Unit 2- Ancient Mediterranean Flashcards
White Temple and its ziggurat: Identifiers
Style: Sumerian
Location: Uruk
Date: 3500
White Temple and its ziggurat: Form
- Buttresses spaced across the surface to create a contrasting light-and-shadow pattern
- the ziggurat tapers downward so that rainwater washes off
- entire form resembles a mountain, creating a contrast between the vast flat terrain and the man-made mountain
- Bent-axis-plan: ascending the stairs require angular changes of direction to reach the temple
White Temple and its ziggurat: Function
- on top of the ziggurat is a terrace for outdoor rituals and a temple for indoor rituals
- the temple on the top was small, set back, and removed from the populace; access reserved for royalty and clergy only the base of the temple remains
- the temple interior contained a cella an a smaller rooms meant for the deities to assemble before a select group of priests
White Temple and its ziggurat: Materials
- mud-brick building built on a colossal scale and covered with glazed tiles ro cones
- whitewash used to disguise the mud appearance; hence the modern name of White Temple
White Temple and its ziggurat: Context
- large settlement at Uruk of 40,000 based on agriculture and specialized labor
Uruk may be the first true city in history; the first with monumental architecture - Ziggurat sited within the city
- deity was Anu, god of the sky, most important Sumerian dynasty
- gods descend from the heavens to a high place on EArth; hence the Sumerians built ziggurats as high places
Statues of votive figures, form the Square Temple at Eshnunna: Identifiers
Style: Sumerian
Location: Eshnunna
Date: c. 2700 BCE
Statues of votive figures, form the Square Temple at Eshnunna: Form
- figures are of different heights, denoting hierarchy scale
- hands folded in a gesture of prayer
- huge eyes in awe, spellbound, staring at deity?
- men: bare chested wearing belt and skirt; beard flows in ripple pattern
- women: dress draped over on shoulder
- arms and feet cut away
- pinkie in a spiral; china wedge shape; ear a double volute
Statues of votive figures, form the Square Temple at Eshnunna: Function
- some have inscriptions on back: “It offers prayer” other inscriptions tell the names of th donors or gods
- figures represent mortals; placed ina temple to pray before a sculpture of god
Statues of votive figures, form the Square Temple at Eshnunna: Context
- Gods and humans physically present in their statues
- none have been found in situ, but buried in groups under the temple floor
Standard of Ur: Form
- figures have broad frontal shoulder; bodies in profile; twisted perspective
- emphasis on eyes, eyebrows, ear
- organized in registers; figures stand on ground lines
- reads from bottom to top
Standard of Ur: Content
- 2 sides: war side and peace side; may have been 2 halves of a narrative; early example of a historical narrative
- war side: Sumerian king, half a head taller than the others, has descended from his chariot to inspect captives brought before him, some of whom are debased by their nakedness; in lowest register, chariots advance over the dead
- peace side: food brought in a procession to the banquet; musician plays a lyre; ruler is the largest figure — he wear a kilt made of tufts of wool; may have been a victory celebration after a battle
Standard of Ur: Identifiers
Style: Sumerian
Location: Ur
Date: 2600 BCE
Standard of Ur: Context
- found in tomb at royal cemetery at Ur in modern Iraq
- reflects extensive trading network: lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, shells from the Persian Gulf, and red limestone from India
Standard of Ur: Function Theories
- used as part of a sound box for a musical instrument
- 2 scenes may illustrate the dual nature of an ideal Sumerian ruler: victorious general and father of his people who promotes general welfare
Code of Hammurabi: Identifiers
Style: Babylonian
Location: Susa
Date: 1750 BCE
Code of Hammurabi: Form
a stele meant to be placed in an important location
Code of Hammurabi: Function
- sun god, Shamash, enthroned on a ziggurat, hands Hammurabi a rope, a ring, and a rod of kingship
- Shamash in in a frontal view and a profile at the same time; headdress is in profile; rays appear from behind shoulders
