Transcript No Slide Title

Egypt and Mesopotamia
• CONVENTIONS: inherited, invented, and prescribed formulas that the people
who formed its culture accepted and understood.
• STYLIZED (-ation) - simplification or generalization of forms. Of
• forms as found in nature
• Epic – long narrative (story) about a hero who embodies (represents) the values
of a culture
• Archetype – the original model of something
• Myth – a story that explains a belief, a custom, or a natural phenomenon
• Gilgamesh – epic Sumerian hero who quests for eternal life
Gilgamesh – the
st
1
super hero
Epic of Gilgamesh
1. 1st hero written about
2. When his friend
Enkidu dies,
Gilgamesh searches
for eternal life
3. Utnapishtim tells him
that life is short, enjoy
it and don’t worry
about death
Mesopotamia (modern Iraq)
1. Located between
Tigris/Euphrates rivers
2. Settled by Sumerians
(3500 BCE)
3. Cuneiform (wedge
shaped) writing using
a stylus (stick) on clay
or wax tablets
Cuneiform-Mesopotamian writing on clay
tablets with a Stylus
Contributions of Mesopotamia
• Ziggurats-temples built on platforms from mud
bricks, like a pyramid but with receding terraces.
• Arch-curved structure over an opening, one of
the strongest forms in building
• Lapis lazuli-blue stone used for decoration
• Divided circle into 12 parts; we still measure
time that way (60 seconds to a minute, 60
minutes to an hour)
• Invented the wheel, writing, and perhaps the1st
boats
Sumerian philosophy/religion:
1. Frequent & unpredictable floods
2. Easily invaded, many wars
3. Led to pessimistic attitude - “life is
suffering and death is worse”
4. Gods despise mankind - the dead become
shadows and eat dirt
Ishtar Gate
Gate of Ishtar - lapis lazuliGate
Lion from Ishtar gate
Code of Hammurabi
1. Code - a list of laws
2. Importance - written
laws CANNOT be
changed based upon
the judge’s whim major step forward in
human rights
Hammurabi’s stele
Mesopotamian conventions
1. Wide, staring eyes
2. Clasped hands
3. Usually wears a skirt
type of garment
4. Prayerful attitude
Ziggurats - temples
• Temples built on platforms from mud bricks
looking like a pyramid with steps
• made from mud bricks
• Tower of Babel is most famous
Ziggurat of Ur-a temple
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Standard of Ur
Dragon of Marduk
Stele
• slab of engraved stone
or metal, to honor
someone or post
important information
(ex. Code of
Hammurabi)
Bas-Relief-raised carvings on a slab of
stone or metal, NOT 3-dimensional
King hunting rams
Goat in a Bush-Mesopotamian
Bull-symbol of power to Mes.
Conventions?
Egypt - Old Kingdom - 3100 B.C.E.
1. Philosophy/religion 2.surrounded by desert/seas/Nile cataracts-no
invasions
3. Predictable and gentle floods
4. Developed optimistic outlook - “do no evil”
have a good after life
“Man fears Time, yet Time fears the pyramids”
The Great Pyramid, one of the 7 wonders of the
ancient world and the only one still standing
Descriptive Perspective
• The size of the figure
indicates it’s
importance. The
smallest figures are
servants, enemies, etc.
Engaged to the stone
• Arms and legs are
attached to the stone
from which they are
carved.
Ankh-symbol of long life
Hieroglyphics-Egyptian writing
Registers: figures are placed in
layers
Frontality-torso & eye faces
front, head, legs, arms in profile
Rosetta Stone- found in 1799; decoded
hieroglyphics
Houses for the dead: pyramids
• Purpose: to give Pharaoh eternal life in
comfort.
• Largest: Pyramid of Cheops at Giza-base
took up 13 football fields and used over 2
million blocks; some blocks weighed over
40 tons!
• Canoptic jars: kept the body organs
Egyptian Pyramids - tombs
King Tut’s death mask
Notice their stance: left foot forward,
arms at sides (stylized conventions)
What’s this?
Amarna Revolution
• Akhenaton began a new
religion with only one god,
(the Sun God). Under his
reign, there was a brief
period of realistic art. The
Amarna revolution ended
with Akhenaton's death and
a return to the old style.
Reincarnated????
Queen Nefertiti- wife of Akhenaten
Book of the Dead-papyrus
Earliest mummies were
buried/dried in sand
Sarcophagus
Canoptic jars (held organs)
Egyptian columns
• Capitals: the tops of columns.
• Two types: “bud” and “flowering”
• Some columns were so large a 100 people
could stand on top of them.
Conventions vs. realism
“bud” capitals-tops of columns
Flower type of capital
Sphinx-body of a lion, pharoah’s face
Obelisk- 4 sided shaft of stone with pyramid shape
on top, sometimes called Cleopatra’s needles
The Great Temple