Ancient Near East/Mesopotamia Flashcards
What were the characteristics of the Assyrian lamassu?
They had five legs each and are 12-15 ft tall
What were the 2 changes the Persians made to the lamassu?
The two changes the Persians made to the lamassu were to take away the fifth leg and they made it twice the size they were. They are about 20-30 ft tall.
What is the function of the lamassu?
They’re function is to guard doors in palaces or gates. They can be in between worlds of the living and dead and the supernatural.
What do we call the process of Persians changing things?
Persianification
How does Persepolis use psychology for the tribute bearers?
They made everything big so that they would feel small
How does Persepolis use psychology for the Emperor?
They made everything big so that you would feel small
How does Apadana use psychology for the tribute bearers?
There are 72 columns that are 56ft tall each
How does Apadana use psychology for the Emperor?
Made them big so that you would were made to feel really small
How does the tribute reliefs use psychology for the tribute bearers?
Tribute reliefs were seen on a hallway that you would pass through. On this hallway you would see 24 different people from different provinces going to see the king; they are all life size. It uses psychology because with each level it has a more of meaning behind it.
How does the tribute reliefs use psychology for the emperor?
In the first level they are all being led like children. In the second level they are being led like their past, present, and future selves because this is what they are doing every day and they don’t know if this will be their last of doing this or not. In the third level they are leading the parthia, lydia, and bactria.
What is the difference between the Large Gallery and the Small Gallery?
The difference between the large gallery and the small gallery is that the large gallery has all different gods and goddesses there but not the god of evil. While in the small gallery it has the gods of the underworld & Teshub. As well as they have never found bodies underneath it.
What type of ceremonies happen in the large gallery?
In the large gallery they are all religious (fertility)
What type of ceremonies did they have in the small gallery?
In the small gallery it was used for political reasons, like coronations or maybe burials
Why was Teshub and Hebat’s meeting important?
It was important because Teshub and Hebat had a son Sarruma and they were for fertility.
What is the overall purpose of Yazilikaya?
The overall purpose for Yazilikaya was to have a Hittite state shrine.
How does the Archers show Assyrian dominance?
The archers piece shows two archers shooting at the city of Anu with multiple different men swimming away from the men shooting at them. AS well as a couple of men are at the base of the city. From this image they are trying to convey that you can conquer a whole city with just two men.
How does the Lion Hunt show Assyrian dominance?
In the lion hunt with ashurbanipal it shows one stab wound on the lion that is already wounded because they won’t let the king go near a lion that isn’t wounded. It is trying to show that with the one stab wound of the lion, because it takes more than one stab wound to kill a lion. That he got bored of killing the lion, that he doesn’t care to kill a person.
What is the main purpose of the Archers and Lion hunt?
Propaganda
What are the 5 functions of the ziggurat?
- The gods sometimes live in mountains
- The gods usually live in clouds
- The ziggurat gets away from mortals (only elites could use them)
- In southern Iraq it’s very hot and dry, something that is very high people are going to see
-The ziggurat is the base part, and the temple which is the part you worship in
What are the construction techniques for a ziggurat?
They are typically made of mud bricks and have holes in them because they are still water in the bricks to let the wind go through and not have the ziggurat fall apart.
What is the temples interior and decoration like?
In the inside it has silver line heads, statues, mosaics, and either copper or terra cotta of the god the temple worships. The temples were really tiny and only 200 people could use them.
What are the five conventions used in the Ancient Near East?
Registers, hierarchical scale, gender-inequality, writing, consumptional conceptual deception of the human body
What is the definition of registers?
Horizontal (only) bands of decoration breaking up the piece with decoration
What is the definition of hierarchical scale?
The more important you are, the bigger you are in the picture
What is the definition of gender-inequality?
When shown, woman are smaller
What is the definition of writing?
Telling us what is happening or going on in the piece?
What is the definition of consumptional conceptual deception of the human body?
All human body parts must be shown for the viewer
What is an example with the 5 conventions?
Vulture Stele Eannatum. Large stone monument with decoration. It’s about Lagash celebrating a win over the city-state of Umma. It shows Eannatum victory over Umma; it reads from right to left. It has two registers in the close up. Eannatum is the hierarchical scale, the soliders are standing on enemy bodies. There is no woman in the image, there is a frontal/profile position. On the backsice it has the writing that says, “victory is only possible because of ningirsu.”
What are the facials features and hands on the Sumerian Temple Figures of Tel Asmar?
They have big eyes, little mouths, heads are titled up, and hands are prayerful
What is the function of the Sumerian Temple Figures of Tel Asmar?
The temple figures are offerings for the gods & goddesses so the people who give them can receive blessings from gods & goddesses.
How the facial features/hands match the function of the Sumerian Temple Figures of Tel Asmar?
The reason they have big eyes is because they want to take in as much of the gods and goddesses as they can. When the gods and goddesses come, they aren’t supposed to talk without being told to talk so that’s why they have little mouths. They’re heads are titled up because the gods and goddesses are going to come from above so they will be ready for anytime when they appear. They have prayerful hands because they have to keep their hands in front of them.
What are the facial features (hypothetically) on Napir-Asu?
Napir-Asu facial features probably had big eyes and small mouth because that was the style back then.
What is the facial features and body shape of Gudea and Napir-Asu?
For both figures they have big eyes, small mouths, prayerful hands, and bell shape bottom because that’s what started for the temple figures and has continued on.
What was Queen Puabi’s place in society?
Her place in society was priestess & princess. Normally a woman in this time would also have the husbands last name but she didn’t she had, “king female.” She was called this because they didn’t know what to do for someone who was a king that was a female.
What may have Queen Puabi life been like back then?
She was a king for a period of time because her husband, the actual king, died, but they had a son that would eventually be king that was still too young to rule so she was in place until he was old enough to rule.
What was Sumerian afterlife like?
Sumerian afterlife wasn’t great, it was supposed to be just dust and ash.
Why were people willing to go with Queen Puabi?
People were willing to go with Queen Puabi because the afterlife was supposed to be better for people who was royal. So, her servants believed that if they were buried with her, they would serve her and be in her afterlife and not the normal Sumerian afterlife. 52 of 56 of servants committed suicide by drinking poison. The other 4 who didn’t were killed soon after.
What are the Akkadian characteristics that are shown on Sargon’s bronze head?
The characteristics are his eyes are really big and his mouth and is small. It was the first attempt at portraiture style.
What are the Sumerian characteristics that are shown in Sargon’s bronze head?
The characteristics are the eyes and mouth are both the right shape.
What change happens between Sumerian and Akkadian politics to warrant Sargon’s face’s look?
After Sargon dies his bronze head gets damaged by ears being chopped off, nose it cut off, beard is chopped, and left is cut up. This is because a while later they didn’t like Sargon because he was the leader that conquered all of the sumerian city states and decided to make him a dead, blind, can’t smell women in the afterlife because your image and name follows you everyone even after you die.
Why was the Ram in a Thicket so important in Queen Puabi’s tomb?
The Ram in a Thicket was so important to Puabi’s tomb because it was art with no function which meant it cost a lot of money and showed how rich she was.
