Mesopotamian Art and Arquitecture
Mesopotamian Art and ArquitectureMesopotamian Art and Architecture
The arts and buildings of the ancient Middle Eastern
civilizations developed in the area (now Iraq) between the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers from prehistory to the 6th
century BC. Their art reflects both their love and fear of
natural forces, as well as their military conquests.
The soil of Mesopotamia yielded the civilization's
major building material, mud brick. This clay also was used
by the Mesopotamians for their pottery, terra-cotta
sculpture, and writing tablets. Few wooden artifacts have
been preserved. Stone was rare, and certain types had to
be imported; basalt, sandstone, diorite, and alabaster were
used for sculpture. Metals such as bronze, copper, gold,
and silver, as well as shells and precious stones, were
used for sculptures and inlays.
The art of Mesopotamia includes a mix from people
who differed ethnicly and linguistically. Each of these
groups made its own contribution to art until the Persian
conquest of the 6th century BC. The first dominant people
to control the region and shape its art were the non-Semitic
Sumerians, followed by the Semitic Akkadians,
Babylonians, and Assyrians.
The earliest architectural and artistic remains known
to date come from northern Mesopotamia from the
proto-Neolithic site of Qermez Dere in the foothills of the
Jebel Sinjar. Levels dating to the 9th millennium BC have
revealed round sunken huts outfitted with one or two
plastered pillars with stone cores. When the buildings were
abandoned, human skulls were placed on the floors,
indicating some sort of ritual.
Artifacts from the late Uruk and Jamdat Nasr periods,
also (about 3500-2900 BC), have been found at several
sites, but the major site was the city of Uruk. The major
building from level five at Uruk (about 3500 BC) is the
Limestone Temple; its superstructure is not preserved, but
limestone slabs on a layer of stamped earth show that it
was niched and monumental in size, measuring 250 x 99ft.
Some buildings at Uruk of level four were decorated with
colorful cones inset into the walls to form geometric
patterns. Another technique that was used was
whitewashing, as in the White Temple, which gets its name
from its long, narrow, whitewashed inner shrine. It was built
in the area of Uruk dedicated to the Sumerian sky god Anu.
The White Temple stood about 40 ft above the plain, on a
high platform, prefiguring the ziggurat, the stepped tower,
typical Mesopotamian religious structure that was intended
to bring the priest or king nearer to a particular god, or to
provide a platform where the deity could descend to visit
the worshipers.
A few outstanding stone sculptures were unearthed at
Uruk. The most beautiful is a white limestone head of a
woman or goddess (about 3500-3000 BC), with eyebrows,
large open eyes, and a central part in her hair, all intended
for inlay. A tall alabaster vase (about 3500-3000 BC), with
horizontal bands, or registers, depicts a procession at the
top, with a king...
To view the complete essay, you be registered.