Ancient Near East

Historic Era Neolithic Technology Cultures

1125-1200 CE Anasazi
1300-Present Navajo, Hopi, Zuni,
1300?- Present Kwakiutl, Tlingit, Haida

Paleolithic

600,000-10,000 European Sites: Altamira, Lascaux, Tuc Audoubert, La Madeleine, Willendorf

Neolithic Cultures

4,000-1,500 BCE Europe
6,000-3,500 BCE Near East Catal Huyuk
800BCE-100 CE North America Adena (Serpent Mound)

The Fertile Crescent or Ancient Near East:
Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian Art
(Period/Style Name: Mesopotamian)

5000-3000 BCE The Copper Age
3,000-1,400 BCE Bronze Age
1400-1 BCE/CE Iron Age

Major Sites/Cultures of the
Ancient Near East and Fertile Crescent

c. 8000-7000 BCE Early Neolithic

Walls and Towers of Jericho (in present-day Palestine).

c. 3600-2100 Sumerian

Uruk and Sumer (Present Day Warka, Iraq) Established 5000BCE Most Active c. 3600-2100
c. 3300-2300 BCE Sumerian- Votive Figures from Eshunna (Present Day Tell Asmar)

c. 2200 Babylon-Babylon

Hammurabi ruled (1792-1750 BCE)

c. 2300-2184 Akkadian- Stele of Naramsin

Resources were mainly mud reeds
and agriculture/livestock.

Major Sites/Cultures of the Ancient Near East and Fertile Crescent

c. 8000-5500 BCE Early Neolithic

Walls and Towers of Jericho (in present-day Palestine). c. 8000-7000 BCE
Catal Huyuk (Chatal Huyuk) in present day Turkey 6,500-5,700

c. 3600-2100 Sumerian

Uruk and Sumer (Present Day Warka, Iraq) Established 5000BCE Most Active c. 3600-2100
c. 3300-2300 BCE Sumerian- Votive Figures from Eshunna (Present Day Tell Asmar)

c. 2200 Babylon-Babylon

Hammurabi ruled (1792-1750 BCE)

c. 2300-2184 Akkadian- Stele of Naramsin

The Ancient Near East Region

c. 8000-5500 BCE Early Neolithic

Walls and Towers of Jericho (in present-day Palestine). c. 8000-7000 BCE
Catal Huyuk (Chatal Huyuk) in present day Turkey 6,500-5,700

c. 3600-2100 Sumerian

Uruk and Sumer (Present Day Warka, Iraq) Established 5000BCE Most Active c. 3600-2100
c. 3300-2300 BCE Sumerian- Votive Figures from Eshunna (Present Day Tell Asmar)

c. 2200 Babylon-Babylon

Hammurabi ruled (1792-1750 BCE)

c. 2300-2184 Akkadian- Stele of Naramsin

The Israelites & The Battle of Jericho

According to the Bible, at around 1,400 BCE, Jericho was the first city attacked by the Israelites after they crossed the Jordan River and entered Canaan. The Wall of Jericho was destroyed when the Israelites walked around it for seven days carrying the Ark of the Covenant. On the seventh day, Joshua commanded his people to blow their trumpets made of rams’ horns and shout at the walls until they finally fell down. Excavations of the site reveal a network of collapsed walls that date to around the late 17th century or early 16th century BCE. The most likely cause of the collapse was an earthquake. Descriptions of later earthquake destruction (1267 CE & 1927 CE) match the description of the collapsed walls in the Bible. In each description, the cliffs above the Jordan River fell into the river and dammed it up. It also reveals that Jericho was unoccupied from the late 15th century to around the 10th century BCE. Non-Biblical Scholars now believe that the Bible story is an allegory. The story was written sometime after 722 BCE, long after the date of the event, and was used to claim the territory for the Kingdom Of Israel. Biblical Scholars point to the destruction of the walls 175 years earlier as proof that the story in the Bible is true. They state that the only thing amiss is the dating in the Bible and that the earthquake was God rewarding the Israelites for following his commands. According to the Bible, Jericho remained abandoned until Hiel the Bethelite established himself there in the 9th century BCE.


Me digging at the site, in the background are Jessica, John, Marty, and Nina lounging.	Look at those beautiful walls. We have to scoop out all of our dirt so that it can be screened carefully.

Marty and Jessica in the backgrount cleaning up a level	Not in chronological order

The day that Brooke came to the site. See my short hair?	Marty screening. We shook those screens back and forth to get as much loose dirt out so that we could look for artifacts. Then everything was labeled with where it came from.

