Transcript Mesopotamia

The Ancient Near East:
Mesopotamia
When-Between
3500-3000
BCE
Where-Modern day Iraq
Who-Sumerians
What-First written language,
temples, and sculpted figures
The ancient culture of Mesopotamia flourished
because they lives between two rivers…the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers.
 The rivers caused rich soil=lots of food
 Their art was stylized.
No details, very simple.
 Sculptures-Human figures
has big eyes which were
“windows to the souls”.
 Sculptures have praying
hands and pray to many
gods-polytheistic

Whoo Hoo-first system of writing!!!

Created a system of wedge shaped
marks in clay
that was the
earliest form of
written
language known
as cuneiform.
Temples
The Sumerians constructed huge mountains of
earth faced with mud-brick and some fired brick.
 ziggurats- the high temple platform, usually built in
the form of a truncated stepped
pyramid with
ramp like stairways leading to
the sanctuary at the top.
Cella-the main
rectangular room of
a temple containing
the image of a god or
goddess. Sacrifices
were often made here.

Most famous Ziggurat
The most famous of all Ziggurats was
the Biblical Tower of Babel, which
was completely destroyed.
 The mud-brick
deteriorated
and left only the
foundations
of most ziggurats.

The Last Ziggurat
The Ziggurat at Ur
2100-2000 BC
 Present day Iraq
 Includes stepped
levels,
dramatic staircases,
and subtle curves
 Used to bridge the
gap between the
earthly and the
divine-therefore the
structure is as high
as possible.