Code of Hammurabi: Context
- written in cuneiform
- text in Akkadian language, read right to left and top to bottom in 51 columns
- law articles are written in a formula: “If a person has done this, then that will happen to him”
Lamassu From the Citadel of Sargon II: Identifiers
Style: Neo-Assyrian
Location: Dur Sharrukin
Date: 720 BCE
Lamassu From the Citadel of Sargon II: Form
- human-headed animal guardian figures: face of a person, ears and body of a bull
- winged
- appears to have 5 legs: when seen from the front, it seems to be standing at attention; when seen from the side, the animal seems to be walking
- faces exude calm, serenity, and harmony
Lamassu From the Citadel of Sargon II: Materials
- carved from a single piece of stone
- meant to old up the walls and arch of a gate
- stone is rare in Mesopotamian art and contrasts greatly with mud-brick construction of the palace
Lamassu From the Citadel of Sargon II: Function
- meant to ward off enemies both visible and invisible
- inscriptions in cuneiform at the bottom portion of the lamassu declare the power of the king and curse his enemies
Lamassu From the Citadel of Sargon II: Context
- Sargon II founded a capital at Khorsabad; the city was surrounded by a wall with 7 gate
- protective sprits placed at either side of the gates
Audience Hall (apadana) of Darius and Xerxes: Identifiers
Style: Persian
Location: Persepolis, Iran
Date: 500 BCE
Audience Hall of Darius and Xerxes: Form
- built on artificial terraces, like Mesopotamian architecture
- columns have bell-shaped base that is an inverted lotus blossom; capitals are bulls or lions
- everything seem to have been built to make the viewer smaller
Audience Hall (apadana) of Darius and Xerxes: Function/Content
- built not as a complex of palaces but as a seat for spectacular receptions and festivals
- enter complex through gigantic gates depicting lamassu figures. above gates is inscription the Gates of All Nations, proudly announces this complex as seat of a great empire
- audience hall had 36 columns covered by a wooden roof; used for king’s receptions and New Years
- hypostyle hall is an indication of one of the many cultures that inspired this
- made with mud brick with stone facing; stone symbolizing durability and strength
Audience Hall (apadana) of Darius and Xerxes: Context/Interpretation
- relief sculptures depict delegations from all parts of empire bringing gifts to be stored in the local treasury; Darius selected central location in Persia to ensure protection of treasury
- carved onto the stairs are immortals, king’s guards who were so called because they always numbered 10,000, originally painted and adorned with metal accessories; some covered in gold leaf
- stairs have a central relief of king enthroned with attendants, crown prince behind him, and dignitaries bowing before him
- orderly and harmonious world symbolized by static processions
Audience Hall (apadana) of Darius and Xerxes: History
- built by Darius I and Xerxes I; destroyed by Alexander the Great, perhaps as an act of revenge for destruction of Acropolis in Athens
- many cultural influences contributed to the building of the site, as a sign of Persian cosmopolitan imperial culture
Palette of King Narmer: Identifiers
Style: Predynastic
Location: Egypt
Date: 3000 BCE
Palette of King Narmer: Form
- hierarchy of scale
- figures stand on a ground line
- narrative
- schematic lines delineate Narmer’s muscle structure: forearm veisn and thigh muscles are represented as straight lines, kneecaps as half circles
- composite view of human body: mostly seen in profile, but chest, eye, and ear are frontal
- hieroglyphics explain and add meaning and identify Narmer in cartouche
Palette of King Narmer: Function
- palette used to prepare eye makeup for the blinding sun, although this palette was probably commemorative
- palette carved on 2 sides were for ceremonial purposes
Palette of King Narmer: Content
- relief sculpture depicting King Narmer uniting Upper and Lower Egypt
- Hathor depicted 4x top register, a god as a cow with woman’s face, or Bat, a sky, goddess, bull
- on the front: narmer, largest figure, wears cobra crown of Lower Egypt reviewing beheaded bodies of enemy; bodies seen from above, heads between legs
