures

although it is not known precisely how they were used.

Art of the Middle Stone Age

During the Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic Period)

the climate warmed, and a culture developed that

produced art similar in some ways to the cave

paintings of the Paleolithic Period. With the warming

of temperatures during this era, cave dwellers moved

out of their caves and began using rock shelters, as

evidenced by the various paintings that have been

discovered at such locations in eastern Spain. There

has been much scholarly debate regarding the dating

of these paintings, but it is generally estimated that

they were created from around 7000 bce until 4000

bce. The rock shelter paintings, like the cave paintings

that preceded them, demonstrate the skill of their

creators in the depiction of animal figures. What sets

the rock shelter paintings apart from the cave paintings

is their depiction of the human figure. Except for one

human figure found in the paintings at Lascaux, cave

paintings did not include any human beings. The rock

shelter paintings, however, portray human beings, both

alone and in groups, and there seems to be an emphasis

on scenes in which human beings dominate animals.

Art of the New Stone Age

The art forms most often linked with the New Stone

Age (Neolithic Period) are rings or rows of rough-

hewn stones located in Western Europe. These

formations have been dated as early as 4000 bce. The

stones used were often exceedingly large—as much

as seventeen feet in height and fifty tons in weight.

Indeed, the sheer size of these works led historians

to call the stones megaliths, meaning “great stones,”

and the culture that created these works is often

termed “megalithic.” The most well known of these

rock arrangements is the one found at Stonehenge on

Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. Stonehenge is

believed to have been built in many phases around

2100 bce. Stonehenge features concentric rings made

with sarsen (a form of sandstone) stones and smaller

“bluestones”—rocks indigenous to the region. The

outermost ring is comprised of huge sarsen stones

in post and lintel construction—two upright pieces

topped with a crosspiece, or lintel. The next ring is

composed of bluestones, which encircle a horseshoe-

shaped row of five lintel-topped sarsen stones—these

are the largest ones used at Stonehenge, with some

weighing as much as fifty tons. Outside the formation,

to the northeast, is the vertically placed “heel-stone.” If

one stands in the center of the rings and looks outward,

this “heel-stone” marks the point at which the sun rises

on the midsummer solstice.

The works of art and the ideas we have considered thus

far have been isolated examples that have survived a

very long time. The works and civilizations that we

will consider next point to further conditions that allow

for the creation of artworks and enable their survival.

Usually, art thrives in highly organized cultures with

stable population centers—usually great cities—that

house ruling classes who in turn support the work of

artists.

Also, if a civilization has a tradition of protecting its

art in locations that are largely inaccessible, it is more

likely that the works from that culture will survive

to a point where they are included in a study of art

history. Many extant artifacts have come from burial

chambers, caves, and tombs, where they have been

protected by being naturally concealed.

Ancient Mesopotamian Art

The civilizations that arose in Mesopotamia in the

valley between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

developed writing and arts in parallel with Egypt

(discussed later). Unfortunately, the Mesopotamian

civilizations formed in a valley that lacked the natural

barriers of deserts and mountains that protected Egypt.

This left them vulnerable to invasion, and hence, the

history of this ancient region is one of successive

conquest and destruction. Moreover, the use of more

perishable materials by Mesopotamian civilizations

has left us with fewer examples of their arts.

From around 4000 bce, the Sumerians in Mesopotamia

created impressive sculptures and buildings. Religion

was a central aspect of Sumerian life, and the Sumerians

built massive temples at the centers of their cities.

Less complex platform structures evolved over time

into the stepped pyramids called ziggurats. Around

2334 bce, the cities of Sumer came under the rule of

Sargon of Akkad. Although the Akkadians spoke a

different language from the Sumerians, they assimilated

Sumerian culture. With the Akkadian dynasty, loyalty

to the city-state was supplanted by loyalty to the king,

and consequently the art of this period tends to reflect

an emphasis on the monarchy, with Akkadian rulers

depicted in freestanding and relief sculptures. Around

2150 bce, Akkadian rule came to an end as the Guti,

barbarous mountaineers, invaded and took control.

About fifty years later, however, the cities of Sumer

were able to reassert control, and a Neo-Sumerian

ruler was established as the King of Ur. Perhaps the

greatest known works of this era were the ziggurats that

were built at the city centers. The ziggurats functioned

primarily as temples but also served as administrative

and economic centers.

