ART 1001 - Module 2 (Spieth)

post-fix "lith" (lat.) means

"stone"

Ashurbanipal Hunting Lions and Dying Lioness, Nineveh, ca. 650 B.C.E., carved Alabaster

- An example of a low relief sculpture from the end of the Assyrian dominance is seen. - Hunting was a royal privilege.

Early Civilization in Mesopotamia

- Ancient Mesopotamia is located in today's Iraq and parts of Syria. - earliest evidence of civilization: political organization, religious beliefs, cities, and food storage.

Neolithic Architecture

- Neolithic structures that have survived to the present day include dolmen, which are tomb structures consisting of rows of stones, planted vertically in the ground, covered with a slab and cromlech, which are huge stones placed in a circle.

Early Mesopotamian civilizations were defined by three main factors:

- Political organization in city-states, surrounded by nomadic people and interlinked by trade - Rise of cities as religious and administrative centers enjoying economic prosperity - Building of temple structures to communicate with the stars (different from Egypt and its preoccupation with royal tombs)

What types of laws were inscribed? How do the laws reflect the values of the society?

- Similar to biblical 'laws' - Many of the laws deal with agriculture issues and irrigation issues which shows what they deemed as important. - Family life was also a big part in the laws. - King is responsible for peace and prosperity.

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, ca.2300-2200 B.C.E., carved sandstone

- This work utilizes hieratic scale, meaning that the king's body is represented much larger than anybody else's to signify his superior rank.

Rosetta Stone

- contains the same text in three versions: Greek, Demotic (Late Egyptian), and formal hieroglyphic.

What was the symbolic purpose of the iconography of the king hunting lions?

- lions were native, and are now extinct, were symbols of the violence of nature. - law said only the king can kill the lions. - king keeping nature at bay, keeping the city safe.

Paleolithic Sculptural Artifacts

- small female figurines have been found in Europe that date to the Paleolithic period.

Ishtar Gate, Babylon What were the functional and symbolic purposes of these gates? Why are images of animals used in the gate? How are they represented?

- tigers seemed to portray like they were trained and controlled by King Nebuchadnezzar - makes you fear the king - ancient bull meant to be terribly fierce - auroch is a composite beast - represents order with how it is shown

B.C.E. =

Before Common (Christian) Era

Paleolithic Period =

Early Stone Age (from about 35,000 B.C.E. to 8,000 B.C.E.)

Care of the dead and preparation for the afterlife was of great importance in ....

Egyptian culture

What are some of the visual conventions of representation used to differentiate the figures?

God Figure (Shamash) - special horned crown on the god - flames that are lit from the god's shoulders - "composite view" = shoulders are frontal and face is in profile - mountains are under the god's feet to show what he 'rises' from each day - giving a ring and a scepter to the king King (Hammurabi) - accepting the things from Shamash which is showing that Shamash has authority over him - does not have a composite view

Paleolithic Cave Painting {Wall Painting of Animals, Chauvet Cave, Pont d'Arc, France, ca. 28,000 B. C. E.}

In these wall paintings, hunting iconography predominates (mammoth, bison, reindeer, horses, boar, etc.); spears and traps are visible, as well as occasional handprints. - gives us a glimpse at how Paleolithic hunter-gatherer groups subsisted.

Mesolithic Period =

Middle Stone Age (from about 8,000 B.C.E. to 6,000 B.C.E. for Eastern Mediterranean; extends up to 4,000 B.C.E. for Spain and Northern Europe)

An art form at which the Assyrians excelled was relief sculpture which was

a sculpture carved out of only one side of a block of stone to decorate their palaces.

monolith, n. (adj.: monolithic)

a single, large stone

Cromleches

circular structures of monumental stones and are believed to have a religious association, such as a cult of the dead or sun-worship - Most famous is Stonehenge

Sumerian Cuneiform

considered the first written language in the world; the wedge-shaped characters were impressed on clay tablets and used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia

Palace at Persepolis

consisting of a succession of columned courts, axially arranged, including a central court, sixty feet high, and stretching over a surface over two-hundred square feet. - central court was equipped with large, fluted columns, and a vast rock-cut podium with relief carvings featuring fighting animals (bulls and lions) and a superimposed register of the Persian king reviewing his troops. - heavily fortified and is believed to have served, above all, ceremonial (not residential) purposes for the Persian kings.

What script was used to write the law code?

cuneiform law

Egyptian canon for human representation mostly consisted of profile views for

heads, and a frontal view for legs, arms, and torso.

Egyptians used a written language consisting of

hieroglyphics. - only deciphered in the early 1820s by Jean-François Champollion

Stele of Hammurabi is of great importance for the history of

jurisprudence - contains the first written code of laws known to mankind.

Over the centuries, the style of Egyptian art changed very ...

little

The Akkadian rule coincided with the advent of the age of ________ in Mesopotamia.

metal

Radiocarbon dating :

method for determining age by comparing the amount of carbon-14 to the amount of carbon-12 in a sample

Mesolithic Rock-Shelter Paintings

more abstract and schematic, more symbolic than representational at beginning of Mesolithic period. - linked to similar cave paintings scattered across the African continent

The political organization of Egypt consisted of leaders/kings who were called

pharaohs

Sumerian Art

realistic looking figures, cut from stone, eyes wide open, men are bare-chested and wear kilts, women have left shoulder covered

Ziggurat

stepped temple structure made of sun-dried brick; it is typical for Mesopotamian civilizations

Venus" of Willendorf, ca. 25,000 - 20,000 B.C.E.

the most famous figurine - was made of carved stone. - the anatomical exaggerations suggest the figures served as fertility fetishes

Ancient Egyptian cultural artifacts suggest a preoccupation with the afterlife. The Egyptians believed in the preservation of the ka (life force or spirit) beyond death. This belief defines the type of monuments and works of art that have survived to the present day:

tombs and temples dominate.

"Book of the Dead"

were written/painted on papyrus scrolls that were wrapped up with mummies after burial ceremonies. - contained spells, prayers, formulas, counsels.

A "palette" was a tablet on which

A "palette" was a tablet on which eye makeup was prepared, so it was a utilitarian object.

Around 2300 B.C.E., Sumerian cities were unified (conquered by force) under the ruler Sargon of _________

Akkad

The center of Persian culture was the Palace at Persepolis, built by

Darius I and Xerxes I, - destroyed by Greek conqueror Alexander the Great.

Neolithic Period =

Late Stone Age (Eastern Mediterranean: 6,000 B.C.E. to 3,500 B.C.E.; Spain and Northern Europe: 4,000 to 1,500 B.C.E) - defined by a giant stride forward in human development

The earliest Egyptian tomb structures are

Mastabas (Arabic for bench) - typically rectangular structures with sloping outside walls, which are made of bricks.

Dendrochronology :

The process of counting tree rings to determine the age of a tree

In 1922, archeologists made a spectacular discovery of the tomb of

Tutankhamen ("King Tut"). - richness of materials found in the burial chamber filled with objects made from beaten gold, semiprecious stones, such as lapis lazuli, turquoise, and carnelian, was unparalleled.