Presentation in the discipline "art" on the topic "ancient Mesopotamia". Artistic culture of the interfluve Mesopotamia MHC
In the IV - I millennium BC. e. in the lower reaches of the large rivers Tigris and Euphrates lived peoples of high culture, to whom we owe the basics of mathematical knowledge and the division of the clock dial into 12 parts. Here they learned to calculate with great accuracy the movement of the planets and the time of revolution of the Moon around the Earth. In Mesopotamia they knew how to build the highest towers, where they used brick as a building material, drained swampy areas, laid canals and irrigated fields, planted orchards, invented the wheel, the potter's wheel and built ships, knew how to spin and weave, made tools from copper and bronze and weapons. The rich mythology of the peoples of Mesopotamia had a huge influence on the culture of Europe and Asia. Subsequently, some of their legends became part of the holy book of the Bible.
Example of cuneiform
2200-2000 BC e.
Unlike architecture
Babylon. Reconstruction
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Review questions:
3. What are the outstanding achievements of the culture of the Nars of Ancient Asia? In the IV - I millennium BC. e. in the lower reaches of the large rivers Tigris and Euphrates lived peoples of high culture, to whom we owe the basics of mathematical knowledge and the division of the clock dial into 12 parts. Here they learned to calculate with great accuracy the movement of the planets and the time of revolution of the Moon around the Earth. In Mesopotamia they knew how to build the highest towers, where they used brick as a building material, drained swampy areas, laid canals and irrigated fields, planted orchards, invented the wheel, the potter's wheel and built ships, knew how to spin and weave, made tools from copper and bronze and weapons. The rich mythology of the peoples of Mesopotamia had a huge influence on the culture of Europe and Asia. Subsequently, some of their legends became part of the holy book of the Bible.
The Sumerians entered the history of world culture primarily due to the invention of writing, which arose here about 200-300 years earlier than in Egypt. It was originally a pictographic letter. They wrote on “tablets” on soft clay; for this purpose, reed or wooden sticks were used, sharpened in such a way that when pressed into wet clay they left a wedge-shaped mark. The tablets were then fired. At first they wrote from right to left, but it was inconvenient, since the right hand covered what was written. Gradually we moved to more rational writing - from left to right.
“Tablets” made of soft clay and reed writing sticks
Example of cuneiform
Religion played a huge role in public life. In Mesopotamia there was no developed funeral cult, there was no idea of resurrection and immortality. Death seemed inevitable and natural; only earthly life was real. In this struggle for life, the gods can come to the aid of a person; they must be appeased, they must be served. In Mesopotamia, the heavenly bodies, water and other natural forces were deified.
God Enlil (lord of wind and water) is one of the greatest deities, who was the son of the sky god Anu and the earth goddess Ki. Enlil is the god of fertility. According to the mythology of the ancient Sumerians, Enlil divided heaven and earth, gave people agricultural tools and helped develop cattle breeding, agriculture, and introduced them to culture. But he attributes not only good things to him. Enlil, in order to teach people a lesson for their stupidity, sent natural disasters to them, and in the epic of Gilgamesh, it is mentioned that Enlil was the initiator of the global flood in order to destroy all of humanity. Enlil is often portrayed as an insidious, evil, cruel deity. His wife, Ninlil, was a goddess of extraordinary beauty and intelligence. He also had sons - the moon god Nannu, the god of the underground element Norgal, the warrior Ninurta and the ambassador of the gods Namtar.
Compared to Egypt, few monuments of art of the peoples of Mesopotamia have reached us. There was no stone in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, and how construction material They used short-lived raw brick. Temples, houses and fortress walls were created from clay. Only mountains of clay and garbage, which were previously beautiful cities, have survived to this day. However, based on the remains found, we can conclude that here, as in Egypt, monumental architecture played a leading role.
The center of the city in Mesopotamia was the temple of the patron god, next to which stood a multi-stage tower, the so-called ziggurat. The ziggurat could have from three to seven terraces connected by wide, gentle ramps. At the very top was the sanctuary of the god, his resting place. Only dedicated priests were allowed there. The facing of the ziggurat was made of baked bricks and painted, with each tier painted in its own color, black, red or white. The terrace areas were occupied by gardens with artificial irrigation. During solemn services, processions of gods ascended the ramps of the temple to the sanctuary. The ziggurat was not only a religious building, but also a kind of observatory of antiquity. From the top of the ziggurats, the priests observed the planets and stars. Temples were the center of knowledge. A clear idea of the architecture of Mesopotamia is given by two-thirds of the preserved ziggurat of the moon god Nannu, built in 2200-2000. BC. in ancient Ur. Its three huge terraces tapering upward with three flights of stairs still make a majestic impression.