- on the back: falcon is Horus, god of Egypt, who triumphs over Narmer’s forces; Horus holds a rope around a man’s head and a papyrus plant. symbols of lower Egypt
- Narmer has a symbol of strength, servant behind Narmer holds his sandals as he stands barefoot on the sacred ground as a divine king
- defeated Egyptians lie beneath his feet
Palette of King Narmer: Theories of function
- represents unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under one ruler
- unification expressed as a concept or goal to be achieved
- represent balance of order and chaos
- reference journey of the sun god
Seated Scribe: Identifiers
Style: Old Kingdom
Location: Saqqara, Egypt
Date: 2,500 BCE
Seated Scribe: Form
- not a pharaoh: sagging chest and realistic body rather than idealistic features
- figure has high cheekbones, hollow cheeks, and a distinctive jawline
- meant to be seen from the front
- color still remains on sculpture
Seated Scribe: Function & Content
Function: created for a tomb at Saqqara as a provision for the ka
Content: lifelike- conventional image of a scribe
- inlaid crystal eyes
- holds papyrus in lap, writing instrument (gone) in hand ready to write
Seated Scribe: Context
- attentive expression; thin angular face in readiness of the words pharaoh might dictate
- seated on the ground to indicate comparative low station
Great Pyramids: Identifiers
Style: Old Kingdom
Location: Giza
Date: c. 2500 BCE
Great Pyramids: Form
- each pyramid is a huge pile of limestone with a minimal interior that housed the deceased pharaoh
- each pyramid had an enjoining mortuary temple used for worship
Great Pyramids: Function
- giant monuments of dead pharaohs: Menakaura, Khufu, and Khafre
- preservation of the body and tomb contents for eternity
- some scholars also suggest that the complex served as the kings palace in the afterlife
Great Pyramids: Context
- each pyramid had funerary complex adjacent connected by formal pathway used for carrying dead pharaoh’s body to the pyramid
- shape may have been influenced by a sacred stone relic called a benben, which is shaped like a sacred stone found at Heliopolis; center of the sun god cult
- each side of the pyramid is oriented toward a point on the compass, a fact pointing to an association with the starts and the sun
- Giza temples face east, toward the rising sun, and have been associated with the god Re
Great Sphinx: Identifiers
Style: Old Kingdom
Location: Giza
Date: c. 2500 BCE
Great Sphinx: Form
- carved in situ from a huge rock; colossal sale
- body of a lion, head of a pharaoh and or god
- originally brightly painted to stand out in the desert behind the figure which once rose near ramps rising from the Nile
Great Sphinx: Function
Sphinx seems to be protecting the pyramids behind it, although this theory has been debated
Great Sphinx: Context/Interpretation
- very generalized features, although some say it may be a portraits of Khafre
- cats are royal animals in ancient Egypt, saved grain supply from mice
- Head of Sphinx badly mauled in Middle Ages
- fragment of Sphinx’s beard is in the British museum
King Menkaure and Queen: Identifiers
Style: Old Kingdom
Location: Giza
Date: c. 2500 BCE
King Menkaure and Queen: Form/Materials
- 2 figures attached to a block of stone; arms and legs not cut free
- traces of red paint exist on Menkaure’s face
- extremely hard stone used; symbolizes permanence of the pharaohs presence and his strength on earth
King Menkaure and Queen: Function
- receptacle for the ka of the pharaoh and his queen
- wife’s simple and affectionate gesture, and/or presenting him to the gods
King Menkaure and Queen: Context
- Menakaura’s powerful physique and stride symbolize his kingship, as does heis garb: nemes on the head, an artificial beard, and a kilt with a tab
- original location was the temple of the Mankaura’s pyramid complex at Giza
- society’s view of women expressed in ankle-length tightly draped gown covering the queen’s body; mena and women of the same height indicated equality
- society’s view of king expressed in broad shoulders, muscular arms and legs, and firm stomach
- theory: women may be his mother or goddess Hathor, no divine attributes tho
Temple of Amun-Re Hypostyle Hall: Identifiers
Style: New Kingdom
Location: Karnak