The Ancient Near East Region

c. 8000-5500 BCE Early Neolithic

Walls and Towers of Jericho (in present-day Palestine). c. 8000-7000 BCE
Catal Huyuk (Chatal Huyuk) in present day Turkey 6,500-5,700

c. 3600-2100 Sumerian

Uruk and Sumer (Present Day Warka, Iraq) Established 5000BCE Most Active c. 3600-2100
c. 3300-2300 BCE Sumerian- Votive Figures from Eshunna (Present Day Tell Asmar)

c. 2200 Babylon-Babylon

Hammurabi ruled (1792-1750 BCE)

c. 2300-2184 Akkadian- Stele of Naramsin

Catal Huyuk (Chatal Huyuk) Çatalhöyük 6,500-5,700
Population of 6,000 people.
Mud brick interior plaster walls
Food sources: wheat, barley, sheep and goats (clothing source too).

Material culture: jewelry made of stone, bone and shell.
wove baskets of reed baskets and potter and they used obsidian tools and weapons.

Craftsmen made dishes of wood and carved wooden boxes for storage.

Obsidian

Flint

https://catalhoyuk.tumblr.com/

A reconstructed sanctuary of Catal Hüyük in Angora Museum

Found in a grain bin, which
suggests might have been a means of ensuring
the harvest or protecting the food supply

Woman from Willendorf, (Venus of Willendorf ),
Austria. c. 22,000-21,000 BCE.
limestone, painted with ochre. Size: 4 3/4 inches
Paleolithic Period

The team had discovered the rounded figure lying next to a piece of obsidian, a position that suggests “some form of ritual deposition,” according to a statement. “The context shows that this figurine differed from others in its completeness and careful deposition, as well as in its very fine craftsmanship.” Weighing just over two pounds, it spans about half a foot long and three inches thick and is also carved from marble. While Çatalhöyük has proven home to many old figurines, most of these are clay and typically depict animals. Many also tend to end up in areas of refuse and are found broken. Archaeologists have also found others carved from stone, but these too, are rarely completely preserved.

Mesopotamian Cultures/City States
Greek Language Roots:
Meso-between Tamia-Rivers

c. 3600-2100 Sumerian

Uruk and Sumer (Present Day Warka, Iraq) Established 5000BCE Most Active c. 3600-2100
c. 3300-2300 BCE Sumerian- Votive Figures from Eshunna (Present Day Tell Asmar)

c. 2200 Babylon-Babylon

Hammurabi ruled (1792-1750 BCE)

c. 2300-2184 Akkadian- Stele of Naramsin

A river runs through it.
Roots in Language and Theocratic roots.

Cuneiform Tablet- made of clay. cuneus Pictograph/Pictogram

Cuneiform Tablet-
made of clay.
cuneus
Pictograph/Pictogram

Early Cuneiform Tablet- made of clay.
approximately 3"x5"
cuneus
Pictograph/Pictogram

Early Cuneiform Tablet (left)
Later Cuneiform Tablet (right)
both approximately 3"x5"
- made of clay.
cuneus
Pictograph/Pictogram

Mesopotamian
Cultures/City States
Schema or Typical Examples of Sculpture and Architecture

Ziggurat of King Ur-Nammu
c2100 BCE

Statue of Gudea, prince of Lagash, c. 2120 BC

Statues from Tell Asmar,c2900-2600 BCE

City of UR
Ziggurat of King Ur-Nammu
c2100 BCE

(diorama in the Museum of Natural History NYC)

Seating diorite statue of Gudea, prince of Lagash, dedicated to the god Ningishzida, c. 2120 BC (neo-Sumerian period). Excavated in Telloh (ancient Girsu), Iraq.

low relief (bas-relief)
high relief (haute relief)

Seating diorite statue of Gudea, prince of Lagash, with an architectural plan, c. 2120 BC (neo-Sumerian period). Excavated Temple at Girsu/Telloh, Courtyard A of Palace in Telloh (ancient Girsu), Iraq.

low relief (bas-relief)
high relief (haute relief)

Statues from Tell Asmar,c2900-2600 BCE
limestone alabaster and gypsum (a sort of plaster), shell and black inlay

UR
Ziggurat of King Ur-Nammu
2100 BCE

mud
brick with facing of red fired clay, each level 25' to 50'

Uruk and Sumer

(Present Day Warka, Iraq)

Established 5000BCE Most Active c. 3600-2100

Sir Leonard Woolley c1930

Reconstruction of the burial tomb of King Abargi or Queen Puabi
1,850 intact burials spread over an area approximately 70 by 55 meters

Standard of Ur 2700 BCE wood, inlay shells and stone.

Standard of Ur
2700 BCE
wood, inlay shells and stone.