Ziggurat is a stepped temple. Reconstruction
Ziggurat of the moon god Nanna at Ur
2200-2000 BC e.
Unlike architecture
The fine art of Mesopotamia looks relatively poor and primitive. Beautiful examples of Sumerian sculpture created at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC have survived to this day. e. A very common type of sculpture was the so-called adorant - a statue of a praying person with his hands folded on his chest, sitting or standing. The character's legs are very strong and are depicted parallel on a round base. Not much attention is paid to the body; it serves only as a pedestal for the head. The face was usually made more carefully than the body, although it had to comply with certain conventions, which deprived the sculpture of individual features: the nose, eyes, and ears were emphasized. Large ears (for the Sumerians - containers of wisdom), wide-open eyes, in which a pleading expression is combined with the surprise of magical insight, hands folded in a prayer gesture. This created the image of an all-hearing and all-seeing human figure. An inscription was usually engraved on the shoulder of the adorant, indicating who its owner was. Finds are known where the first inscription was erased and later replaced by another.
During the rise of Assyria, cities were powerful fortresses surrounded by high walls with numerous towers. The entire city was dominated by a formidable citadel - the king's palace. The palace of King Sargon II in Dur-Sharrukin (8th century BC) can give an idea of it. With a total area of the city of 18 hectares, the palace occupied 10 hectares. It rose on an artificially erected platform 14 m high, with wide ramps leading to it, along which chariots could pass. The palace had more than 200 rooms: residential and utility rooms, state rooms and religious buildings. On the sides of the entrances to the palace there were five-meter statues of winged bulls “shedu” with the heads of people and the wings of eagles. These were the guardian geniuses of the king and his house. Interestingly, these statues had five legs - thus achieving the illusion of movement towards the viewer. Favorite subjects are wars and victory feasts, hunting wild animals and solemn processions of kings and nobles.
Palace of King Sargon II in Dur-Sharrukin Shedu
During the period of the new rise of Babylon, the capital of the state turned into a flourishing fortress city. According to Herodotus, two chariots could move freely on the Babylonian walls. A wide road made of white and red tiles led from the Ishtar Gate to the city center. The double gates themselves were an outstanding piece of architecture. The tall crenellated towers with an arched passage were decorated with a mosaic of multi-colored tiles. The magnificent friezes depicted a procession of fantastic lions and griffins - the guardians of the city. There were 53 temples in Babylon, the most majestic of which was the temple of the city's patron god Marduk. Marduk's ziggurat rose 90 m in height. The sanctuary was covered with sheet gold, and it contained a golden statue of Marduk weighing about 2.5 tons. In history, this majestic structure included under the name of the Tower of Babel.
Babylon. Reconstruction
The Greeks considered the famous “Hanging Gardens” of Queen Semiramis to be one of the wonders of the world. Architecturally, they were a pyramid consisting of 4 tiers-platforms. They were supported by columns up to 25 meters high. To prevent the seepage of irrigation water, the surface of each platform was first covered with a layer of reeds mixed with asphalt, then two layers of brick, and lead slabs were laid on top. On them lay a thick carpet of fertile soil, where seeds of various herbs, flowers, shrubs and trees were planted. The pyramid resembled an ever-blooming green hill. Pipes were placed in the cavity of one of the columns, through which water from the Euphrates was constantly supplied by pumps to the upper tier of the gardens, from where it, flowing in streams and small waterfalls, irrigated the plants of the lower tiers.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The culture of Mesopotamia, one of the oldest cultures on earth, amazes everyone who gets acquainted with it with its originality. The original writing system, the high level of development of law, and the epic tradition of Mesopotamia had a significant influence on the subsequent development of world culture.
Review questions:
1. What are the architectural features of Ancient Mesopotamia? Tell us about the most important achievements of temple and urban architecture?
2. Identify the leading themes in the visual arts of Mesopotamia. What circumstances and reasons are they due to?
3. What are the outstanding achievements of the culture of the Nars of Ancient Asia?
Art of the countries of Mesopotamia. Sumer. Assyria. Babylon. Persia
2nd grade
Prepared the presentation
Art teacher
MBU DO DSHI a. Takhtamukay
Jaste Saida Yurievna
- The very first world civilizations were Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Indus Valley and Ancient China. Other major civilizations also arose near large rivers, as the fertile coastal soils allowed people to successfully engage in agriculture.
