Ancient Mediterranean

3500 B.C.E.-300 C.E.

Art in this place and time focuses on funerary and palatial complexes, is influenced

heavily by religion/mythology, provides us narratives, and displays of authority and

wealth.

ANCIENT NEAR EAST

The Cradle of Civilization

• Mesopotamia-between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (in modern day Iraq), is often referred to as the cradle of civilization.

• The first place where complex urban centers grew.

• Mesopotamia, is tied to the greater region: Egypt, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, the Gulf states and Turkey (Middle East).

• What is it “middle” or “near” to?

• Western interests in the Biblical "Holy Land" have places art from this region as part of the Western canon of the history of art.

The Land of the Bible

• Interest in finding biblical locations inspired expeditions to the Near East in the 19th century.

• Ancient Near Eastern art remains popular today; in 2007, the image to the right was discovered and sold for 57.2 million dollars, the second most expensive piece of sculpture at that time.

Geography and the Growth of Cities

• It is a region of stark contrasts: deserts, mountains, and oases with flowing rivers providing the support for the earliest civilizations and urban centers.

• The region lacks stone, precious metals, and timber. It has relied on the trade of its agricultural products to secure these materials.

• The large-scale irrigation systems and labor required for extensive farming was managed by a strong, central figure.

• With an abundance of food and a strong administrative class, this region develops a very high level of craft specialization and artistic production.

*White Temple and its ziggurat

Uruk (Warka, Iraq)

Sumerian

c. 3500-3000 B.C.E

Mud brick

• From the Sumerian culture, where the first writing emerged.

• In Uruk, the greatest monument was the Anu Ziggurat on which the White Temple was built.

• Dedicated to the sky god Anu.

• Approximately 40 feet high off the flat plain of Uruk, would have been visible from a great distance, even over the city walls.

• A ziggurat is a 4 sided platform, made of mud brick (stone unavailable), visual and focal point of a city, temple to a god (in both religious and political aspects).

• 1500 laborers, 10 hours per day, 5 years just to build the stone revetment (facing).

• Vetical, recessed striped created pattern in sun.

• The only way to the top was the steps on the north side.

• The top was covered with an asphalt like material (bitumen) and overlaid with brick

• The temple was white washed both inside and out, and would have been striking in the sunlight and is oriented to cardinal points.

• It has a tri-partite plan (long central hall with rooms on either side.

• 3 entrances-non faced the ramp directly, and turn 90 degrees to face the altar inside(“bent axis” approach).

• Contained 2 staircases (a 3rd unfinished) and rooms had interior shelves and doors.

• Altar is located at the north end.

• Artifacts are spare, 19 gypsum tablets reflecting temple accounting was found, the bones of a leopard and lion were also found

• North of the white temple, a broad flat terrace, with a huge fire pit.

• A conduit ran from the south and east corners of the terrace, entering the temple from the respective doors, flowing into a pit in the center hall.

*Statues of votive figures, from the Square Temple at Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar, Iraq)

Sumerian

c. 2700 B.C.E.

Gypsum inlaid with shell and black limestone

Video in notes

The City of Ur

• Occupied from around 5000 B.C.E. to 300 B.C.E.

• Famous as the home of the Old Testament patriarch Abraham but no actual proof.

• Main excavations at Ur were from 1922-34.

• At the center of the settlement were mud brick temples. On the edge of this area is a cemetery which included burials known today as the Royal Graves. The graves contain hundreds of bodies, many sacrificial, food offerings, and objects. Most of the artifacts were robbed in antiquity.

• Ur was the capital of an empire stretching across southern Mesopotamia. Subsequent empires continue to build and rebuild the city.

• Changes in both the flow of the River Euphrates (now some ten miles to the east) and trade routes led to the eventual abandonment of the site.

*Standard at Ur from the Royal Tombs at Ur (modern Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq)

Sumerian

c. 2600-2400 B.C.E.

Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone

8.5 Inches high by 19.5 Inches long

Standard of Ur, Peace

Standard of Ur, War Video in notes

Queen's Lyre (reconstruction), 2600 B.C.E., wooden parts, pegs and string are

modern; lapis lazuli, shell and red limestone mosaic decoration, set in bitumen

and the head (but not the horns) of the bull are ancient; the bull's head in front of

the sound box is covered with gold; the eyes are lapis lazuli and shell and the hair

and beard are lapis lazuli; panel on front depicts lion-headed eagle between

gazelles, bulls with plants on hills, a bull-man between leopards and a lion

attacking a bull; edges of the sound-box are decorated with inlay bands; eleven

gold-headed pegs for the strings, 112.5 x 73 x 7 cm (body), Ur © Trustees of

the British Museum

*The Code of Hammurabi

Babylon (modern Iran)

Susian

c.1792-1750 B.C.E.