Date: 1550 BCE
Temple of Amun-Re Hypostyle Hall: Form/Content
- axial plan, pylon temple, hypostyle halls
- massive lintels link columns together
- huge columns, tightly packed together, admit litte light into the sanctuary
- tallest columns have papyrus capitals; clerestory allows some light and air ninot the darkest parts of the temple
- columns elaborately painted, carved in sunken relief
- bottom of columns have bud capitals
- massive walls enclose complex
- enter complex through massive sloped pylon gateway into a peristyle courtyard, tehn through a hypostyle hall, then into sanctuary where few were allowed
Temple of Amun-Re Hypostyle Hall: Function
- egyptian temple for worship of Amun-Re
- god housed in the darkest and most secret part of the complex, only accessed by priests and pharaohs
Temple of Amun-Re Hypostyle Hall: Context
- adjacent is an artificial sacred lake– a symbol of the sacred waters of the world, that existed before time
- located on the east side of the Nile, linked by a road with the Karnak temple for the OPet festival
- complex was built near this lake over time; symbolically arose from waters the way civilization did
- theory that the temple represents beginnings of the world: pylons horizon, floor rises to sanctuary of god, temple roof= sky, columns = plants of the Nile
Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut: Identifiers
Style: New Kingdom
Location: Luxor
Date: 1475 BCE
Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut: Form
- 3 colonnaded terraces and two ramps
- visually coordinated with the natural setting; long horizontals and verticals of the terraces and colonnades repeat the patterns of the cliffs behind; patterns of dark and light in the colonnade are reflected in the cliffs
- terraces originally planted as gardens with exotic trees
Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut: Function
- statue of the god brought before sculpture in procession
- processions up the mortuary temple passed in front of this sttueu of Hatshepsut
- one of 200 statues placed around teh compelx
Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters: Identifiers
Style: New Kingdom
Location: Amarna
Date: c. 1350 BCE
Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut: Function
- Hatshepsut declared she built temple as a garden for her father Amun (been of divine birth, sired by god Amun)
- was used only for special religious events; lacked subsidiary buildings
- for reasons of cultic purity, royal burial could noted in the temple, royal tomb was location in the mountain behind the temple and reached by way of the Valley of the Kings
Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut: Form
- male pharaonic attributes: nemes or deadcloth, false beard, kilt
- wears white crown of Upper Egypt
- queen is depicted in male costume of pharaoh, yet slender proportions and slight breasts indicate femininity
Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters: Form
- state religious shift indicated by an evolving style in Egyptian art: smooth, curved surfaces, low hanging bellies, slack jaws, thin arms, epicene bodies heavy lidded eyes
- at the end of sun’s rays point to the king and queen
Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut: Context
- one of the 10 statues of Hatshepsut with offering jars, part of a ritual in honor of the sun god; pharaoh would kneel only before a god
- inscription on base sasy sishe is offering plants to Amun the sun god
Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters: Content
- Akhenaten holds his eldest daughter (left) ready to be kissed
- Nefertiti holds her daughter (right) with another daughter on her shoulder
- intimate family relationships are extremely rare in Egyptian art
Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters: Function + Technique
Function: domestic environment was new in Egyptian art; panel is for an altar in a house
Technique: sunken relief, less likely to be damaged than raised, creates deeper shadows and can be appreciated in the sunlight
Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters: Context
- Akhenaten abandoned Thebes and created a new capital, originally named Akhenaten and later changed to Amarna; style of art from this period is called the Amarna style