- Among the first, in the 4th millennium BC, the ancient states of Mesopotamia arose - countries located between the Caucasus in the north and the Persian Gulf in the south, between the Syrian steppe in the west and the mountainous regions of Iran in the east (the territory of modern Iraq). The country is crossed from north to south by two large rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. These rivers created a fertile valley thanks to river sediments and served as good transport routes connecting the Mesopotamian states with their neighbors.
- Mesopotamia means "land between the rivers." By the 5th millennium BC. The agricultural communities of Mesopotamia, formed on the fertile banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, reached their peak. The Sumerian kingdom formed in the south.
Sumer and Akkad
Sumer and Akkad
The most ancient city (IV millennium BC) of Mesopotamia - Uruk (reconstruction of the 2nd - 3rd millennium BC)
- The Sumerians and Akkadians are two ancient peoples who created the unique historical and cultural appearance of Mesopotamia in the 4th-3rd millennia BC. e. There is no exact information about the origin of the Sumerians. It is only known that they appeared in Southern Mesopotamia no later than the 4th millennium BC. e. Having laid a network of canals from the Euphrates River, they irrigated the barren lands and built on them the cities of Ur, Uruk, Nippur, Lagash, etc. Each Sumerian city was a separate state with its own ruler and army.
- Different cities believed in different gods. They built multi-stage towers - ziggurats (“home of the gods”), with a temple on top. The first ziggurat was built at Ur.
- The gods were the patrons of cities. In one city, it was the god of the Sun - Shamash, in another - the god of the Moon Sin. They revered the god Ea - after all, he nourishes the fields with moisture, gives people bread and life. People turned to the goddess of fertility and love Ishtar with requests for rich grain harvests and the birth of children.
- Scientist-priests studied mathematics. They considered the number 60 sacred. Under the influence of the Ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia, we divide the hour into 60 minutes, and the circle into 360 degrees. The Sumerians also revered the number 12. They especially revered the number 7. They designated 7 with the same sign as the entire Universe. This number expressed the six main directions (up, down, forward, backward, left and right) and also the place from which this countdown comes. The Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians had seven steps in their temples, these temples were illuminated by seven-branched candlesticks, they knew seven metals, etc.
- The Sumerians also created a unique form of writing - cuneiform.
- Wedge-shaped signs were pressed with sharp sticks onto damp clay tablets, which were then dried or fired over a fire.
- The writing of Sumer captured laws, knowledge, religious beliefs and myths.
Epic of Gilgamesh
- One of the oldest literary monuments of that time is the Epic of Gilgamesh in Akkadian (translated from an earlier Sumerian text). The poem was created in the 2nd millennium BC. Gilgamesh, king of the Sumerian city of Uruk, is presented in the poem as the son of a goddess and a demigod. Brave and strong. He decides to measure his strength with the gods and learn the secret of immortality. After 12 years he
returns to the walls of his city of Uruk (the flower of immortality is stolen from him by a snake), sees its walls and understands that his immortality is a majestic and beautiful city that he will leave to his descendants.
Sumer and Akkad
HongNian Zhang . Sargon the Great - the birth of the Akkadian kingdom
- Around 2370 BC. King Sargon I, ruler of Akkad, a city in northern Mesopotamia, conquered the Sumerian kingdom and created an empire that lasted 200 years. Later, the Sumerian and Akkadian kingdoms became part of the Babylonian Empire of Hammurabi.
- There was little fuel, and the bricks were not fired, but dried in the sun. Unfired brick crumbles easily, so the defensive city wall had to be made so thick that a cart could drive across the top. Due to the swampy terrain, buildings were erected on artificial platforms - embankments. From the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, the Sumerians were the first to use arches and vaults in construction.
White Temple in Uruk
Fragment of ornamental patterns on the surface of the Red Building in Uruk
Temple goddesses Ninhursag(mother of the gods and wooded mountains)
Relief of the lintel of the temple of Ninhursag with Imdugud and deer.
Ninhursag
Temple of Ninhursag in Ubaid. Early Dynastic period, middle. III millennium BC
- Another significant monument is the small temple of the fertility goddess Ninhursag at Ur. It was built using the same architectural forms, but is decorated not only with relief, but also with circular sculpture. In the niches of the walls there were copper figurines of walking bulls, and on the friezes there were high reliefs of lying bulls. At the entrance to the temple there are two wooden lion statues. All this made the temple festive and elegant.
