Tell Asmar Statues

Sumerian, c. 2700 BCE, limestone, alabaster, and gypsum

• Figures are of different heights, denoting hierarchy of scale
• hands are folded in gesture of prayer
• huge eyes in awe, spellbound, perhaps staring at the deity
• men: bare upper chest; skirt from waist down; beard flows in ripple patterns
• women: dress draped over one shoulder
• arms and feet cut away
• pinkie in a spiral; chin a wedge shape; ear a double volute
• inscribed on back: "it offers prayers"
• figures represent mortals, placed in a temple and praying - perhaps to the god Abu

Standard of Ur

Sumerian, c. 2600 BCE, panel inlayed with shell, lapis lazuli, and limestone

• two sides; war side and peace side; may have been two halves of a narrative; early example of a historical narrative
• perhaps used as a part of soundbox for a musical instrument
• war side: SUmerian king half a head taller, has descended from his chariot to inspect captives brought before him, some debased by their nakedness; chariots advance over the dead in lowest register
• figures have broad frontal shoulders, body in profile
• emphasized eyes, eyebrows, ears

Lyre

Sumerian, c. 2600 BCE, wood with inlay of gold, shell and lapis lazuli

• Lyre has a bull's head
• Four panels on side: Top - Sumerian wrsetling two man-headed bulls; 2nd level - Wolf carries a table with animal parts, preparing for a ceremony, lion bears wine, jug, cup; 3rd level - donkey plays a bull-harp; bear dances; seated fox plays a rattle; 4th level - jackal waves rattles; scorpion man
• Animals in profile; people have frontal shoulders

Ziggurat

Sumerian, c. 2100 BCE, Ur, Iraq

• Mud-brick building on a colossal scale
• Buttresses spaced across the surface to create a light and shadow pattern
• Whitewash used to disguise the mud appearance, perhaps the holes in the surface were for flags or banners to animate the facade
• Tapers outward so that rainwater washes off
• Temple on top was small, set back, and removed from the populace
• Entire form resembles a mountain
• Four corners oriented to the compass
• Three large staircases lead to the upper story entrance from three different directions; guardhouse at point where the staircases meet
• Dedicated to the moon god Nanna

Gudea

Sumerian, c. 2100 BCE, dolerite

• Folded hands; long, fine fingers
• Right arm bare
• Broad shoulders, narrow waist, simple contours
• Sense of calm, peaceful
• Diorite, an expensive stone proclaims the wealth of the owner and importance of the subject

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin

Akkadian, 2254-2218 BCE, sandstone

• Naram-Sin deifies himself as the composition leads him up the mountain to the heavens, indicated by the hree stars above him
• Victory blessed by the gods, represented as suns, but he acts independently
• King wears horned crown of divinity, bow in one hand, arrow in the other, battle axe in hollow of arm
• Defeated soldiers beg for mercy, one with a lance through his throat, another thrown over the side of the mountian
• Spatial isolation of king, hierarchy of scale
• Figures are in composite views
• Depicts his victory over the Lullubi

Stele of Hammurabi

Babylonian, c. 1780 BCE, basalt

• Contains one of the earliest law codes ever written
• Sun god, Shamash, enthroned on a ziggurat and handing Hammurabi a rope, a ring, and a rod of kingship
• Hammurabi with a speaking/greeting gesture
• Shamash: frontal and profile at the same time, headress in profile; rays (wings?) from behind his shoulder
• Shamash's beard is fuller than Hammurabi's 
• They stare at one another directly, even though their shoulders are frontal; composite views
• 300 Law entries placed below the grouping, symbolically given from Shamash himself to Hammurabi

Ishtar Gate

Babylonian, c. 575 BCE, glazed brick

• Glazed brick covers mud walls of the city
• Animals guard the entrance to the city
• Lions sacred to the goddess Ishtar
• Crenellations give a warlike appearance to gate
• Reconstructed in Berlin from the ruins in Babylon

Lion Gate

Hittite, c. 1400 BCE

• Gates to the city
• Guardian lions
• Huge boulders used in construction of city, cf. Mesopotamian mud-brick
• Massive impression

Palace of Sargon

Assyrian, 720-705 BCE

• City on a platfrom 50-feet high
• Made of mud-brick
• Contains a ziggurat
• Huge palace complex: 25 acres, 30 courtyards, 200 rooms

Lamassu

Assyrian, c. 700 BCE, limestone

• Human-headed animal guardian figures
• Winged
• 5 legs; when seen from front seems to be standing at attention; when seen from side, seems to be walking by you as you walk by it
• Meant to ward off enemies both visible and invisible

Lion Hunt

Assyrian, c. 640 BCE, limestone

• Among the oldest surviving narratives in art
• Bold contours
• Emotions in animals, not humans
• Narrative takes place on a projecting ledge acting as a ground line
• Lion: representative of the most fearsome of beasts, domination by the king as an act of power over nature

Palace at Persepolis

Persian, c. 500 BCE

• Built by Darius I and Xerxes I; destroyed by Alexander the Great
• Built not so much as a complex of palaces but rather as a seat for spectacular receptions and festivals
• Built on artificial terraces, as is most Mesopotamian architecture
• Mud-brick with stone facing
• Giant lamassu gates
• Built to be the center of elaborate ceremonies
• Relief sculptures depict delegations from all parts of the empire bringing gifts to be stored in the local treasurey; Darius selected this central location in Persia to ensure protection of the treasury
• Audience hall: apadana, had 36 columns covered by a wooden roof; held thousands of people; used for the king's receptions; stairways adorned with reliefs of the New Year's festival and a procession of representatives of 23 subject nations
• Columns had a bell-shaped base that is an inverted lotus blossom, captials are bulls or lions
• Carved into the stairs are the Immortals, the King's Guard, who were so-called because they always numbered 10,000

Palace of Shapur 

Persian, c. 250 CE

• Built by Sassanian Persian rulers
• Brick audience hall
• Influence of Roman architecture in the barrel vault and arches