Basalt

Video in notes

• King of Babylon

• Describes himself as “the king who made the four quarters of the earth obedient.”

• Micro-manager, concerned with all aspects of his rule.

• Emphasis on stele is Hammurabi’s role as pious theocrat, and that the laws themselves come from the god.

• Eye for and eye justice.

• Hammurabi's Code

*Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II, Dur Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad, Iraq)

Neo-Assyrian

c. 720-705 B.C.E.

Alabaster

Video in notes

Sargon II enclosed several palaces

complexes behind a singular wall,

placing the Lamassu as guardians at

The entrances, also supporting the

arch above, giving them an

architectural function.

They are large, 4 meters high and

wide by a meter deep.

The heads are sculpted in the round,

the body in high relief.

The body of a bull with wings, and

the head of a human.

The panels on the bottom praise his

ruler and condemn those who want

to harm him.

Bulls are a common motif in Assyrian

Art.

*Audience Hall (apadana) of Darius and Xerxes

Persepolis, Iran

Persian

c.520-465 B.C.E.

Limestone

Video in notes

• Persia was the first empire known to have acknowledged the different faiths, languages and political organizations of its subjects.

• The was a point of pride for the Persians, since the representation of the many different peoples can be seen in the reliefs from Persepolis.

• Persepolis included a massive columned hall used for receptions by the Kings, called the Apadana. This hall contained 72 columns and two monumental stairways.

• The walls of the reception hall are covered with hundreds of relief sculptures.

• The Persian Empire was, famously, conquered by Alexander the Great who buried the last Persian Emperor, Darius III, legitimizing his authority of the Persian people.

ANCIENT EGYPT

• Egypt provided the building blocks for Greek and Roman culture, who influenced western tradition.

• Empire lasted 3000 years

• Took 4000 years for humans to build something taller than the pyramids.

• Egypt’s stability is in stark contrast to the Ancient Near East of the same period.

• In the span of 3000 years art shows great continuity. Their art appears extremely static—and in terms of symbols, gestures, and the way the body is rendered, it was. It was intentional. Egyptians viewed this continuity as stability.

• The continuity was in part due to the fact that the depictions themselves were believed to have an impact on the divine realm. This belief led to an active resistance to change in codified depictions.

• Geography is desert, except for the Nile River Valley.

• The Nile flows north, giving a source of life and fertility.

• It also helped develop a calendar, which provided a base for the calendar we use today.

• The cyclical nature of the sun and Nile river, combined with the linear nature of time provides and associated with the two primary deities of Egypt: Osiris, the eternal lord of the dead, and Re, the sun god who was reborn with each dawn.

• Dynastic Egypt (when we have Pharaohs meaning “great house”) begins around 310 B.C.E. when Egypt is united under one ruler.

• Prior to this is pre-dynastic Egypt through 5000 B.C.E. and before are prehistoric peoples living in the area for thousands of years.

• Dynastic Egypt has 33 dynasties and 8 kingdoms and periods. These indicate periods of strength and discord.

• The Egyptians referred to their time periods by rulers. Later kings would record previous rulers on their building and depicted themselves in an offering to previous rulers. Some kings, even dynasties, were omitted. This does not represent a true history of leaders, but rather a form of ancestor worship.

• Kings in Egypt were intermediaries that were both earthly and divine.

• Upon accession to the throne, they embodied the ka, or spirit, of kingship which was often depicted as a separate entity standing behind the human ruler.

• The ka is what gave the pharaoh authority. The living king was also associated with the god Horus, the falcon-headed god who Egyptians believed bestowed the throne to the first human king.

Characteristics and Purpose of

Egyptian Art• Static, formal, frontal, strangely abstract, block-like.

• Leads to unfavorable comparisons with Greek and Roman Art but the purpose is vastly different.

• Majority of these works were never intended to be seen and designed to benefit a divine or deceased recipient.

• Formal frontality-arranged straight ahead; designed to face the ritual being performed before them; original position made sense; providing a conduit for the ka.

• Divine cult statues (most are gone) are used in processions for special festivals so that the people could "see" them.

• Royal and elite statuary served as intermediaries between the people and the gods. Letters prove petitions for divine assistance, both in this world and the next.

Characteristics and Purpose of

Egyptian Art• Material used and status dictates expression.

• Works show most recognizable angle of subject. This is why images of people show their face, waist, and limbs in profile, but eye and shoulders frontally.