Head of Sargon the Ancient, Nineveh
Relief of Urnanche, ruler of the city of Lagash
- Since the source material for the development of art was clay, and not stone, the plasticity and softness of clay determined the smoothness of the lines, and not angularity and flatness. Mesopotamian relief and sculpture are not carved, but sculpted by hand, so there is no frontality in the image, but there is volume, whether it is a sculpture or a bas-relief. The subjects of reliefs and sculptures are cult processions, kings and priests in communication with the gods, battles and victories over the enemy, the foundation of a temple by kings and royal hunting.
- Sumerian sculpture was cult, dedicatory. There was no single pictorial canon. The person was depicted conventionally, schematically, without exact adherence to proportions and portrait resemblance; great importance was attached to the expressiveness of poses, gestures and eyes. For example, a female sculpture from Lagash or a sculpture of a husband and wife.
- More often, sculptures were ordered to be placed in temples, where they had to pray to the gods for their real owners (such sculptures were called adorants) their large ears symbolized wisdom, and also that the prayer would be heard by God.
- Most striking were the eyes, which were large, deep-set and encrusted with colored stones, which gave expressiveness to the look. Hands are usually folded on the chest. The sculptures were small - 15-20 cm.
Heraldic motif of the Entemena silver vase.
- Sumerian art contains many images of animals. For example, one subject appears on a copper relief recovered from excavations at Ur and a silver vase of Entemena, king of Lagash. On the first, a three-dimensional image emphasizes the majesty of the drawing - this is an image of an eagle and two deer, not in profile, but in front. On the second, the composition is repeated four times, with the addition of two lions and two goats. Despite the symbolic depiction of struggle, the pose of the animals is completely calm.
Vase Entemena from Lagash: body made of silver, copper bottom.
- In animal sculpture, there is a clear emphasis on power and intimidation. As a rule, this is either a bull or the king of beasts - a lion. In order to give the image anger and a sparkling look, they were depicted with their tongues hanging out and eyes made of colored bright stones.
- The artists of that time were very realistic in depicting images of animals and their movements.
What the Sumerians did first on Earth:
- opened the wheel
- invented the potter's wheel
- learned to cast bronze (since this requires tin, but it was not mined on their lands and in neighboring countries, the Sumerians established trade relations with the peoples of the Indus Valley and brought tin from there),
- learned how to make colored glass,
- contributed to the development of astronomy (ancient calendars and observations of the planets - hence the precise management of agricultural and irrigation work),
- discovered practical mathematics (calculated the length of the year, month, day, began to use numbers in writing numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, table of squares and cubes, table of reciprocal numbers),
- discovered geometry (calculated the areas of geometric figures, found the number “pi”),
- created library catalogues,
- created recipe guides,
- drew up legal codes,
- created a professional army,
- created the world's first art books (in the form of a series of clay tablets) and much more.
At the same time, one must understand that in those days life passed under a series of continuous wars. There were no peace-loving kings. City-states constantly competed with each other.
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Description of the presentation by individual slides:
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MESOPOTAMIA MEOSPOTAMIAN ZIGGURAT – THE HOUSE OF GOD. ZIGGURATS IN UR AND BABYLON. GLAZED BRICK AND RHYTHMIC PATTERN ARE THE MAIN DECORATIVE MEANS. ISHTAR GATE, PROCESSIONAL ROAD IN NEW BABYLON.
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The first civilization arose around the 4th millennium BC. on the territory of the “fertile crescent” between the Tigris and the Euphrates, giving life to the colorful culture of Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia). This culture, as was customary in ancient agricultural tribal communities, reflected the main thing for them - ensuring fertility based on community irrigation Agriculture. The culture of Mesopotamia is divided into several periods. By the name of the city-states of Sumer in the south and Akkad in the north, the culture of Mesopotamia of the 4th-2nd millennium BC. called Sumerian-Akkadian. According to Babylon in the south (1894-732 BC) and Assyria in the north (1380-625 BC) - Assyro-Babylonian. New Babylon gave rise to the Neo-Babylonian, or Chaldean, culture (626-538 BC), the style of which continued in the artistic traditions of Persia.
