The Ancient Near East

The Ancient Near East
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The Ancient Near East
Summerian
Akkadian
Neo-Summerian
Babylonian
Assyrian
Neo-Babylonian
Persian
•City-States
•People owed the gods
•Agriculturals advances
•Writing: cuneiforms and literature
•Used a variety of mediums, often combined
Ziggurat: a stepped platform,
often topped with a temple
Reconstruction drawing of the White
Temple and ziggurat, Uruk (modern
Warka), Iraq, ca. 3200–3000 BCE.
Presentation of
offerings to Inanna
(Warka Vase),
from Uruk (modern
Warka), Iraq, ca.
3200–3000 BCE.
Alabaster, 3’ 1/4”
high.
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Votive Figures from the Square Temple at
Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar),
Iraq, ca. 2700 BCE.
Gypsum inlaid with shell and black
limestone, male figure 2’ 6” high.
Heraldic Composition:
composition shows a human
figure flanked by two animal or
lesser human figures.
Sound box: Wood with inlaid gold, lapis
lazuli, and shell,
1’ 7” high.
•Incresed importance of the king or ruler; loyalty to the king,
not the city-state
•Warlike atmosphere
Head of an Akkadian
ruler, from Nineveh
(modern Kuyunjik),
Iraq, ca. 2250–2200
BCE. Copper, 1’ 2
3/8” high.
Victory stele of
Naram-Sin,
from Susa, Iran,
2254–2218 BCE.
Pink sandstone,
6’ 7” high.
•Sculpture made to honor the gods, not the ruler like in Akkadian
Seated statue of Gudea
holding temple plan,
from Girsu, Iraq,
ca. 2100 BCE.
Diorite, 2’ 5” high.
Votive statue of Gudea,
from Girsu, Iraq,
ca. 2100 BCE.
Diorite, 2’ 5” high.
Stele with
law code of
Hammurabi,
from Susa, Iran,
ca. 1780 BCE.
Basalt, 7’ 4” high.
HITTITES OF ANATOLIA:
Lion Gate, Hattusa (modern Boghazköy),
Turkey, ca. 1400 BCE.
Reconstruction drawing of the citadel of Sargon II, Dur
Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad), Iraq, ca. 720–705 BCE.
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Lamassu (winged, human-headed bull)
- a composite animal-human guardian figure is a common sculptural form
found in Ancient Near Eastern art.
Ashurbanipal hunting lions: low relief, contains emotion and
drama, depicts scenes of fighting/war-like values
Persepolis, built by the Persians.
-monumental gateways
-fortified walls
-reliefs showing processions of offerings
Processional frieze (detail) on the terrace of the apadana,
Persepolis, Iran, ca. 521–465 BCE. Limestone, 8’ 4” high.
Darius and Xerxes Receiving
Tribute, relief on the stairway,
Persepolis, Iran, ca. 521–465
BCE. Limestone, 8’ 4” high.
Ancient Egypt
Palette of King Narmer (left, back; right, front), from
Hierakonpolis, Egypt, Predynastic, ca. 3000–2920 BCE. Slate, 2’
1” high.
Typical Egyptian
mastaba tombs:
Section (top),
plan (center),
and restored view
(bottom)
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IMHOTEP, Stepped Pyramid and mortuary precinct of
Djoser, Saqqara, Egypt, Third Dynasty, ca. 2630–2611 BCE.
Great Pyramids, Gizeh,
Egypt, Fourth Dynasty.
From bottom: Pyramids
of Menkaure, ca. 2490–
2472 BCE; Khafre, ca.
2520–2494 BCE; and
Khufu, ca. 2551–2528
BCE.
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Khafre enthroned,
from Gizeh, Egypt,
Fourth Dynasty, ca.
2520–2494 BCE.
Diorite, 5’ 6” high.
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Menkaure and
Khamerernebty(?),
from Gizeh, Egypt,
Fourth Dynasty,
ca. 2490–2472 BCE.
Graywacke, 4’ 6 1/2”
high.
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Ti watching a
hippopotamus
hunt, relief in the
mastaba of Ti,
Saqqara, Egypt,
Fifth Dynasty, ca.
2450–2350 BCE.
Painted limestone,
4’ high.
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Rock-cut
tombs
BH 3-5,
Beni
Hasan,
Egypt,
12th
Dynasty,
ca. 1950
– 1900
BCE.
