Though many individuals may not know of the Ishtar Gate or the Processional way, they are both undeniably important to Mesopotamian history and culture. The subject of this essay is rightfully titled ‘Panel with a striding lion,’ and belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This specific artifact depicts a lion striding along a blue background, and it is located along the Processional Way, which used to lead individuals out of the city of Babylon. As with any artifact, nearly every aspect of it can be examined and related to the culture it came from. Through examining this, there are two things that can be learned about Mesopotamian, specifically Babylonian, society. First, it becomes obvious that the lion is a very important symbol in Babylonian …show more content…
So, what does the lion mean in the context of the artifact discussed here? If it is just something consistently seen in Babylonian architecture and the meaning seems clear-cut, why pretend that this artifact can reveal something about Mesopotamia? Well, the real teller here is not in the material of the artifact, nor in what it depicts, but rather in the context surrounding it. According to the Madain Project, “The Processional Street ran through the Ishtar gate, which was lined with walls showing lions, bulls, dragons, and flowers on enameled yellow and black glazed bricks, symbolizing the goddess Ishtar. Friezes with sixty ferocious Babylonian lions representing Ishtar decorated each side of the Processional Way, designed with variations in the color of the fur and the manes.” Combined with the prior knowledge of the way the Processional Way was used, it is easy to see that the Babylonian lion did not reference just simply strength, nor simply the goddess Ishtar, but rather it represented Babylon as a …show more content…
Many techniques used on this artifact are not fully understood, which once again implies that Mesopotamia is far more advanced than many believe. Perhaps someday scholars will be able to understand these wonders of Mesopotamian society and be able to break down the techniques used. So, this undeniably gorgeous Babylonian artifact is not only part of a larger monument and architectural achievement, but also has broader connections to general Mesopotamian society. It shows just how important Ishtar was to the Babylonians, and also shows how the lion had multiple meanings and could not be simply satisfied with its traditional meaning of strength. The lion is not just a symbol, but rather an exceptionally important part of their society– it represented the Goddess herself, strength, and also arguably had importance in relation to the New Year. Furthermore, while many aspects of the techniques used in the impressive bout of architecture are slightly understudied and debated among scholars, this piece in a broader context does show how technologically advanced Mesopotamia
This work of art is subtractive because it involves skimming or subtracting from the material’s original mass or volume (Sayre, 295). Carving is a process where materials were being chiseled, cut into or hammered to achieve the desired form/s (Sayre, 299). The most common material carvers used to produce sculptures are wood or stone (Sayre, 299). In this art work, the artist used a material, in this case alabaster, and carved the material into shape using sharp tools, such as chisel or gouger. The carving for “Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions” is low relief, meaning its depths are shallow and the forms are not as elevated from the base as in high relief carving. Additionally, this sculpture is a type of frontal art which was meant to only be viewed from the front and not from the back (Sayre, 295). This type of art form is often used to embellish architectural structures such as residences, buildings and even palaces (Sayre, 295). In fact, this specific piece is found as a decoration in Assurnapiral II’s palace complex as one of the many relief arts found in his residence. This specific relief art depicted the powerful leadership of Assurnapiral II, the country’s strong military units, and the thriving capital of Kalhu which was established after the fall of Babylon in 1595 B.C. (Sayre,
The Ancient Egyptian sculpture, “Statue of Nykara and His Family”, was sculpted during the late fifth dynasty. The sculpture is a depiction of Nykara, his wife, Nubkau, and son, Ankhma-Re. The statue is in poor condition with pieces of limestone missing and chips on the three subject’s faces and bodies. The painted limestone shows the conventional colors for the male and female subjects. There is a clear discoloration among Nykara and his son’s bodies. The brownish red color they once were has eroded to a light yellowish color, which resembles the purposeful color of Nykara’s wife. The hieroglyphs on Nykara’s seat insinuate that the sculpture is meant to be viewed from the front view. This is also evident by the way the three subjects are facing forward in frontal view. There are hieroglyphs on both the chair and base of the statue near Nykara’s wife and son’s feet.
Anson Rainey and R. Steven Notley are the authors of The Sacred Land Bridge, which is an Atlas of the biblical world and includes maps, pictures, and historical cementation as to the significance of this region. The biblical world that this atlas focuses on is defined as the eastern Mediterranean littoral, or more commonly called the Levant in modern archeological discussions. In my critique of this book I will be focusing on pages 30-34 which will define the boundaries and explain the importance of the Levant.
Never before in history did any monument receive such wide attention from the public and media like the Great Sphinx of Giza. The 73.5m long and 20m high (Dieter Arnold) stone carved statue not only fascinates people from all around the world, but also created countless movie ideas, novels, video games and raises questions to those who are interested. Undoubtedly, Sphinx has become one of the most notable figures of ancient Egyptian culture just beside the pyramids in the eyes of westerners. However, many questions remained in mysteries for almost decades until the excavation of 1925 by Emile Baraize revealed the Sphinx’s exotic design to the world's view. Why did the ancient Egyptians build this massive structure? For what purpose would they want to invest such resources and labors to initiate such complex project? How was it built and how did the Egyptians overcome the enormous difficulties with past technologies? The purpose of this paper would be discussing the possible identity of whom the Sphinx might be and compare and analyze the evidence from a material culture point of view. The paper would be lay out to four different sections. First part would briefly describe the purpose of this study as well as giving a brief modern history of the Sphinx. Second part would be discussing the style/meaning and its association and context with the pyramids of the Giza and how the Sphinx was built. The third part would be discussing kings who possibly commissioned the Sphinx to be built and analyze the style of the Pyramid to the style of those kings. Two kings that could be the owner of the Sphinx are Khafra and Khufu, which would be my main focus here and I would be discussing the pros and cons of the scholars’ different ideas. Last p...