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Small city-states with the lands adjacent to them had their own ruler and patron - some kind of fertility deity, who was part of the numerous pantheon of Sumerian-Akkadian gods. The central temple of the city was dedicated to the patron god. Its size was determined by the scale of the surrounding world: colossal mountains, valleys, rivers. Frequent and at times catastrophic rises of salty groundwater to the surface and sandstorms forced the construction of structures on high platforms with stairs or a gentle entrance - a ramp.
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Due to the fact that these lands did not have enough wood and stone, temples were built from fragile raw bricks and required constant renovation. The tradition of not changing places and building the “home of God” on the same platform led to the appearance of the ziggurat - a multi-level temple consisting of cubic volumes stacked on top of each other. Each subsequent volume was smaller around the perimeter of the previous one. The height and size of the ziggurat testified to the antiquity of the settlement and the degree of closeness of people to the gods, giving hope for their special protection. The idea of a high platform, not only preserving the building during rising waters, but also allowing it to be viewed from all sides, determined the main feature of Mesopotamian architecture - the predominance of mass over internal space. Its heavy plasticity was softened by the rhythmic relief on the wall plane and the colorful decor of shining multi-colored glazed bricks.
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Ziggurat Etemenniguru in Ur (xxi century BC) - temple of the Sumerian moon god Nanna: four cubic monoliths connected by stairs. The walls of each platform had vertical brick projections along which flowed a zigzag pattern of mother-of-pearl, shells, metal plates and ceramic nails, whose heads flashed red in the bright rays of the sun. Black, blue, golden sparks. The wide areas of the platforms were filled with plants in tubs: pomegranates, grapes, roses, jasmine. Such “hanging gardens”, which arose as a way of escape from groundwater, later became the main highlight in the decoration of the palaces of the Assyrian and Babylonian kings.
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Etemenanki Ziggurat (6th century BC) Temple of the Babylonian sun god Marduk, erected on sacred territory in New Babylon. In the biblical legend of how God, in anger, confused the languages of people who decided to build a tower to heaven, it was called the Tower of Babel. The temple consisted of seven platforms. Vertical projections on the walls of each platform crushed their heavy volumes, giving the silhouette a tendency upward, towards the sky. The spiral of the ramp, encircling the ziggurat in a ring, gave it additional lightness. Thanks to the blinding glaze of the five lower platforms of white, black, red, blue, yellow, the structure took on the appearance of a fabulous phantom floating in the ether, but without losing its monumental grandeur. The last two platforms, lined with silver and gold plates, reflecting the sun, emitted such a radiance that they lost their outlines and seemed to be the embodiment of a radiant god.
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Public buildings and palaces of the Assyrian and Babylonian rulers were also colorful and monumental. The combination of strict graphics and colorful decorativeness is another feature of the Mesopotamian style in architecture and fine arts. At the same time, repeated reproduction of the same relief on glazed bricks in white, black, red, blue, and yellow colors created a special ceremonial rhythm.
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Ishtar Gate (6th century BC) The powerful rectangular volume of the Ishtar Gate, enlarged by square-shaped jagged towers with an arched passage between them - the so-called Hittite portal - was covered with dark blue tiles. This blue bulk was somewhat softened by the monotonous alternation of relief: golden yellow, depicting sacred bulls, and milky white, recreating the beasts of the god Marduk, fantastic creatures with a small horned head on a serpentine neck, with front lion and hind eagle paws.
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The processional road that led from the gate to the sanctuaries was framed by a wall, also lined with tiles. Roaring coffee-colored lions with luxurious red manes and grinning mouths walked majestically across their turquoise field; their measured gait seemed to echo the procession of people to the temple.
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Royal hunt (relief of the palace of King Ashurbanipal) In addition to monumentality and colorful decorativeness, Mesopotamian art was distinguished by extreme accuracy in depicting living nature. This can be seen from the reliefs on alabaster plates that lined the walls of the Assyro-Babylonian palaces outside and inside with a continuous carpet. Preference was given to battle scenes, ritual offerings of gifts, royal hunts, as well as decorative patterns based on the image of winged bulls and winged geniuses with the “tree of life” - deities of the regenerating spring nature.
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The human figure on Assyrian reliefs was depicted with a full or three-quarter turn of the shoulders, legs and face in profile. At the same time, without attaching importance to portrait resemblance, Mesopotamian artists quite accurately reproduced the Asian type: a stocky muscular figure, a large head with a heavy lower jaw, a hooked nose sticking out like a bird’s beak, thin sinuous lips, a low sloping forehead and a huge eye looking at viewer. The king could be recognized by his long curly beard, thick hair, also curled and falling over his shoulders, a powerful torso and luxuriously decorated clothes made of embroidered fabrics with fringes and heavy tassels.
