MESOPOTAMIAN ART

Where was Mesopotamia?

◼ Mesopotamia was known
as "The land between the
rivers“
◼ This name was given to
the lands lying between
the Tigris and the
Euphrates rivers.
◼ The space we call
Mesopotamia is roughly
the same as that of the
modern country of Iraq
and parts of Iran.
 Timeline
◼ 9000 – 5000 BC Early Farming Communities
◼ 5000 – 3500 BC Pre-Sumerians
◼ 3500 – 1900 BC Sumerians
◼ 1900 – 500 BC Babylonians and Assyrians
 An area in conflict
◼ Unlike their southern neighbors, the
Mesopotamian area was in conflict between
warring nations very frequently.
◼ This area also required much more
maintenance of their agriculture systems.
◼ Because of these and other factors, this area
had a more limited development of art as
compared to Egypt.
Mythical creatures
◼ Mesopotamian sculptures
included mythical creatures
at times.
◼ The figure to the right is an
Assyrian artwork.
 Human Figures
◼ Sculptures in this area
often showed long
beards on the peoples
faces.
◼ The long beard
represented power in
their society.
◼ Most reliefs and
paintings would tell
stories of battles or
proclaimed the power of
the ruler.
 Ziggurats
◼ In Sumerian cities they built ziggurats for their
worship. A ziggurat is a step pyramid with a temple
at the top.
◼ Normally each city would have one main ziggurat
dedicated to the city´s special god.
Lion leading to Ishtar's Gate
Persian Bull
Human-Headed Lions
Hunting scene, 2250–2150 B.C.
Eye idol, 3500–3100 B.C
◼ This figurine is made of stone
and having incised eyes.
◼ It was excavated at Tell Brak,
where thousands were found in
a building now called the Eye
Temple.
◼ The idols are thought to be
offerings—wide eyes
demonstrate attentiveness to the
gods in much Mesopotamian
art.