Ancient Near East Art Analysis

This chapter is about Art of the Ancient Near East. This is a period that began around 2254BCE when Akkadian ruled Naramsin. This period in time begins with cities such as Sumer, Akkad, Lagash, Babylon and Mari, Assyria, Neo-Babylonia, Anatolia, and ends with the Persia. The east in terms of art history is one of the most influential regions, because it had many civilizations, and each civilization had its own art. In Mesopotamia’s agriculture villages emerged around Asia minor and the ancient near east that were referred to as the Fertile Crescent. From this villages evolved into cities all over the north and south, along with social hierarchies, rulers and workers with specialized skills. The crescent rose along the Mediterranean coast through Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, and
The people of the ancient near East were polytheistic, meaning they worshiped several different Gods and Goddesses. The importance of deities came the creation of temples. These cities had temple complexes containing several different purposes such as: religious, administrative, and service buildings. The Art produced influenced by these broad political events. Trading and accounting had a large impact during this time as well. In terms of art, authority figures and concepts were carved into stone palates, the Stella of Naramisin being one of the first. Hammourabi’s achievements were a written legal code that listed the laws of his realm and the penalties for breaking them. He even ordered work to be executed in Egypt and transported to his capital. Suner: The Sumerians have been credited with many, first, inventing the wagon wheel and the plow casting objects in copper and bronze. Sumerians also created cuneiform writings, the greatest contribution to civilization. There for impressive creation however, was the Ziggurats. They also were the creators of the “cylinder seal or stamps as we know them today.