ASIAN ART

ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ART AND ISLAMIC ART:

Ancient Near Eastern Art, from 4000 B.C.E to about 500 C.E., consists mostly of artifacts that
have been excavated in the regions of Mesopotamia, Assyria, Sumer, Anatolia, and the
islands
of Crete and Cyprus. Artifacts consisted of figurines, pottery, jewelry and other decorative
objects that represented wealth, power, and social status. The pieces we have found
particularly interesting are; a diorite statue of a king and an ivory one of a tribute bearer, a
silver and gold vessel, a gilt silver dish and gold jewelry crafted by the Phoenicians, basalt
carvings by the Hittites, a statue of a worshiper, cylinder seal, and headdress all from the
Sumerian culture.
In that time in history the artist in that region mimicked the Egyptians in their style and as a
people.  What made them interesting was they used symbols and specific animals to create
a
way of describing what they experienced from their surroundings; whether it was in people
or animals themselves. For example, they used animals to describe characteristics of a king.
If he was a strong king they gave him they p ersona of a bear in their drawing of him or if he
was a humble king they gave him the appearance of a regular person while all the other
people around him were shown to be like gods.  These images and scenes were done in a
relief process where the figures are projecting out from the stone in which they are carved
casting shadows and creating dimension.
Certain art pieces were meant to communicate to others a person’s overall power or
specific
role within the city. These pieces differ in form; from animal representation to scenes of a
religious ceremony. Most statues found in the Mesopotamia area were made of either bone
or stone.  Art in the Near Eastern cultures separated the kings, the gods, the hunters, and
lower society into a hierarchy system.  The statues that were found were representation of
many different culture groups in this area. All these different groups took part in and passed
on various traditions of creating these art forms. 
As this area of the Fertile Crescent grew in population and status so did the works of art
they
created.  Much of what we consider art today was inscribed in steles upon the walls of
temples, tombs, and palaces.  Artisans and craftsmen were utilized to depict scenes of battle
and images of Gods and kings as ornamentation and to pay tribute to those they honored. 
Great statues of animal like guardians not only adorn but make up a significant part of the
entry gates for many palaces throughout the region.  These statues were considered
protective beings and made a monumental impression on the King’s visitors.
Early forms of writing also come from this time period.  Cuneiform is found on steles and
tablets communicating laws and business conduct of this region.  The architecture of
temples,
tombs, and palaces was itself an expressive form of art.  Much of what is found today are
remnants of these structures and the possessions of those buried in the tombs.
 Neolithic era – 651 BC
The location area of the Ancient Near East is mapped differently by different governmental
and academic organizations but is generally agreed to be the northeastern countries
of Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean countries, the Arabian Peninsula, and Mesopotamia.
Some have it reaching into as far as what we know of as the Middle East.
Art began to blossom in these areas, in Mesopotamia specifically, in the 3rd millennium BC
and goes back even further past the 8th millennium BC to the Neolithic era.

Mesopotamia spawned the world’s first cities and its some of its first art. Much of the
inspiration for Ancient Near Eastern Art came from the relationship between the natural
world and the world of the gods, except in Egypt where the Pharaoh sometimes replaced
the divine in art.
Art History: Ancient Near Eastern Art Origins and Historical Importance:
Beginning in the ancient civilization of Sumer, the land from which we have one of the first
formal examples of written script, as well as the first literature, the art of ceramics,
sculpture, and metallurgy, gained sophistication not before seen.
For the first time, humanity was organizing itself into urban civilizations known as the Urban
Revolution. In what is now modern-day Iraq, cities like Ur and Babylon became
cosmopolitan
meccas with definitive social hierarchy and status.
The Stele of Hammurabi Ancient Near Eastern Art
While wealth was built from agriculture, status was dependent on the governmental rule or
from relationship to religious status. These themes come into play within the images they
created.
“If he does not plant the field that was given over to him as a garden, if it bearable land, the
gardener shall pay the owner the produce of the field for the years that he let it lie fallow,
according to the product of neighboring fields, put the field in arable condition and return it
to its owner. – Hammurabi
Steles are a great example of the exaltation of royalty and divinity.
Pyramids, temples, and ziggurats are also examples of the reverence for greatness. The Stele
of Hammurabi is seven feet tall and commemorates King Hammurabi, the first formal
lawmaker from whom we get many of our own laws today.
At the top, the stele depicts Hammurabi receiving his royal insignia from the god of justice,
Shamash. The lower part of the stele is written laws. Steles like this were placed publicly so
that citizens would have any time access to important public information such as the law.
This
sophisticated art form was important for both aesthetic and educationally progressive
reasons.
Reliefs on palace walls and public buildings told the stories of the peoples of the land, in
particular, the glories of victorious battle. These reliefs are done in stylized detail and with
attention to good composition. These reliefs were done in a narrative style that told the
story of battle, whether it be against rival armies or hunted animals.
The Powerful Legacy of Persian Art Rulers in the area showed their influence and power
through the architecture they built and would leave behind. Some of this architecture was
built as a gesture of worship to a particular god or goddess, such as in the case of the
original temple in Israel. Nebuchadnezzar II, of biblical fame, built a gate in honor of Ishtar.
With bricks of blue, gold, and black glazed paint and a gate covered in lapis lazuli, the gate
would have shined like a jewel from quite far away. On approaching the gate, viewers would
have seen bulls, dragons, and flowers decorating the surrounding wall in honor of the
goddess.
“We have always realized, as Israelis and as Jews, that we are not fighting Islam and thus
avoided turning the Temple Mount issue into a war of Jews against Muslims. – Reuven Rivlin

First original Temple Ancient Near Eastern Art

The metallurgy of the period was detailed and crafted in ways that have not been improved
upon to this day. Drinking vessels and vases were formed into near-perfect representations
of animals and finished with relief etchings of natural scenes. Ceramics were both beautiful
in form and highly proficient function and were even whimsical in design.
Ancient Near Eastern Art Key Highlights:
 Stone, ceramic, and semi-precious stone seals were some of the earliest pieces of art in
the Near East, dating as far back as the fifth millennium BC. Their depictions of gods,
demons, animals, rulers, and nature give researchers an insight into the minds and cultures
of the ancients. Statuettes and votive figures played prominently in the lives of ancient near
eastern peoples.
They mainly represented the gods. Some figures from the Early Dynastic period have
cuneiform
etching on the back that labels the god and the name and profession of the person who
gifted the figure.
 Details of fashions indicate to modern scholars and to the people at the time, the
nationality and status of the person depicted. Hairstyles, beard styles, and clothing norms of
a people
distinguished them and those things are represented in the artworks of the period.
Historians are able to piece together ancient legends and stories into what may have really
happened from discovered artworks, steles, and narrative images.
Ancient Near Eastern Art Top Works:
 Seated Female Figure – 2500-1500 BC; Northern Afghanistan; Ancient Bactria
 Persepolis Relief: A Gift Bearer – 5th century BC; Southern Iran, Persepolis
 Statue of Gudea – 2090 BC;Neo Sumerian; Girsu in Mesopotamia
 Beak-spouted jar – 1400-800 BC; Northern Iran
 Spouted vessel with gazelle protome – 4th century
 Lachish Relief – 700-681 BC; Ninevah
 Victory Stele of Naram-Sin – 2250 BC; Akkadian

REFERENCE/S
https://artsandculture.google.com/usergallery/PwJSO1I7pYg_Jw
https://www.theartist.me/art-movement/ancient-near-eastern-art/