• Registers separate the scene, provide ground lines, create distance, and separate status. Overlapping figures imply that the ones underneath are further away.

• Text accompanied almost all images. In statuary, text appears on the back or base, and relief sculpture has captions that complete and elaborate on the scenes.

• Hieroglyphs are often phonetic but are sometimes logographic, meaning they stand for an object or concept.

In Museums

• Works we see on display in museums were

products of royal or elite workshops and give

us the best examples of art.

• Basements are often packed with hundreds

(or thousands) of other objects made for

people of lower status—small statuary,

amulets, coffins, and stele.

• Palettes were flat, minimally decorated stone objects used for grinding and mixing minerals for cosmetics. Earlier palettes display animals, later objects focus on human actions

• The original function as a ritual object dedicated to a god. These decorated palettes were used in temple ceremonies, perhaps to grind or mix makeup to be ritually applied to the image of the god.

• It is so important to Egyptian history it has never been permitted to leave the country.

• Discovered at a temple of the falcon god Horus at the site of Hierakonpolis in 1898.

• Just over 2’ in height

• Low relief

• Scenes show Narmer and a series of scenes that have never been fully interpreted.

*Palette of King Narmer

Predynastic Egypt

c. 3000-2920 B.C.E.

Greywacke

• The iconography on the palette provides an example of the standard we see in Egyptian art for the next 3 millennia:

-the style of representation

-registers

-hierarchical scaling

-regalia (crown, kilt, royal beard, and bulls tail)

• Narmer is on both sides of the palette, followed by his sandal bearer.

• May also be represented in the bull.

• Serpopards—leopards with long, snaky necks. This defines the recess where the makeup would be prepared.

• The lowest register on both sides shows dead enemies (severed penis atop decapitated head).

• The upper register on both sides shows a human-bull hybrid head of the king-associated with Bat (related to heaven and the horizon0.

• The kings name is represented in hieroglyphics as a catfish and a chisel in the center.

Interpretations

• A historical narrative record of the initial unification of Egypt under one ruler (supported by timing and that Narmer wears both crowns). This is the first example of a king wearing both crowns.

• Scenes were purely ceremonial and related to the concept of unification in general.

• Balance of order and chaos.

• Related to the daily journey of the sun god (boat, red crown, white crown).

*Seated scribe

Saqquara, Egypt

Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty

c. 2620-2500 B.C.E.

Painted limestone

Video in notes

*Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

Near Luxor, Egypt

New Kingdom

18th Dynasty

c. 1473-1458

B.C.E.

Sandstone, partially carved into a rock cliff, and red granite

Video in notes

*Great Pyramids (Menkaura, Khafre, Khufy) and Great Sphinx

Giza, Egypt

Old Kingdom

Fourth Dynasty

c. 2550-2490 B.C.E.

Cut limestone

• Egyptians practiced building pyramids for hundred of years.

• 3 pyramids, 3 rulers (Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure)

• Each pyramid has a temple at its base and a causeway leading to the Valley Temple.

• Several smaller satellite pyramids belonging to queens are near the site.

• Mastabas (flat roofed tomb) surround the pyramid of Khufu.

• The shape of a pyramid was a solar reference.

• A place of regeneration for the deceased ruler.

• Likely that there was a permanent group of skilled craftsmen and builders who were supplemented by seasonal crews of approximately 2,000 peasants.

• Crews were divided into 200 men, with each group further divided into 20. Experiments indicate that these groups of 20 men could haul the 2.5 ton blocks from the quarry to pyramid in about 20 minutes, their path eased by a lubricated surface of wet silt. An estimated 340 stones could be moved daily from the quarry to construction site.

• Largest of the three at 481 feet in height. Each base side is 750 feet in length.

• The greatest difference in length among the four sides is only 1 ¾ inches and the base is level within 2.1 cm.

• There is an estimated 2,300,000 blocks. Inner blocks made of mud brick, faced with white limestone, capped with a gilt pyramidionwhich would have been visible from a considerable distance.

Khufu

• King’s Chamber, which is constructed entirely from red granite. The sarcophagus sits at the exact center axis of the pyramid.

• Included seven large boat pits and two massive (afterlife), rectangular stone lined pits that contained completely disassembled boats(procession).

• Built by Khufu’s second son, slightly smaller but constructed 33ft higher than Khufu.

• Simple interior with a single burial chamber, one small subsidiary chamber, and two passageways.

• Mortuary temple was more complex and contained 52 life sized or large images filling the structure.

Khafre and the Great Spinx

• Lion with the head of a king.

• Carved from the bedrock of the Giza plateau

• King’s head is on a smaller scale than the body due to a defect in the stone; a weakness recognized by the sculptors who compensated by elongating the body.