2 processions: 1 of war, 1 of peace
value system
Edmund Leach's theory: we see the world in a binary way (good and bad, black and white, etc.)
semiosis of symbols
ideology

Ur Lyre of Queen Puabi
c2700 BCE
15" tall, wood, gold, lapis lazuli, and shell

Lyre of Queen Puabi of Ur, c2700 BCE 15" tall, wood, gold, lapis lazuli, and shell Mesopotamian (Sumerian) The title of this work is open to a bit of debate. Gardner's Art Through the Ages refers to this work as the "Bull headed lyre from the tomb of Puabi, Royal cemetery." Stokstad refers to it as "Bull Lyre from the tomb of King Abargi." You may use either one.

Bull From Altamira
c. 15,000-12,000 BC
bison length 77 in. (195 cm)
Altamira, Spain

Tale of Gilgamesh and Enkidu

Story of a king and a wildman
Enkidu is a wildman who becomes civilized after he comes to "the city" and after a trial of strength with Gilgamesh
The two soon become friends
They fight off monsters, including a bull sent by the goddess Ishtar
Enkidu later dies leaving Gilgamesh searching for immortality

What kinds of conflicts do both the art and the story exhibit?

Title Lyre of Queen Puabi

Region/Country Mesopotamia or Fertile Crescent or Middle East (UR)

period/style name Mesopotamian

approximate dates c. 2600 BCE

Historic Era Neolithic Technology Cultures in the Americas

1125-1200 CE Ansazi
1300-Present Navajo, Hopi, Zuni,
1300?- Present Kwakiutl, Tlingit, Haida

Paleolithic

600,000-10,000 European Sites: Altamira, Lascaux, Tuc Audoubert, La Madeleine, Willendorf

Neolithic Cultures

4,000-1,500 BCE Europe
6,000-3,500 BCE Ancient Near East Catal Huyuk
800BCE-100 CE North America Adena (Serpent Mound)

Mesopotamia or Mesopotamian Art
The Fertile Crescent also called the Ancient Near East: Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian Art

Not Art History:
5000-3000 BCE The Copper Age
3,000-1,400 BCE Bronze Age
1400-1 BCE/CE Iron Age

Head of an Akkadian Ruler
(Sargon of Akkad?)
bronze 12" 2300-2200 BCE

Sargon is the first king of the Agade dynasty: Akkadian doctrine requires loyalty to him, not to one's city-state

Name Sharrum-kin, 'true/legitimate king' (which probably means he was really a usurper, later this pronounced Sharken; preserved in bible as Sargon

King-list says he ruled 56 years, and that his father was a date-grower and cup-bearer to previous (local) Akkad king

orientalism
idealized
cire perdue

cire perdue "lost wax process"

Stele of Naram Sin
from Pir Huseyin
2254-2218 BCE
Istanbul Archaeological Museums

Naramsin is Sargon's grandson
Defines himself as a god, rather than as the agent of the gods
Uses title "king of the four quarters, king of the universe"
Rules a wide area; claims to have destroyed Ebla
Stars represent friendly deities Ishtar and Shamash--perhaps originally 7, for the 7 main gods of the culture
Used star symbol before his name.

Stele of Naram Sin from Pir Huseyin 2254-2218 BCE Istanbul Archaeological Museums

Victory Stele of Naram Sin
c.2220-2184 BCE
6' tall stone

Naramsin is Sargon's grandson,
rules 37 years--high point of dynasty

low relief (bas-relief)
high relief (haute relief)

Victory Stele of Naram Sin
c.2220-2184 BCE 6' tall stone
Naramsin is Sargon's grandson,
rules 37 years--high point of dynasty

First landscape scene in Near East since Çatal Hüyük, c. 6000 B.C.
Shows victory over a people of Western Iran
Hieratic Scale
Horns
Stars represent friendly deities Ishtar and Shamash--perhaps originally 7, for the 7 main gods of the culture
Used star symbol before his name.

Babylonian/Mesopotamian
Stele of Hammurabi
from Susa
(Code of Hammurabi)
c1780 BCE Basalt (diorite) stone
7' tall

196. If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.
[ An eye for an eye ]
197. If he break another man's bone, his bone shall be broken.
198. If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina.
199. If he put out the eye of a man's slave, or break the bone of a man's slave, he shall pay one-half of its value
200. If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out. [A tooth for a tooth]

1. I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
3. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long.
6. Thou shalt not kill.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.

Shamash
Why:
composite view
profile
iconography:

flames,
rays,
staff,
beard,
size

Victory Stele of Naram Sin
c.2220-2184 BCE 6' tall stone

low relief (bas-relief)
high relief (haute relief)

Gombrich's theory
schema and correction