The Egyptians often included lions to symbolize strength, leadership, loyalty, and war. The top of the palette also includes a human face with bull horns. This was done in attempt to represent the gods the ancient Egyptians believed in. These gods are associated with power, masculinity, and fertility.
The sphinx of Hatshepsut is 649/16 inches high and 1351/6 inches long and made of granite. Once more Hatshepsut is rendered wearing a nemes headdress and royal beard.1 However she has neither a male or female body but that of a lion. One author believe that the sphinx seen above, were originally displayed on the lower terrace of Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el-Bahri. They wrote that they were six of these sphinxes “that were space evenly in two east-west rows flanking the scared route across the terrace to the ramp that ascended to the temple’s middle level.”3 Due to the positioning the sphinx it can be assumed that they were intended to depict guardianship of the temple and the religious processions into the temple. In this figure, it is apparent that the artist focused on showing the strength of the lion’s body more so than the facial features of Hatshepsut and the body is larger in comparison to the face. It can be hypothesized that this was done because the image would have been viewed from the side initially. Therefore so that the viewer would get the desired feeling or impression of strength and protection, the artists emphasize this in the body of the
The statue of King Menkaure and his Queen exhibits with clarity the Egyptian devotion of art to a cannon of proportions. Its strictly frontal view point, the rigid poses of the figures, and a faithful accordance to rules and established customs can be interpreted as manifesting the nature of the Pharaoh’s authority over his subjects while at the same time exemplifying the highly regulated, hierarchical structure of ancient Egyptian society. The measured grid of verticals and counterbalancing horizontals, the stiff artificial postures and the overall idealized anatomical shapes of the bodies combined with naturalism is indicative of Egyptian taste for art and a representation of the character of Egyptian culture.
The Warka Vase is a uniquely large piece that was laboriously built, and carefully decorated. The images on the Warka Vase are significant and have iconographic meanings unique to the Uruk people and the cult of Inana. The images reference common practices in cuneiform and iconography of the time and place the Warka Vase was made and can be cross compared with other pieces from the time to understand the symbolism of this brilliant piece of art. To understand who is in the images, what they are doing and how they relate to one another may bring unique insight to the practices of the cult of Inana.
The artworks of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Aegean cultures, and Ancient Greece have similarities that not only reflect objects and images, but also the media, style and representation. These countries were not always wealthy, clever, creative and powerful enough to gain supplies, but they all find a way to create art with what they had. They have all influenced on each other’s cultures and belief through their artistic values and ways, ranging from the materials and tools they use, position and representation of their monuments and their religious intent.
For my final project I chose to compare two works of art from ancient Mesopotamia. A visual work of art and a literary one. The visual work of art I chose was the Statuettes of Worshipers which were created around 2900 to 2350 BCE at the Square Temple at Eshnunna, a city in ancient Mesopotamia. The literary artwork I have chosen is the Epic of Gilgamesh written roughly around 2800 BCE by author or authors unknown. It was set in Uruk, another city in ancient Mesopotamia. Both of these works of art share a common theme; the theme of immortality. It is my hopes that within this paper I can accurately show how each of these works of art express this theme, and how it relates to modern society.
The Oriental Institute featured an exhibit focused on the development of ancient Middle East Pioneers to the Past: American Archaeologists in the Middle East 1919–20 January 12 - August 29, 2010. And this was the exhibit I found most intriguing and most i...
Hause, S., & Maltby, W. (2001). The Ancient Near East: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Phoenicia and Israel. Essentials of Western Civilization (pp.7-15). California: Wadsworth.
The Ishtar Gate to the city of Babylon stood as a testament to the aim of King Nebuchadnezzar II to rebuild the ancient city of Babylon as the most grandiose and magnificent of the ancient world’s cities. Citizens of the neo-babylonian empire were the first to bear witness to its grandeur and were likely the best equipped to appreciate the aesthetics contributing to its religious meaning. Given that it was a main entrance to the central capital of Babylon, the gate could have been seen by citizens of different social classes and levels of education, and in turn may have conveyed different meanings to different classes of citizens. In the eyes of a merchant or artisan, the brilliant blue faience bricks adorned with religiously symbolic animals
A traditional interpretation of what has become known as the Assyrian Sacred Tree conceives of it as the date palm. Consisting of a series of nodes and interlacing vines, the depiction of the “tree” contradicts the morphological appearance of a date palm seems at best to be a highly abstracted consolidation of various botanical characteristics from separate distinct species. Despite recent proposals by several art historians and botanists to conclusively determine its proper classification, indubitable evidence unlocking the enigma behind this timeless symbol—a sacred fountainhead for many western religions originating in the Near East—has yet to uproot the deep seeded academic insistence on the date palm.
"Why Was the Wheel so Important to Mesopotamia?." Ask. N.p.. Web. 20 Nov 2013. .