The next important civilization in Mesopotamia was

that of the Babylonians. For centuries Mesopotamia

had witnessed the coexistence of several independent

citystates, but around 1792 bce, Hammurabi, king

of the city-state of Babylonia, was able to centralize

power. Hammurabi left an enduring legacy in that he

codified Babylonian law—the Code of Hammurabi is

the oldest legal code known in its entirety. The best-

known artwork from this period, preserved in the

Louvre Museum, is related to this code of law; it is a

stone stele onto which Hammurabi’s code is carved

with a sculpture in high relief at the top that depicts

Hammurabi receiving inspiration for his code of law

from the sun-god, Shamash.

While the Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian

cultures grew in southern Mesopotamia, the Assyrians

dominated in the north. From about 900 bce to around

600 bce, the Assyrians were the most powerful

civilization in the Near East. Among the most notable

of Assyrian artworks are relief carvings, which often

depict battles, sieges, hunts, and other important

events. Throughout the seventh century bce, the

Assyrian hold on power weakened, and from c. 612–

538 bce, Babylonia once again became the dominant

force in the region. It was during this Neo-Babylonian

period that the famous hanging gardens of Babylon

were constructed. Another important construction

at this time was the gateway to the great ziggurat of

the temple of Bel, called the Ishtar Gate, which is

considered one of the greatest works of architecture

in which figures—in this case animal figures—are

superimposed on a walled surface.

Persian Art

The Persian Empire (c. 538 bce–330 bce) flourished in

what is present-day Iran. The Persians were notable for

their impressive architectural achievements, the most

important of which was the palace at Persepolis, which

was constructed of stone, brick, and wood and reflects

the influence of Egyptian architecture.

Ancient Egyptian Art

Ancient Egyptian civilization is generally dated from

c. 3000 bce, following the predynastic period, through

332 bce, when Egypt was conquered by Alexander

the Great. Recognizable works include the great

monuments of ancient Egypt: the Sphinx, the great

pyramids at Giza, the larger-than-life-sized statues of

the pharaohs, and the portrait head of Queen Nefertiti.

Much Egyptian art emphasizes a style called

hierarchical scale, which uses the status of figures

or objects to determine their relative sizes within an

artwork. Hierarchical scale is exemplified in the Palette

of King Narmer, a relic from the Old Kingdom. This

slab of stone, which may have been used as a ceremonial

palette for mixing cosmetics, presents King Narmer

centrally, and he is depicted as being considerably larger

than the other figures. In the main image on the palette,

Narmer is seen holding the hair of a fallen enemy, with

his arm raised in preparation for delivering a deathblow.

In the lowest section of the palette, below the king and

his enemy, are two smaller figures of defeated enemies.

The organization of the figures, their relative sizes, and

their poses recurred in most of the ancient Egyptian art

that followed. Figures are presented so that each part of

the body is shown as clearly as possible, in a technique

known as “fractional representation.” The head is

in profile with the eye in frontal view, the torso is in

full frontal view, and the lower body, legs, and feet are

in profile. This formula became a standard style that

endured for centuries as the typical way of representing

people in Egyptian art.

We know a great deal about the art of Egypt because

excellent conditions for preservation were present

in much of Egypt. In addition, the burial customs

of the Egyptians, which decreed mummification

and entombment with lavish furnishings, symbolic

servants, and jewelry, resulted in rich stores of objects

and images. The most famous of the Egyptian tombs

is that of the boy king, Tutankhamun. By the twentieth

century, most of the ancient Egyptian tombs of the

Pharaohs had been broken into and robbed of the

materials inside. However, Tutankhamun’s tomb,

because it was cleverly hidden, remained almost

completely intact until 1922. When it was opened,

the excavators found a treasure-trove of objects, all

superbly made of rich materials. Among the most

famous of the objects is Tutankhamun’s burial mask.

This mask, found in the innermost layer of the

king’s sarcophagus, rested on the mummy’s face and

shoulders. It is made of gold and is decorated with blue

glass and semiprecious stones. The mask presents an

idealized portrait of the young king.

Nubian Art

The kingdom of Nubia lay to the south of Egypt and

covered a large area of Africa. As contemporary

historians become increasingly interested in revising

and expanding art history, more knowledge about

this great African civilization is being uncovered.

Indeed, it is now known that there was a period in the

history of Egypt when Nubia ruled the area, and the

Pharaohs of that era were Nubian. While there are few

collections that feature Nubian works, this may well

soon change as revisions to the story of art continue.