The Ancient Near East Flashcards
Royal Cemetary at Ur
Jewelry artworks and musical instruments discovered in the 1920s
Mesopotamia
Between two rivers at the core of the Fertile Crescent
Sumer
The Samarian’s in the fourth millennium BC transformed the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates into the Fertile Crescent
City-states
Under individual protection of deities rulers and priests determine all communal activities, specialization of labor is a hallmark of the first complex urban societies the oldest written documents known are sumarien records
Pictographs
Simplified pictures standing for words, made tablets
Cuneiform
3000-2900BCE, beginning of writing, Epic of Gilamesh
White Temple, Uruk
The main temple to each states chief God was the center, formed mud bricks for the structure, white in color
Ziggurat
High platform, a stairway leads to the top but not inside, the bent axis plan is standard for Sumerien temples, corners are oriented to the cardinal points on the Compass, several chambers are the central hall or cella house
Waiting rooms
Temples because they believe the deity would descend
Where gods reside
The belief that God’s reside above the natural world is central to most religions
Inana
White marble female head actually only a face with the flatback colored shells added detail in the eyebrows and eyes that are no longer visible today
Warka vase
Narrative relief like a comic strip registers or friezes no overlapping with profile views to show the most information
Eshunna Statuettes
Under a foot to 30 inches tall represent mortals with their hands folded in front of their chest heads tilted upward waiting in waiting rooms for divinity not portraits but distinguishing different physical types, large eyes are supposed to represent perpetual wakefulness
Stele of Vultures
Carved stone slab to commemorate a historical event or effort to record historical events and yields insight into Samarian society
Standard of Ur
Royal Cemetary at Ur shows agriculture and trade that brought wealth to city states the different sides represent war side and peace side or the first and second parts of a single narrative the king like figure has central placement and a greater stature possibly a victory celebration is depicted
Cylinder seals
A cylinder seal found in the tomb of queen to Pu-abi and inscribed with her name many historians prefer to designate her more conservatively and ambiguously as lady pu-abi who out of the seals typically Consisting of a cylindrical piece of stone engraved to produce a raised when rolled over Clay
Victory stele of naram-sin
To commemorate his conquest of the lullaby naramsin set up the steel showing him leading his army up the mountain the sculptor staggered the figures abandoning the traditional register format
Gudea
Gudea of Lagash built or rebuilt many temples and play statues of himself all in them in the seated portrait gudea has on his lap a plan of the new temple he erected to niggrusu
Napir-asu
This life-size bronze and copper statue of the wife of one of the most powerful elamite Kings weighs 3760 pounds the queen wanted her portrait to be in immovable votive offering in the temple
Lamassu
Ancient sculptors insisted on showing complete use of animals this four-legged a Syrian palace Guardian has five legs two when seen from the front and four and profile view