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conclusions The deification of royal power and the cult of the gods, characteristic of the peoples of Mesopotamia, led to the construction of monumental ziggurats dedicated to them, which became a landmark phenomenon of Mesopotamian art. At the same time, not constrained by religious boundaries, since all power was concentrated in the hands of the kings, Mesopotamian art was predominantly secular in nature, with a predominance of palace and public buildings in the architecture. Along with their scale, they were distinguished by their lush decorativeness. The organic fusion of the jubilant colors of glazed brick and the rigidity of the linear rhythm of the relief constitutes the originality of the Mesopotamian style. The original Mesopotamian art greatly influenced the art of its closest neighbors - the Egyptians and Persians. In later centuries it spread through North Africa to Western European art, and through the peoples inhabiting the Caspian Sea basin to Eastern Rus'.
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What features are characteristic of architectural structures in the city-states of Mesopotamia? What are they due to? What decorative means did the architects use to decorate the temples of Etemenniguru at Ur and Etemenanki in New Babylon? What do their decor have in common? What realities are reflected in the Assyro-Babylonian reliefs?
On the modern map this is the territory of Iraq. The territory of Mesopotamia, open and accessible from all sides, was at the crossroads and was an arena of struggle for many tribes, peoples and states. These states - Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, Assyria, Urartu, etc., either rose, then fell into decline, or even completely disappeared. The peoples who inhabited this vast region were among the first to invent the wheel, coins and writing, and created wonderful works of art.
Cuneiform The writing system of the Western Asian region is associated with the so-called cuneiform script, which gradually developed from pictorial writing. Cuneiform was not an alphabet, that is, a sound writing, but contained ideograms that denoted either whole words, vowels, or syllables. The complex Sumerian texts resemble puzzles and were difficult to read. In total, the Sumerian cuneiform script, further developed by the Akkadians, had about 600 characters. Cuneiform texts on clay tablets: educational, religious, state - have become eternal monuments of this culture.
Thanks to the “clay books,” scientists were able to draw up a brief scheme for the periodization of the history of Ancient Mesopotamia. IV millennium BC - the time of collapse of the primitive communal system. III millennium BC - formation of the Sumerian-Akkadian kingdom. XXVII-XXV centuries BC. – the rise of Sumerian cities-states. XXIV-XXIII centuries BC. - power passes to the Semitic city of Mesopotamia - Akkad. XXIII-XXI centuries BC. new strengthening of the Sumerian cities of Ur and Agash. II millennium BC - Rise of Babylon. XIX-XII centuries BC. - unification of Mesopotamia under Babylonian rule. I millennium BC: IX-VII centuries. BC. - strengthening the power of Assyria, which defeated Babylon. VII-VI centuries BC. - the new rise of Babylon, the Neo-Babylonian kingdom. 536 BC - conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, king of Iran. IV-II centuries BC. - the dominance of the Greco-Macedonian conquerors in Mesopotamia.
Art of Sumer and Akkad. The Sumerians and Akkadians are two ancient peoples who created the unique historical and cultural appearance of Mesopotamia in the 4th-3rd millennium BC. Having laid a network of canals from the Euphrates River, they irrigated the barren lands and built on them the cities of Ur, Uruk, Nippur, Lagash, etc. Each city was a separate state with its own ruler and army. Very few architectural monuments of the Sumerian era have survived. Beautiful examples of Sumerian sculpture have survived to this day.
Statue of the dignitary Ebih-Il from Mari. Mid-3rd millennium BC The most common type of sculpture was the adorant (from the Latin “adore” - “to worship”), which was a statue of a person praying - a figurine of a person standing with his hands folded on his chest, which was presented to the temple. The huge eyes of the adorants were especially carefully executed; they were often inlaid. The main feature of Sumerian sculpture is the conventionality of the image.
The objects found in the temple of Til Barsiba and housed in the Iraq Museum and the University of Chicago emphasize volumes inscribed in cylinders and triangles, as in the skirts, which are flat cones, or in the torsos, like triangles, with forearms, too. having a conical shape. Even the details of the head (nose, mouth, ears and hair) are reduced to triangular shapes.
"Standard" from the "royal" tomb at Ur. Fragment. Around 2600 BC. A mosaic of shells and carnelian forms a colorful design. The plate is divided into tiers, which depict scenes of “war and peace.” In the tombs of Ur, examples of mosaic art were found - two rectangular wooden plates, reinforced in the form of a steep gable roof, the so-called “standard” from Ur.
