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Ancient Near Eastern Art

By Andres L.
  • Period: 3500 BCE to 400 BCE

    Ancient Near Eastern Art

    Ancient Mesopotamia occupied the area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (modern Iraq). c. 3500–400 B.C.E.
  • The Standard of Ur, 2600-2400 B.C.E., shell, limestone, lapis lazuli, and bitumen, 21.59 x 49.53 x 12 cm
    2600 BCE

    The Standard of Ur, 2600-2400 B.C.E., shell, limestone, lapis lazuli, and bitumen, 21.59 x 49.53 x 12 cm

    In Sumerian, The Standard of Ur, it is shaped rectangularly and it has some scenes into it of violence and kingship, the scenes in the Standard of Ur shows armies capturing and in slavering the enemies, which they are also naked, the one in the top shows the king telling the people on the right that they are slaves for the Sumerian, since they have lost the battle/war.
  • Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, 2254-2218 B.C.E., pink limestone, Akkadian
    2254 BCE

    Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, 2254-2218 B.C.E., pink limestone, Akkadian

    In Akkadian, The Victory Stele of Naram-Sin is the victory of Akkadian defeating the Lullubi Mountain people, in the 12th century B.C.E, Naram-Sin is a god and a king, he was the one that claimed divinity for himself, his crown has bull horns in them, which shows power, you can see him spearing the neck of one of the people from the Lullubi Mountains, and they are frightened and they are retreating, which make them cowards.
  • Ziggurat of Ur (largely reconstructed), c. 2100 B.C.E, mud brick and baked brick Tell el-Mukayyar, Iraq
    2100 BCE

    Ziggurat of Ur (largely reconstructed), c. 2100 B.C.E, mud brick and baked brick Tell el-Mukayyar, Iraq

    The Ziggurat was a invention of the Ancient Near East, its like an ancient Egyptian pyramid but not exactly, the ancient that is near the eastern of ziggurat has four sides which rise up to the realm of the gods, there is religious rituals to ancient near eastern cities at the Ziggurat, Ziggurats are found scattered around what is today, Iraq and Iran.
  • Law Code Stele of King Hammurabi, basalt, Babylonian, 1792-1750 B.C.E.
    1792 BCE

    Law Code Stele of King Hammurabi, basalt, Babylonian, 1792-1750 B.C.E.

    In this piece of art work from Babylonia, Stele is shown here receiving the Laws from the god shamash, Stele would mainly agree to these laws because the laws themselves come from the gods. We know that Shamash is a god himself from the way he is dressed. He has "4" lines in his hat, which makes him powerful, and that he is seated. An interesting thing is that the Hammurabi has a code written in Babylonia.
  • Winged human-headed bull (lamassu or shedu), 721-705 B.C.E
    721 BCE

    Winged human-headed bull (lamassu or shedu), 721-705 B.C.E

    Lamassu from Assyrian, is a "mythical guardian spirit", it has the body of a Bull, has the wings of an eagle, and has the head of a human, the lamassu has a crown with 2 bull horns, which means its not that powerful but it kind of is a little. The lamassu has a angle from the front where it shows it standing and walking, at the front it is still like a guard, and the other side shows its walking, like its following or guiding you.
  • The Cyrus Cylinder, after 539 B.C.E., fired clay, 21.9 cm long
    539 BCE

    The Cyrus Cylinder, after 539 B.C.E., fired clay, 21.9 cm long

    In Persia, The Cyrus Cylinder is one of the most famous objects that has ever lived in the ancient world, the cylinder is coded in Babylonia with words in it, the cylinder is also often referred to be the first ever bill of human rights, which encourages freedom of worship throughout the Persian Empire.