Sumerian and Semitic Art

Study Guide for Exam

Sumerian/Semitic

• Mesopotamia• Neolithic 8000-3000 BC• Neolithic Revolution: Farming, domesticated

animals, dog• Sumerian• 3500-2350 BC• Bronze Age 3000-1000 BC

Sumerian• Sumerian rulers were to represent their people to the gods. Unlike

in Egypt, the Sumerian kings were not considered divine. For this reason, the king was responsible for building and improving temples, holy places, and canals.

• The most famous of all Sumerian rulers was Gilgamesh of Uruk, around 2700 BC. Around his name grew up one of the first great masterpieces of poetic expression, The Epic of Gilgamesh, 2000 BC.

• The Gilgamesh epic struggles with three things: 1) The power of the gods and goddesses. 2) The inevitability of death 3) The purpose of human life

• (Compare to the book of Job, Hebrew Old Testament)

Sumerian

• Mesopotamians saw life as a continual struggle whose only alternative was the bleak darkness of death.

• The epic touches on universal questions: Is all human achievement futile in the face of death? Is there a purpose to human existence? If so, how can it be discovered?

Sumerian

Sumerian Bull's Head, Lyre from the Tomb of Paubi, c. 2600 B.C.

Sumerian

Sumerian/Semitic• The history of Mesopotamia can be divided into two periods: Sumerian

(3500-2350 BC) and Semitic (2350-612 BC).• The term “Semitic” is derived from the name of Shem, one of the sons of

Noah, and is generally used to refer to people speaking a Semitic language.• In the ancient world, these included the Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians

and Phoenicians.• The most common association with the word “Semitic” is the Jewish people.

Their language falls into this group and they originated in Mesopotamia.• The founder of the Jewish race was Abraham from Ur of Chaldea around

1800 BC. There are enough references to him in the ancient world to verify that he was an historical person.

• Arabic is also a Semitic language (Abraham fathered Ishmael through Hagar and Ishmael became the progenitor of the Arab people).

Semitic

• Akkadian Period 2350-2150• Rule of Sargon and descendants (bronze head

2200 BC.)

Semitic

• Victory stele of Naram-Sin (2200 BC)

Semitic

• Babylonian Period 1900-1600 BC• 1792-1750 The Law Code of Hammurabi

Semitic

Semitic

Semitic

Semitic