"Standard" from the "royal" tomb at Ur. “Standart of Ur” consists of two inclined panels connected by slats. Its purpose is unknown. There is an assumption that this item was worn on a pole (like a standard), hence its name. According to another theory, the "Standard of Ur" was part of a musical instrument. One panel of the standard depicts scenes of peaceful life, the other depicts military actions.
"Standard" from the "royal" tomb at Ur. The War Panel represents one of the earliest depictions of the Sumerian army. War chariots, drawn by four onagers each, pave the way, trampling the bodies of enemies; foot soldiers in cloaks are armed with spears; enemies are killed with axes, prisoners are led naked to the king, who also holds a spear in his hands. The "Peace Panel" depicts a ritual feast. Processions bring animals, fish and other food to the feast. Seated figures dressed in fringed skirts drink wine to the accompaniment of a musician playing the lyre. Scenes of this kind are very typical of cylinder seals of that time.
Ziggurat at Ur During the Akkadian period, a new form of ziggurat temple emerged. The ziggurat is a stepped pyramid with a small sanctuary on top. The lower tiers of the ziggurat, as a rule, were painted black, the middle tiers red, and the upper tiers white. The shape of the ziggurat obviously symbolizes the stairway to Heaven. During the Third Dynasty, the first ziggurat of colossal size was built at Ur, consisting of three tiers (with a base of 56 x 52 m and a height of 21 m). Rising above a rectangular foundation, it was directed to all four cardinal directions.
Ziggurat at Ur Currently, only two floors of its three terraces have survived. The walls of the platforms are slanted. From the base of this building, at a sufficient distance from the walls, a monumental staircase with two side branches begins at the level of the first terrace. At the top of the platforms was a temple dedicated to the moon god Sin. The staircase reached the very top of the temple, connecting the floors with each other. This monumental staircase responded to the desire for the gods to take an active part in worldly life.
Harp in the form of a bull's head from Ur. The inhabitants of Mesopotamia achieved amazing skill in making household items. Many similar items were discovered at the royal burial site at Ur. These are the “royal tombs”, where items made of precious metals and stones, weapons, animal figurines, and a harp were found. The inlaid head of a bull decorating the soundboard of the harp is beautifully executed.
The lyre was found in one of the royal tombs of Ur. The lyre was made of wood, which had decayed in places over time and was replaced by plastic. The front panel of the instrument was decorated with lapis lazuli, shells and red limestone. The resonant chamber of the lyre was decorated with a golden bull mask, which was also partially restored (horns). The bull's beard, fur and eyes are original, made of lapis lazuli. A similar lyre is depicted on the "World Panel" of the Standard of Ur.
Cylinder seal from Uruk. A special place in the Sumerian visual heritage belongs to glyptics - carving on precious or semi-precious stone. Many Sumerian carved seals in the shape of a cylinder have survived to this day. The seals were rolled over a clay surface and received an impression - a miniature relief with a large number of characters and a clear, carefully constructed composition. For the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, a seal was not just a sign of ownership, but an object that had magical powers. Seals were kept as talismans, given to temples, and placed in burials.
In Sumerian engravings, the most common motifs were ritual feasts with figures seated eating and drinking. Other motifs included the legendary heroes Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu fighting monsters, as well as anthropomorphic figures of a man-bull. Over time, this style gave way to a continuous frieze depicting fighting animals, plants or flowers.
Statue of Gudea, ruler of Lagash. After the death of King Naramsin, the decaying kingdom of Sumer and Akkad was captured by the nomadic Gutian tribes. But some cities in the south of Sumer managed to maintain their independence, including Lagash. Gudea, the ruler of Lagash became famous for the construction and restoration of temples. His statue is an outstanding work of Sumerian-Akkadian sculpture.
Victory stele of King Naramsin. A new type of memorial relief. Stone slabs of different sizes, with a rounded top and images with historical and religious themes. The stela relief of King Naramsin of Akkad tells of his victorious campaign against the Lullubey mountain tribe. The master managed to convey space and movement, the volume of figures and show not only the warriors, but the mountain landscape. The relief shows the signs of the sun and moon, symbolizing the deities - the patrons of royal power.
"Head of Sargon the Great" from Nineveh. During the Akkadian period there is a change in orientation in art, as interest concentrates more on the exaltation of the monarchy rather than on showing respect for the gods. Nevertheless, Sumerian traditions survived. The bronze head from Nineveh embodies the new achievements of Akkadian jewelers.