• A cult temple sits directly in front of the sphinx.

• Smallest at 213 feet with most complex inner

chambers.

• It was never completed before his death.

Menkaure

• Dyad statue

• Serene, smooth, power, ideal form

• Found at the Valley Temple at Giza complex

• Explored in 1830s using dynamite.

• Pyramid was in poor shape but temple was mostly ignored.

*King Menkaura and queen

Old Kingdom

Fourth dynasty

Old Kingdom

c. 2490-2472

142.2 x 57.1 x 55.2 cm

The figures stand side-by-side on a simple, squared base supported by pillar. Frontal in

Positioning. Menkaure’s head turned to his right ( originally positioned within a niche,

emerging from the structure). The head sports the striped nemes. He has clenched fists,

held straight down at his sides, grasps ritual cloth rolls. His body is straight, strong, and

youthful with individualized facial features.

• Queen has proportioned body shown with clinging garment. She is the ideal form of feminine beauty. The couple strides forward with their left feet (standard for king but not queen). Both faces show lack of emotion.

• The dyad was incomplete but was still erected at temple and fully painted.

• Unusually the king does not have a protective cobra above his head (nemes covered in gems?)

• The prominence of the female here (near equal size) suggest that this statuary was meant to be about her.

• The protective gesture may mean she is actually his mother.

*Temple of Amun-Re and Hypostyle Hall

Karnak, near Luxor, Egypt

New Kingdom

18th and 19th Dynasties

Temple: c. 1550 B.C.E.

Hall: c. 1250 B.C.E.

Cut sandstone and mud brick

Hypostyle hall, at 54,000 square feet and 134 columns. Capitals on some columns represent

papyrus leaves. At the top was a clerestory level, providing light and air flow.

The Egyptians believed that towards the end of

annual agricultural cycle the gods and the

earth became exhausted and required a fresh

input of energy from the chaotic energy of the

cosmos. Opet festival lasted for twenty-seven

days and was also a celebration of the link

between pharaoh and the god Amun. The

procession began at Karnak and ended at

Luxor Temple, one and a half miles to the

south. The function of the temple is a

sanctuary for the god’s statue.

• 2nd most visited historical place in the world behind Giza

• Complex dedicated to Amun, Mut, and Khonsu

• Largest religious building ever made (200 acres). The great temple at the heart of Karnak is so big that St Peter’s, Milan, and Notre Dame Cathedrals would fit within its walls.

• Took hundreds of years and many rulers to build.

• Set on east-west axis facing Nile River.

Pylons-a series

of gateways to

enter the temple-

only kings and

priests were

allowed inside where

The statue was

washed and dressed

daily. Food and was

Offered twice daily.

*Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and three daughters

New Kingdom (Amarna)

18th Dynasty

c. 1353-1335 B.C.E.

Limestone

Video in notes

• Became king at 9, died at 18-murder?

• Tomb found mostly intact at Valley of the Kings.

• Shifted focus back to Amun after Amarna period.

• Did not produce an heir.

*Tutankhamun’s tomb, innermost coffin

New Kingdom

18th Dynasty

c. 1323 B.C.E.

Gold with inlay of enamel and semiprecious stones

At first I could see nothing, the hot air escaping

from the chamber causing the candle flame to

flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew

accustomed to the lights, details of the room

within emerged slowly from the mist, strange

animals, statues, and gold –everywhere the

glint of gold.

It took a decade to

catalogue the findings.

• The gods were thought to have skin of gold, bones of silver, and hair of lapis lazuli—so the king is shown here in his divine form in the afterlife. He holds the crook and flail, symbols of the king’s right to rule. The goddesses Nekhbet(vulture) and Wadjet (cobra), inlaid with semiprecious stones, stretch their wings across his torso. Beneath these goddesses are two more—Isis and Nephthys—etched into the gold lid.

• Originally rested directly on the shoulders of the mummy inside the innermost gold coffin. It is constructed of two sheets of gold that were hammered together and weighs 22.5 pounds.

• The back of the mask is covered with Spell 151b from the Book of the Dead, which the Egyptians used as a road map for the afterlife.

• Hunefer was a “Royal Scribe” and a “Scribe of Divine Offerings” and an "Overseer of Royal Cattle“.

• The location of his tomb is unknown.

• His book of the dead was specifically produced for him and was found inside a sculpture.

*Last judgement of the Hu-Nefer, from his tomb (page from the “Book of the Dead”)

New Kingdom

19th Dynasty

c. 1275 B.C.E.

Painted papyrus scross

Video in notes