Mesopotamian 4 Flashcards
Ur III Period
Neo-Sumerian revival lasting approximately 100 years - 2112-2004. Urnamma is the first ruler. Brings back Sumerian language, idea of king as builder; conquests were economic and less military. Fell to the Elamites.
Darband I Gawr
2100, Kurdistan. Same iconographical features as Naram Sin, but instead of horned crown, woolen cap. Control over life and death - stepping on dead enemies. Claim onto the landscape. But why so isolated? Viewership questions.
Urnamma Stele
2112-2095, Ur (?). Ur III. Limestone. Revival of old depiction of king as builder. Different from Akkadian dynasty. Laying down the bricks.
Urnamma deposits
2112-2095, Nippur, Ur III. Figure of arsenical copper. Underneath the foundation, tablets, beads, figures, all with an apotropaic quality. Questions of viewership and performativity.
Foundation Lions
2200-2100 (just copper alloy) and 2300 (copper and marble). Apotropaic foundation figure. Different animals too.
Urnamma foundation figures
2112-2095, Nippur, Ur III. Some with lower body as peg. Made specifically to be buried. Viewership, performativity.
Ziggurat (Urnamma)
2112-2095, Ur, Ur III. Stamps on bricks allow absolute chronology. Dedicated to Nannar. Built in a sacred area. Lower part, 50 ft, survives. 8 feet thick walls.
Ur III Temenos
Lots of large structures. Monumental gates, storage area, open courtyard. A “Great Gate.” The temple of Giparu is also placed in the area. The tombs are at the lower right corner of the precinct.
Looting
Statues were found in Susa as they were taken as war booty in the Elamite sack of 1158. Inscriptions were erased; new ones put in. Looting = abduction. Destruction of figure harms the memory of the individual
Salmu
Uncanny double of figure created through ceremony - needed dress, food. Ceremony of the substitute king.
Puzur-Ishtar, governor of Mari
2000, Babylon, Ur III, diorite. Taken by Hammurabi. Salmu statue. The inscription gives identity. Cross between Ur III and Hammurabi style. Emphatic carving of hands, collarbone, etc. Headdress has horns, suggesting that he is divine. Very decorative beard like Hammurabi. Very finely carved.
Queen Napirasu
14th century B.C., Susa, Elamite, Bronze and copper. Two layers - solid so more difficult to remove (over 3000 pounds). Material apotropaic. Curse.
Isin Larsa period
Period of about 200 years after the end of the Ur III period where cities battle for dominance. Hammurabi eventually unites everything together for the Old Babylonian period.
Diorite head of a king (possibly Hammurabi)
1800-1700, Susa, Old Babylonian. Distinctive features of age such as heavy lids, sunken cheeks - the wise king. Was this the way of portraying the ideal wise king, or naturalism? Eyebrows in a chevron pattern, and neat knobby beard show that there are stylized elements as well.
Codex Hammurabi
1760, Susa, Old Babylonian, Basalt. First publicly accessible monument of the law. 300 laws on the front and back. On the top we have Shamash enthroned wearing a multi-tiered gown. His throne is temple shaped, with his right shoulder exposed. Horned crown and weapons emerge from his shoulders. Hands the ring and rod, symbols of authority to Hammurabi, who is shown with a woolen cap; hands in gesture of prayer; does not look divine. Enters the space of the god. Hierarchical sizing differences betw the two. Shamash is the god of sun, justice, and law. Because he rises above everything, can see everything. At the front, a section was erased by Elamites. The inscription does not cover all aspects of law – non comprehensive codex with 300 specific cases covering legal decisions made by Ham, showing him as the king of justice. Written in archaizing script, giving him the authority of the anceints. Calligraphically well-planned. Designed as a whole. The text is part of the visual effect.
Palace of Zimrilim
Mari, Uruk IV with construction til 2000. Large and luxurious. Palace had 300 or more rooms, walls at 30 ft, 14 feet thick walls, heavily buttressed pre-planned rectangle. Rooms surround two central courtyards. Conquered by Hammurabi in 1761
Investiture of Zimrilim fresco
ca. 1800, Mari. Ishtar stepping on her lion, wearing battle gear. Out of her shoulders are weapons. She holds a sword, and rod and ring of authority, which she gives to the king. Zim with interceding gods. In the lower register, there is a god holding a jug of water that is flowing. These were painted in red, white, black. Skin color was reddish with brown wash. There’s some surrounding scenes of hybrid animals like griffins, as well as two trees. There are people fertilizing date palms. Composition is hierarchical. Mixed profile for Ishtar but the Lamma goddesses are in true profile.Outer border has a fringe which reminds of textile. Ishtar has lots of kuzbu but is also very powerful.
Water Goddess from Mari
1900-1800, Palace of Zimrilim, marble, Syria. Similar to frescoed goddess with the jug of water. Predates the rule of Zimrilin by generation or two but he kept it in the palace. Made of limestone. 3d in frontal. Feels like a slab. Rectangular skirt with horizontal indentations. Chest has a crisscrossed band and the skirt is striated and wavy, indicating streams of water. There are also fish at the front of the skirt. Feet are peeping out and placed on base. She wears a thick beaded choker and a pair of horns. Inlaid eyes. Jar is opened and was a fountain – water came from it. As can see in back, there are pipes; took water from tank and spread to jar. Remarkable technical feat.
Inscribed liver model
1800, Terracotta, Mari. Practiced divination based on liver and entrail readings – sacrificed animals. Seen as signs from Shamash the son god. The baru priests would interpret this from scholarly system of omen interpretation. Made clay models of animals’ livers and subdivided them into and subdivided them into these grids and that would help them kow what a liver looks like and what it means, etc. The omens were present and future omens, which means that you have an omen that can be interpreted for present and future situations
Ishtup Ilum
2100-2000, Mari. Ishtup is earlier than Puzur-Ishtar with blocky massive muscles, heavy hands, inscription on arm . Found at platform in palace - ancestor worship?
Stele of Dadusha of Eshnunna
1790-80, Granite, Tell Asmar. Images and text; text is on the side and back. Top register is a male trampling the body of a defeated warrior. Somebody standing by this person with a gesture of prayer. Gods overlooking the scene. Underneath, there is a groundplan of a citadel where the battle takes place. Below, warriors with captured enemies. The text is an ekphrasis of the scene on front, which is a first – no ekphrasis before. Above the wall Bunu-Ishtar (combo god). Text says that the monument is awesome and superior and worthy of praise.
Old Babylonian ruler statue
1900-1800, Susa, diorite. Taken to Susa in 1158. They erased old inscription and made new one. Head missing but braids remain. Very massive statue reminiscent of Ur III style. Large, wears a necklace and has one arm covered. However the beard’s design is different from Ur III stuff.
Old Assyrian king (Shamshi Adad?)
1800, Ashur. Body and head found separately, he doesn’t wear a horned crown or a wooly cap but actually a diadem, he has some distinctive features of Assyrian kings and he is comparable to the statue of Idi-Ilum of Mari because they were contemporaries but the statues are stylistically different.
Mountain God Relief
1900-1800, Ashur well, limestone. At some point this was broken and thrown into a well. It is an early example of architectural sculpture, waist down he has a scaly mountain panel. He is feeding goats, source of life. Little water goddesses at side, one interpretation is that they are tigris and euphrates.