"Head of Sargon the Great" from Nineveh. The monument depicts a monarch with characteristic Semitic features (a long curly beard and hair tied in a bun). This is a true portrait, which rejects Sumerian geometric shapes and carefully depicts facial features: an aquiline nose, perfectly defined lips and set eyes. The beard is also carefully chiselled in each of its short and long curls, as is the weave of the hair.
A fragment of the decoration of the palace of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh Illustrates the military campaign of the Assyrians against Elam, which ended with the capture and sack of Susa. At the bottom of the fragment, on a triumphal chariot under an umbrella, stands the powerful king Ashurbanipal (ruled BC). Traditionally, the figure of the king is larger than all other characters.
Art of Assyria The motif of lion taming was part of a complex architectural and decorative system. It symbolized divine and royal power; the power emanating from the image protected the palace and extended the reign of the monarch. The colossal sculpture depicts a man strangling a lion. The hero (or spirit) is depicted from the front, which is rare for Assyrian art and is found only when depicting creatures with magical powers. In his right hand the hero holds a royal ceremonial weapon with a curved blade. He wears a short tunic and over it a fringed shawl, hiding one leg and leaving the other open. The magical effect of the image is that the hero looks directly into the eyes of the viewer. The hero's eyes, once brightly colored, were supposed to hypnotize the viewer
Statue of a fantastic winged bull - shedu Winged bulls with human heads were guardian geniuses, who were called shedu. The shedu was installed on the sides of the city gates or passages to the palace. Shedu were symbols that combined the properties of humans, animals and birds and, therefore, were a powerful means of protection against enemies.
Relief "Wounded Lioness" This small panel was part of an extensive composition depicting a royal lion hunt. The realism with which the artist depicted the wounded animal is amazing. Blood gushes from the mouth of a lion pierced by a royal arrow. Veins clearly appeared on the animal's face. At first glance, it seems that the artist sympathizes with the dying beast.
Art of the Neo-Babylonian Kingdom. Gate of the Goddess Ishtar The ruins of the gate of the goddess Ishtar have survived to this day; these gates had a special meaning for the Babylonians; from them, past the Temple of Marduk, there was a Processional Road along which solemn processions took place. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. German archaeologists dug up a large number of fragments of the city wall, using which they were able to completely restore the historical appearance of the Ishtar Gate, which was reconstructed (in full size) and is now exhibited in the State Museums of Berlin.
Art of the Neo-Babylonian Kingdom. The Gate of the Goddess Ishtar The Ishtar Gate is a huge arch with tall, massive crenellated towers on its four sides. The entire structure is covered with glazed bricks with relief images of the sacred animals of the god Marduk the bull and the fantastic creature sirrush. This last character (also called the Babylonian dragon) combines the characteristics of four representatives of the fauna: an eagle, a snake, an unidentified quadruped and a scorpion.
A lion. Tiled lining of the Processional Road from Babylon. Thanks to the delicate and sophisticated color scheme (yellow figures on a blue background), the monument looked light and festive. Strictly maintained intervals between animals tuned the viewer to the rhythm of the solemn procession. Gate of all nations in Persepolis. BC. The original element of Achaemenid art is the column, which was widely used in all types of buildings. Initially, the columns were made of wood, and then covered with plaster and painted.
Palace at Persepolis Subsequently, at Persepolis, a stone column with a grooved shaft was used. The most original part of the Achaemenid column is the capital, from which half protrudes the carved bodies of two animals, usually bulls, dragons or man-oxen.
Art of the Achaemenid Empire. The love for everything grandiose and magnificent, characteristic of Achaemenid architecture, is absent in funerary structures, which were erected with the utmost modesty. In Pasargadae, the tomb of Cyrus II has been preserved - a strict structure eleven meters high, which vaguely resembles a Mesopotamian ziggurat. The tomb looks like a simple stone dwelling with a gable roof, installed on a platform consisting of seven steps. There was no decoration on the walls of the tomb; only above the entrance was the symbol of the supreme god Ahura Mazda, a large, complex rosette (a flower-shaped ornament) with gold and bronze inserts.
Sphinx relief of the palace in Persepolis The Sphinx depicted on the relief was a deity guarding the supreme Persian god Ahura Mazda, whom Darius I “raised to the rank” of a royal god. The divine essence of the sphinx is indicated by its headdress, decorated with horns.