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Interior hall of the rock-cut tomb of Amenemhet (tomb BH
2), Beni Hasan, Egypt, 12th Dynasty, ca. 1950–1900 BCE.
Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut (with the Middle Kingdom mortuary
temple of Mentuhotep II at left), Deir el-Bahri, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, ca.
1473–1458 BCE.
Temple of Ramses II, Abu Simbel, Egypt, 19th Dynasty,
ca. 1290–1224 BCE. Sandstone, colossi 65’ high.
Interior of the
temple of Ramses II,
Abu Simbel, Egypt,
19th Dynasty, ca.
1290–1224 BCE.
Sandstone, pillar
statues 32’ high.
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Hypostyle hall,
temple of
Amen-Re,
Karnak, Egypt,
19th Dynasty,
ca. 1290–1224
BCE.
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Drawing and Model of the hypostyle hall, temple of Amen-Re,
Karnak, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1290 – 1224 BCE.
Akhenaton, from the
temple of Aton, Karnak,
Egypt, 18th Dynasty,
ca. 1353–1335 BCE.
Sandstone, 13’ high.
THUTMOSE, Nefertiti,
from Amarna, Egypt,
18th Dynasty,
ca. 1353–1335 BCE.
Painted limestone,
approx. 1’ 8” high.
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Queen Tiye,
from Ghurab, Egypt,
18th Dynasty,
ca. 1353–1335 BCE.
Wood, with gold,
silver, alabaster, and
lapis lazuli,
3 3/4” high.
Innermost coffin of
Tutankhamen, from his
tomb at Thebes, Egypt,
18th Dynasty, ca. 1323
BCE. Gold with inlay of
enamel and semiprecious
stones, 6’ 1” long.
Last judgment of Hu-Nefer, from his tomb at Thebes,
Egypt, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1290–1280 BCE.
Painted papyrus scroll, 1’ 6” high.
Prehistoric Aegean
3000 BCE – 1200 BCE
Hook
Artistic Period
Can
Mickey
Mouse
Cycladic
Minoan
Mycenaean
Go
Outside
And
Chases
Hogs
Geometric
Orientalizing
Archaic
Classical
Hellenistic
Ancient Greece
900 BCE – 30 BCE
Egyptian
Mesopotamian
Aegean
Cycladic Artwork
Early Aegean Period
•Abundance of marble influenced artwork created
•Abstracted forms appear ‘modern’
•Prevalence of nude female forms
Cycladic Lyre Player,
Ketos
2700-2500 BCE
Marble
Cycladic Plank Idol
2500-2000 BCE
Marble
Cycladic Female Figures
2500-2000 BCE
Marble
Minoan Architecture
Middle Aegean Period
•Construction of large palaces
•Served as private residential suite for the king and his family as well as
administrative, commercial, civic and religious centers for the Minoan people
•Size, number and contents attest to the power and prosperity of Minoans
Palace of Minos, at Knossos
Knossos, Crete. 1600 – 1400 BCE
Palace of Minos, at Knossos
Knossos, Crete. 1600 – 1400 BCE
Palace of Minos, at Knossos
The Queen’s Megaron
The Toreador Fresco; 1500 BCE. 24” tall;
At Palace of Knossos
‘Spring Fresco’
Fresco from Akrotiri, Thera (Cyclades) 1650 BCE, 7.5’ tall
Vessel with Leaping Mountain Goat;
From palace at Kato Zakro, relief
sculpture; 1500 BCE, 5”
‘Harvesters Vase’
From Hagia Triada, relief sculpture;
1550-1500 BCE, 5” greatest dia.
‘Snake Goddess’
From Palace at Knossos,
1600 BCE about 1’ tall
Mycenian Art & Architecture
Late Aegean Period
•Flourishing culture in Greece by 1500 BCE
•Architecture: fortified palaces
•Art: metalwork, sculpture, painting
Palace of Tiryns, Greece; 1400 - 1200 BCE
Lion Gate at Mycenae; 1350 BCE
Treasury of Arteus
(Illustration showing a section cut of the structure)
Interior of the Treasury of Atreus
Mycenean Bronze Dagger with Lion Hunt. 1550 BCE.
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Mycenaean Funeral Mask
ca. 1500 BCE.
Warriors Vase,
1200 BCE.