Lecture 5, Art of Mesopotamia and West Asia

Question 1

Mesopotamia

Answer 1

5000 to 2900BCE
Mesopotamia means “land between the rivers”.
This area lies between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Question 2

what were the developments of Mesopotamia?

Answer 2

• The development of Cities
  
  • The development of Theocratic Urbanism
  • The development of writing systems
  • The development of Temples
    Mesopotamians also specialized in the Grain industry, and in the trade of Obsidian.

Question 3

extreme marshes in mesopotamia:

Answer 3

• Mesopotamia was initially marshlands (present-day Iraq) that were surrounded by water.
  
  • This made it difficult to create large-scale habitation and sustain a society.
    Farming was also not possible due to the limited resources.
  • Over the course of 500 years, Mesopotamians developed ways of making farming possible in marshes.
  • This was achieved using irrigation, which was used to control water by draining/directing it via trenches.
  • When the land is raised above water, controlling the marshes becomes easier.
    However, around-the-clock maintenance is still needed.

Question 4

what were the Environmental Changes?

Answer 4

The coastline now is much lower compared to back then, as there is less water due to climate change.

Question 6

sumer

Answer 6

• Eridu and Ur were both part of sumer
• sumer was not a city but a glomeration of around 11 city states
• each state was ruled by a deity
• they all shared the same language summeria

Question 7

city of Eridu

Answer 7

• ( 5,000 - 2,900 BCE)
• as the first city succeded, being started being acttracted to Eridu.
• Eridu is the first city to develope in mesopotamia
• it was initially a village located by the marshes and desert
• later on due to irrigation and agriculture, it developed into a city

Question 8

what were the developments of Eridu?

Answer 8

• the system of irrigation first developed in Eridu
• fresh water basin was also created in Eridu
• some historians argue that one of the early civilization began in Eridu

Question 9

city of Ur

Answer 9

• ( 2,500 )
• Ur is another city that developed in mesopotamia
• it was bigger and bolder than Eridu

Question 10

what were the characteristics of Ur?

Answer 10

• it had a protective wall
• it was surrounded by water and they used that as a source of transportation and trade

Question 11

Theocratic Urbanism

Answer 11

• theocracy is a form of goverment in which the deity is seen as the civil ruler
• so as the city developed, agriculture alone was not enough to motivate people to irrigate water and farm at a large scale
• each city in mesopotamia followed a deity who was thought to be a patron or protector of the city.

Question 12

who was the goddess of grain in mesopotamia?

Answer 12

Ezina and Ashnan

Question 13

temples

Answer 13

• temples were very important structures that emerged in mesopotamia
• it was a place of worship; each temple was deticated to a specific deity.

Question 14

Temple in Sumerian

Answer 14

• the sumerian launguage had no term for the word “temple” so they used to call it “house or big house”

Question 15

Temple of Eridu

Answer 15

• ( 3,500 BCE )
• it was the first temple built in Eridu
• it had a small space with just an alter and oven inside, hower later on they made it bigger.

Question 16

Temple of Ur ( ziggurat )

Answer 16

• ( 2,000 )
• is in the center of Ur
• its made of mud bricks but later on was painted too
• it also had a wall around it
• it resembles mountains as a way of getting closer to god

Question 17

whats the difference between the temple of Eridu and the temple of Ur ( ziggurat )?

Answer 17

the difference between the temples, is that the the temple of Eridu was bulit in stages; it was small but got bigger later, but the temple of Ur (ziggurat) was planned from the begnning to be a big monumentel structure.

Question 18

tempele economy

Answer 18

The temples were first and foremost, economic centers in their respective communities. Any temple of even moderate size had to maintain a full-time staff. This required regular and reliable sources of income. There were, of course, the offerings of animals and other substances made by worshipers, but the temple economies did not rely on offerings alone. Temples of any significant size also controlled lands that produced crops. These economic activities required a system of bookkeeping, and the ancient Sumerians developed a rather impressive system of accounting.

Question 19

Epic of Gilgamesh

Answer 19

• is a story that was in the 3rd millennium BCE
• it was about a man in a forest that did not know anything about farming or land
• and he was not allowed in the city of Eridu
• he later on learned how to farm and form civilization
• the story depicts how civilization started

Question 20

Votive figures

Answer 20

• ( 2,750 ) BCE
• votive figures are created as a devotional offering to the deity

Question 21

Head of an Akkadian Ruler

Answer 21

• ( 2,250 - 2,220) BCE
• this sculpture is one of the earliest human representation ; it depcits the head of an akkadian ruler

Question 22

what are the characteristics of “head of the Akkadian ruler”

Answer 22

• naturlistic
• non abstract
• eyebrows are lifted up
• it was made of copper alloy
• and its around 36.5 cm

Question 23

Clay Tablets

Answer 23

• ( 3,100) BCE
• the first writing system that emerged in the uruk period in mesopotamia
• it was signs / writing of numbers and animals on clay tablets
• and writing became a technology of exchange
• and across the years the signs become easier and more abstract

Question 24

” head of the akkadian ruler “ context

Answer 24

• it was made during the akkadian period
• it was found in Iraq
• and its currently in the musem of Baghdad

Question 25

Cuneiform

Answer 25

• the Cuneiform was developed in mesopotamia
• its a wedge-shaped stylus that used to carve inscription on the clay tablets

Question 26

Façade

Answer 26

any exterior vertical face building, usally the front side

Question 27

Irrigation

Answer 27

controls where the water goes; they engineered and figured out how to used water to their advantage

Question 28

The City by Michael Heizer

Answer 28

• 2022
• this is an example of landscape art
• this art work is in Nevada USA
• the artist worked on it for 50 years
• the artist was inspired by the pyrimads and the temples in mesopotamia
• What makes it seem like a city:
  o Feels monumental
  o Inward facing
  o Has pathways
  o Large scale
  o System
• How is not habitable:
  o Lacks resources and infrastructure
  Topography is unusual/inconvenient.