Ancient Art

1
Ancient Art
Michael Clinger Honors 201
2
Code of Hammurabi

• Circa 1780 B.C.
• Inscribed on a tall black piece of basalt stele
• 7 feet, 4 inches tall
• Hammurabi receiving the inspiration for
  the laws from the flame god Shamash
• Shamash holds the symbols of divine
  power, the ring and staff
• Hammurabi is represented in reverent attention,
  his hand raised in prayer

3

• Shamash is shown in the familiar convention of
  combined front and side views
• The horns on his headdress are shown in true
  profile
• The beard is also foreshortened, using diagonal
  instead of horizontal lines, suggesting that it
  recedes into the picture
• Both of these were unheard of methods for the time

4
Bull-headed Lyre

• Circa 2600 B.C.
• Five feet five inches tall
• Made for Queen Puabi
• Bulls head fashioned out of gold leaf over wood
  core
• Hair, beard, and details done with lapis lazuli
• Sound box features four inlaid panels

5

• Top panel shows a Gilgamesh-like hero wrestling
  two man-bulls
• The man and the scorpion are shown in composite
• The rest of the creatures are depicted in profile
• The meaning of these scenes is unknown
• Recurring theme where animals act as people

6
Female Head

• Circa 3500-3000 B.C.
• Approximately eight inches tall
• Possibly the head of the goddess Inanna
• Made of white marble
• Too costly to make a full statue
• Probably attached to a wooden body
• Deep groove at the top probably anchored a wig
  made of gold leaf
• Recesses for the eyebrows and eyes were filled
  with colored shell or stone

7
Standard of Ur

• Circa 2700 B.C.
• Approximately 8 inches by 19 inches
• Rectangular box of uncertain function with
  sloping sides
• Inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red
  limestone
• One side is the war side, one the peace side

8

• Sides read from right to left, bottom to top
• Supposed to be a historical narrative, but it
  lacks inscription
• Figures are carefully placed, there is little
  overlapping
• Repeated poses were used to suggest large numbers

9
Tell Asmar Figurines

• Circa 2700-2600 B.C.
• Ranging in size from well under
  
  a foot to about 30 inches tall
• Carved of gypsum with shell and black limestone
  inlays
• Set up in a temple to Abu, god of vegetation
• Differing heights may correspond to their
  relative importance

10

• All the figures represent mortals, not deities
• Hands are folded in front of their chests in a
  gesture of prayer
• Some hold beakers that were used in religious
  rites
• Some are inscribed with the name of
  the donor, the
  god, and sometimes even
  the prayers to which
  the specific figure is
  meant
• Large eyes are to convey a sense of awe
• Heads are tilted upward as they wait
  for the deity

11
Works Cited
Kleiner, Fred S.. Gardners Art Through the Ages.
New York Harcourt, 1996.