Artistry 103 - Lecture 2 Notes: Ancient Mesopotamia

Artistry 103 - Lecture 2: Ancient Mesopotamia

Introduction

Review of prehistoric art (Paleolithic and Neolithic periods).
Prehistoric = without written records.
Focus on artifacts to understand civilizations without written language.
Today: First historic civilizations with written language, allowing us to understand their motivations and history.
Focus on the Ancient Near East, commonly known as ancient Mesopotamia.

Sacred Space and Kingship

Sacred space: separated from everyday space, holding spiritual significance (seen in Stonehenge, cave paintings).
Kingship: close relationship between rulers, art, and messages of power/control.
Examining sacred space and kingship in the context of the ancient Near East.

Mesopotamia: The Land Between Two Rivers

Location: Modern-day Iraq, part of Iran, Lebanon, and Syria.
Term: Mesopotamia translates to "the land between two rivers".
Rivers: Euphrates and Tigris.
Fertile Crescent: fertile soil due to river flooding, enabling agriculture.
Early Civilizations: considered the place where we actually have kind of our first, you know, organized sort of civilization.

Sumerians: Pioneers of Civilization

Location: Lower part of Mesopotamia.
Firsts:
- Urban civilizations: organized cities (city-states).
- Agrarian society: successful due to irrigation from the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.
- Written language: cuneiform (~2400 BCE), geometric/wedge shapes.

Cuneiform

collection of kind of geographic geographic geometric shapes and sort of not cone.
Wedge shapes is what I'm looking for.
earliest written languages found so far.

Epic of Gilgamesh

First literature: oldest epic poem (~2100 BCE).
Epic poem: details a hero on a quest, fighting monsters.
Gilgamesh, king of Ur, seeks immortality.
Quest: Encounters violence, destruction, and an elderly couple who survived a flood sent by the gods.
Message: Immortality isn't worth achieving if everything around you dies.
Legacy: Gilgamesh builds the city of Ur to ensure his name lives on.
Significance: Architecture and structures serve to perpetuate one's legacy when physical immortality is unattainable.
- This concept is a recurring theme throughout ancient and modern art.

Organized Religion and Temples

Organized religion: specific gods/goddesses associated with nature.
Communication with gods: crucial through prayer for divine favor.
Temples: Mountains to meet the gods halfway (gods lived above).

Ziggurats

Man-made mountains: constructed from clay and sun-dried brick.
Temple placement: temples dedicated to specific gods were built on top of ziggurats.

White Temple and Ziggurat

Location: Uruk, Iraq.
Date: 3200-3000 BCE.
Dedication: Anu, the sky god.
Ziggurat: platform for the temple, stairs for ascending.
Communicating with gods: transitional space for prayer and worship.

Ziggurat at Ur

Location: City state of Ur, Iraq.
Date: ~2100 BCE.
Dedication: Nana, goddess of the moon.
UNESCO World Heritage Site. Very well preserved.
Complex structure: multiple levels, staircases, wider and taller than White Temple.

Significance of Temples:

Political statements: emblems of civic pride.
Competition: cities showed off wealth, prosperity, and population through temples.
Beyond religion: temples were political statements demonstrating a city's status.

Offerings to the Gods

Tradition: bringing gifts to please the gods.
Offerings: food, jewelry, money, incense, sacrificial animals, figurines.

Votive Figurines from Tel Asmar

Male and female figures: similar in style.
Size: portable, personal items (largest ~2 feet tall).
Purpose: gifts to gods (private, personal votives).
Materials: specific, unusual style.

Stylization and Lapis Lazuli

Naturalistic yet stylized: realistic but with "off" features.
Massively large eyes: intended to draw attention.
Lapis lazuli: blue mineral used for eyes, very rare and expensive (found only in Afghanistan).
Inscriptions: "statue, please pray" messages.
Function: stand-ins for human worshippers to continually pray to the gods.
Eyes: symbolize constant wakefulness (no lids, wide open), constant communication.

Female Head from Uruk

Date: 3200-3000 BCE.
Material: Marble head, likely wooden body.
Inlaid eyes: made of precious materials (missing).
Unibrow: inlaid with mother of pearl.
Headdress/wig: unusual cut in the head suggests it.
Identity: potentially a queen, high-status member, or goddess Inanna (love and war).
Significance: physical representation of gods for worshippers.
Human-like depiction: gods imagined using human forms as models.
Artifact History: Head went missing during the Iraqi war in the early 2000s, but was later recovered.

Sumerian Vase (Warka Vase)

Scene: presentations of offerings to Inanna.
Date: ~2600 BCE.
Purpose: gift for the goddess (not for daily use).
Relief carvings: two-dimensional sculptures attached to the vase.
Registers: rows or lines of decoration to organize figures.
Hierarchy of scale: important figures (goddess) are larger and centrally placed.

Leonard Woolley's Excavation at Ur

Early 20th century: excavations provided information about Sumerians.
Woolley's focus: finding the king's tomb and understanding afterlife beliefs.
Royal Cemetery of Ur: treasure trove of artifacts, burial system, and kingship importance.

Bull-Headed Lyre

Found in the Royal Cemetery of Ur (~2500-2450 BCE).
Stringed instrument (similar to a harp).
Reconstruction: original wood replaced, but bull's head and plaque are original.
Bull imagery: represents power, kingship, and connection to the divine (god Shamash).
Materials: gold, silver, lapis lazuli (expensive, for royal ownership).
Plaque: shows journey to the afterlife (hero defeating monsters, zoomorphic animals with offerings).

Royal Tombs and Afterlife Beliefs

Servants: remains of ~40 people found with cups (likely poisoned).
Belief: king needed servants and musicians in the afterlife.
Lyre's placement: found on a figure with hand placed over it, symbolizing music in the afterlife.
Significance: reveals Sumerian beliefs about the afterlife and kingship.

Akkadians: Conquerors and Unifiers

Invasion: Akkadians invaded and conquered Sumer.
Adoption of Sumerian culture: gods, cuneiform.
Political unification: united Sumerian city-states into the first empire.
Kingship emphasis: first Mesopotamian leaders to openly call themselves kings.

Head of an Akkadian Ruler

Facial features: distinctive hairstyle (braided and wrapped hair) worn only by rulers.
Potential identity: Sargon I, king who invaded Sumer.
Missing eyes: potentially gouged out as an attack on the ruler's representation.

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin

Grandson of Sargon I: King Naram-Sin.
Location: found in Susa, Iran.
Date: 2254-2218 BCE.
Stele: large stone marker celebrating victory.
Historical document: depicts Naram-Sin's victory over the Lullaby mountain people.
First landscape: shows mountains, trails, and trees.

Depiction of Kingship

Naram-Sin's prominence: largest figure (hierarchy of scale), wearing a crown.
Army's order: neat rows, disciplined, following the king.
Enemy's chaos: disorganized, falling off the mountain, begging for life.
Gods' approval: sun symbols indicate gods' support, Naram-Sin closest to the gods.
Absolute monarch: rules without question due to divine choice.
Divine status: wearing bull horns (crown) previously seen only on gods.

Audience and Compositional Innovation

Audience: intended for his human subjects, to send messages about his role as king.
Registers: diagonal lines for mountain trails instead of horizontal bands.
Elamite king: took the stele to Iran and added inscriptions to claim the victory for himself.

Themes and Conclusion

Kingship: military leader, divinely chosen, god-king.
Art's Function: to relay the definition of kingship.
Contrast: intended audience shifts from gods to men."