- state religion was changed by Akhenaten to the worship of Aten, symbolized by the sun-disk with a cobra: changed his name to Akhenaten to reflect his devotion to the one god Aten; early monotheism
- Akhenaten and Nefertiti having private relationship with their new god, Aten
- after Akhenaten’s reign, Amarna style slowly replaced by more traditional Egyptian representations
form - Akhenaten and Nefertiti having private relationship with their new god, Aten
- after Akhenaten’s reign, Amarna style slowly replaced by more traditional Egyptian representations
Innermost Coffin of King Tutankhamun: Identifiers
Style: New Kingdom
Location: Valley of the Kings
DAte: 1325 BCE
Innermost Coffin of King Tutankhamun: Form
- gold coffin (6ft) containing body of the pharaoh
- smooth, idealized features on the mask of the boy king
- holds a crook and a flail symbols of Osiris
Innermost Coffin of King Tutankhamun: Function
- mummified body of KIng Tutankhamun was buried with 143 objects, on his head, neck, abdomen, and limbs; gold mask placed over his head
Innermost Coffin of King Tutankhamun: Context
- when Akhenaten died, 2 pharaohs ruled briefly, and then his son Tutankhamun reigned for ten years from age 9 to 19
- Tutankhamun’s father and mother were brother and sister; his wife was his half-sister; perhaps he was physically handicapped because of genetic breeding
Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer: Identifiers
Style: New Kingdom
Location: Thebes
Date: 1275 BCE
Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer:
Form: papyrus scroll, narrative on a uniform register
Function: Illustration from the Book of the Dead, an Egyptian book of spells and charms that acted as a guide for the deceased to make her or her way to eternal life
Context: Hunefer was a scribe who had priestly functions
Anavysos Kouros: Identifiers
Style: Archaic
Location: Anavysos
Date: 530 BCE
Anavysos Kouros: Form
- emulates stance of Egyptian sculpture but is nude; arms and legs are largely cut free from the stone
- rigidly frontal
- freestanding and able to move; in contrast, many Egyptian works are reliefs or are attached to the stone
- hair is knotted and falls in neatly braided rows down the back
- some paint suruvices, some of it encaustic, which would have given the sculpture greater life
- archaic smile enlivens sculpture
Anavysos Kouros: Function
- grave marker, replacing huge vases of the Geometric period
- sponsored by an aristocratic family
Anavysos Kouros: Content
- not a real portrait but a general representation of the deceased
- named after a young military hero, Kroisis; inscriptoin at base identifies him: “Stand and grieve at the tomb of Kroisos, the dead, in fron line slain by the wild Ares”
Peplos Kore: Identifiers
Style: Archaic
Location: Acropolis
Date: c. 530 BCE
Anavysos Kouros: Form
- hand emerges into viewer’s space, breaks out of the mold of static Archaic statues
- indented waist
- breasts revealed beneath drapery
- rounded and naturalistic face
- much of the encaustic paint still remains, animating the face and hair
- broken hand fitted into socket and prob held attribute; may have been a goddess
- marble, painted details
Anavysos Kouros: Context
- named for the peplos, though tot be one of the four traditional garments she is wearing
- recent theory proposes she is the goddess Athene or Artemis
Doryphoros: Identifiers
Style: Classical
Artist: Polykleitos
Location: Pompeii (Roman copy)
Date: c. 450 BCE
Doryphoros: Form
- blocky solidity
- closed stance, broad shoulders, thick torso, muscular body
- idealized body, contrapposto
- body is both tense and relaxed: left arm and right leg are relaxed, right arm and left leg are tense
Doryphoros: Content
- warrior and athlete
- hand once held a spear
- movement is restrained; ideal Spartan body
- averted gazel does not recognize the viewer’s admiration
- contemplative gaze
Doryphoros: Context
- Greek name: Doryphoros
- represents Polykleitos’s ideal masculine figure
- considered a canon for classical body types; general rule for beauty and form, probably linked to a no longer existing treatise by the artist
- marble roman copy of bronze greek original
- found in Pompeii in a place for athletic training, perhaps for inspiration for athletes