People of Mesopotamia

• The Sumerians
• The Akkadians
• The Babylonians
• The Assyrians
• The Neo- Babylonians

21st - 17th c BCE Mesopotamian Babylonian Sculpture

 THE SUMERIANS
• one of the earliest civilizations in ancient Mesopotamia
• around 4000-2000 bce
• invention of the wheel
• the development of the earliest form of writing
CUNEIFORM

•
 Stele of the Vultures
• Example of Sumerian pictorial cuneiform writing

•
 SCULPTURES

• Faces are dominated by very large eyes

• Blue Eyes were a sign from the Gods
• Blue was a very significant color in ancient
times, and having blue eyes was considered
divine
• Each of these statues is different. The faces
and clothing are not alike. This means the
statues were not created to represent one
important individual but many different
persons.
 CYLINDER SEALS
• often made of stone but sometimes of bone, ivory, glass, metal, wood,
or even sun-dried or baked clay
• used to protect vessels, clay envelopes
• marking personal property and in making documents legally binding
 JEWELRIES
• made from copper, gold, silver
• often worn by rulers and other elite members of society
• Sumerians were the inventors of the jewelry idea for the Mesopotamian
civilizations and the ancient and modern worlds
• Lapis lazuli was the top-most valued than gold
 SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURE
• Sumerians built their buildings out of mud-brick or fired brick
• are solid-like a sand castle, more like an artificial hill

ZIGGURAT
AKKADIANS

Akkadian (2300–2150 BC) The

Akkadian invaders quickly assimilated
Sumerian styles. The stele (decorated
upright slab) Victory of Naram-Sin
(2200 BC; Louvre, Paris), carved in
relief, depicts a military campaign of
the warlike Akkadians. The technical
and artistic sophistication of bronze
sculpture is illustrated by the Head of
an Akkadian King (2200 BC; Iraq
Museum, Baghdad).
 CYLINDER SEALS

Cylinder seals were cylindrical stones carved with

figures that when pressed into clay served as official
signatures. People and animals were rendered in
ways that made them recognizable as actual beings in
the real world. Akkadian artists created human and
animal forms that were sensitively modeled and full of
dimensional form.
Victory Stele Of Naram Sin
Great Grandson Of Sargon

Victory over the Lullabi

Stolen by Elamites in the 12th

C BCE

Victory Stele of Naram Sin,setup at Sippar, Iraq

found at Susa, Iran
Babylonian
In Babylonia, an abundance of clay and lack of stone led
to greater use of mudbrick. Babylonian temples were thus massive
structures of crude brick, supported by buttresses. The use of brick
led to the early development of the pilaster and column, and of
frescoes and enameled tiles. The walls were brilliantly colored, and
sometimes plated with zinc or gold, as well as with tiles. And the
Babylonian cities were the centers of great scribal learning and
produced writings on divination, astrology, medicine and
mathematics
CERAMICS

•The pottery produced during the “Old” Babylonian period

shows a return to painted abstract designs and increased
variety in forms.
BABYLONIAN MUD TABLETS

• During the first Empire increased the production of cylinders to seal the documents
using cooked mud clay tablets were the records and accountability was kept.
Numerous texts produced in this method of cuneiform writing have been rescued
from Babylonian culture which have provided invaluable information that could
document aspects of its history, traditions and culture.
STELE OF HAMMURABI
•The Stele of Hammurabi, c. 1792-1750
BCE, is approximately 7 feet tall. King
Hammurabi established a centralized
government under the Babylonians and
ruled southern Mesopotamia in the early
second millennium. He is known for his
conquests and also for his law code. This is
the first systematic codification of his
people’s rights, duties, penalties for
infringements. There are three hundred or
so entries, some dealing with commercial
and property matters, others with domestic
problems and physical assault.
THE ASSYRIANS
(911 B.C - 619 B.C)
 Assyrians
• The assyrians are credited with many
other military, artistic, and architectural
achievements. For 300 years Assyrians
controlled the entire Fertile Crescent, from
the Persian Gulf to Egypt.
The Assyrians can best be
described as militaristic.

Society based around warfare,

conquest, and regional
domination.

Since around 1250 B.C., the Assyrians had

started using war chariots and iron weapons,
which were far superior to bronze weapons.
These tools and tactics made the Assyrian army
the most powerful military force of its time, both
doctrinally and technologically advanced.
 ARCHITECTURE
• Major architectural works in ancient
Assyria did not deviate much from the
Babylonians.
• The Assyrians built their temples and
palaces primarily from mud bricks,
typically in a platform structure.
• Rectangular homes, with beams on top to
support an earthen roof. This structure
and the lack of openings besides a door
made the homes great for defense
RELIEF
SCULPTURE
Warfare
The Hunt
Human-headed winged lion (lamassu), Assyrian 883–859 B.C
Winged Assyrian Bull c.721-705 BCE
 -Each Assyrian relief panel belonged to a
series that told a
larger narrative.
-A single narrative was made up of several
panels,
and larger thematic cycles could span the
four walls of an
entire room.

a story is told in a series of panels, each containing one

scene from the story, with some of the same characters
appearing from one panel to the next.
NEO- BABYLONIAN
•The Neo-Babylonian Empire, also
known as the Chaldean Empire, was a
civilization in Mesopotamia that began in
626 BCE and ended in 539 BCE. The
Neo-Babylonian period was a
renaissance that witnessed a great
flourishing of art, architecture, and
science.
•The Neo-Babylonian rulers were
motivated by the antiquity of their
heritage and followed a traditionalist
cultural policy, based on the ancient
Sumero-Akkadian culture. Ancient
artworks from the Old-Babylonian
period were painstakingly restored
and preserved, and treated with a
respect verging on religious reverence.
Neo-Babylonian art and architecture
reached its zenith under King
Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled from
604–562 BCE and was a great patron of
urban development, bent on rebuilding all
 COLORED GLAZED
RELIEFS
• The technique of coloured glaze was improved
and perfected by Neo-Babylonian artists.In
reliefs, such as the ones on the Ishtar Gate in
Babylon and along the city’s Processional
Street, coloured glaze was combined with
bricks molded in various shapes to create
monumental displays. Most of these
decorations are symbols of lions, associated
with the goddess Ishtar, flowers, mušḫuššu, a
mythological creature associated with the god
Marduk, and oxen, associated with the god
Adad.
Terracotta Figurines
Made using molds, these figurines were common during the Neo-Babylonian
Empire. Although the actual purpose of these objects is unclear, they were
probably votive in nature, with many showing signs of fertility.
The Hanging
Gardens of Babylon,
Was built by King Nebuchadnezzar II as a
gift for his wife, AMYTIS OF BABYLON
- The Hanging Gardens weren't actually
"hanging", but instead were "overhanging" as
in the case of a terrace or balcony.
PERSIAN
Art
• Frieze of
Archers
• Oxus
Chariot
Mosaic & Plate
• Mosaic
• Plate
 Persian Architecture
• Persepolis
 Persian sculpture
• Pitcher and Goblet