The ancient near east Mesopotamia
The Ziggurat
Title: Ruins of the Anu Ziggurat and White Temple
Date: 3400–3200 BCE
Civilization: Sumerian
Stylistic period: early Mesopotamian
Link: http://www.barbuza.com/view.php
The royal tombs
Title: RECONSTRUCTION OF THE GREAT LYRE WITH BULL’S HEAD
Date: 2600–2500 BCE.
Civilization: Sumerian
Stylistic period: Early Mesopotamian
http://withart.visitphilly.com/artworks/lyre-with-bearded-bulls-head-and-inlaid-panel/
Ancient Egypt
Title: The Palette of Narmer
Date: 2950 BCE
Civilization: Egyptian
Stylistic period: Early Dynastic period
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/egypt-art/predynastic-old-kingdom/a/palette-of-king-narmer
Title: Karomama
Date: 945–715 BCE.
Civilization: Egyptian
Stylistic period: Latest Egyptian Art
https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/statue-karomama-divine-adoratrice-amun
The sculptures from the ancient near east also known as Mesopotamia and those from ancient Egypt share some similarities and differences in styles and purposes. They portray different religious, economic political and social periods during which they were made. They, therefore, face different purposes and are created using different or similar materials dependent on what was locally available in the area. Some sculptures were also made from imported materials showing their importance and significant or the purpose in the history, politics or religion of the time (Winter, 2010). The paper will discuss art from Mesopotamia namely the ziggurat and a tomb “the great lyre with the bullhead” while from Egypt in will focus on The Palette of Narmer from the early dynastic period and the Karomama form the late Egyptian art to portray works of art from different periods of time.
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The ancient Mesopotamia sculptures appear in a variety of styles that served various purposes and uses at the time of their construction and designing. In the Mesopotamia, art is as a result of the organization of the Sumerian city and states and the arrangement of the kingdoms and empires that later succeeded them (Evans, 2012). Warfare and congest of foreigners states were the main occupations of the Mesopotamians. They built their cities as fortresses adorned by public buildings well organized for protection from their enemies. Each city or state had a well-equipped and prepared army, the art served as ways of celebrating the army victories and ratifying treaties made with foreigners such that most of the artworks and sculptures were a display of their militia ability (Winter, 2010). Sumerian sculptures were mainly constructed using alabasters which exhibits various styles and consist of very expressive geometric forms of styles.
Egyptian sculptures can be mostly associated with temples and funeral tombs. The temples were built as resting place for divinity but were also consulted as oracles. Additionally, the sculptures also served as wall-reliefs, the capitals of columns, colossal figures guarding the pylons, and for long avenues of sphinxes. Temple walls acted as a display for the piety of the pharaohs showing their victories of battles with their enemies. The use of wooden beams vaults and arches was a common occurrence in the Egyptian art and some can be traced to Mesopotamia. However, their main difference was the marked by the little importance that Mesopotamians placed on building funerary artworks and instead focused on temples and palaces while Egyptians paid attention to tombs and temples (Evans, 2012).
The ziggurat is a square tower that houses a shrine on top and consists of several stepped floors.it was build using valuable and rich materials which include gold, cedar, alabasters, lapis lazuli and marble.it signifies the religious beliefs and rituals that the Mesopotamians believed and practiced in the early periods. The great lyre with bull’s head as one of the royal tombs in Mesopotamia was luxurious made up of high quality materials that is assumed to be commissioned by kings (Friedland et al…, 2015). The nature of the rich funerary objects that were used and sacrifices of both human and animals to accompany the dead shows the brutal customs and beliefs the Mesopotamians practiced. In Egypt the Karomama represents the sculptures of the late Egyptian art and made up of bronze. It was inlaid with gold silver electrum copper and glass which represents the discovery of more materials that could last longer and the recognition of women in the maintenance of their legacy and supremacy as queens. The palette of Narmer made in the early dynastic period represents unification of Egypt as it presents his reigns over both the upper and Lower Egypt.it represent the unity of cultures through unified beliefs in the upper and lower parts of Egypt with common and centralized leadership.
The Egyptian sculptures are a display of religious beliefs, political force, and social hierarchy. The sculptures depict scenes of economic activities such as hunting fishing and agricultural practices. They show a range of social activities such as the construction of pyramids, women performing domestic chores, engagement of children in sports wiling of the dead and artistic pursuits such as making of statues glass or metal wares. The political hierarchy is dominated by kinship and cosmic order (Friedland et al…, 2015). A symbol of crown represents kingship with different symbols to show the represents areas namely the upper, lower and unified Egypt. Socially the Egyptians during the early period were united in their reverence to the kings as gods and held into religious practices which influenced their cultural beliefs, norms, and values including attachment and respect towards funerary art and sculptures to depict the events of one life on earth.
In Mesopotamia, war, religion, and natural environment played a big role in shaping the art and sculptures. While some work was devoted to the celebration of military victories, religion came out as an important and impactful factor that shaped the art as many sculptures were dedicated to spiritual devotions and worship. However, Mesopotamia was vulnerable to political upheaval due to increase in wealth from agriculture and resources because it had few natural defenses making it easier to attack (Evans, 2012). The social aspect was dominated by agriculture where people engaged in agricultural activities to generate wealth and documented their events using the available material and later imported expensive which made the sculptures high quality more valuable and durable (Kuiper, 2011).
The Egyptian artwork were made using the variety of resources found in the Nile such as wood sycamore and sacred acacia, limestone from the banks, sandstone from the extensive quarries, red granite alabaster basalt and diorite found in the surrounding areas of the Nile. The Egyptian sculptors exhibited a unique set of skills in carving and added permanence especially on the statues such as the Palette of Narmer or the Karomama using granite basalt and diorite (Friedland et al…, 2015). The works especially statues and small figures functioned as substitutes of the body in tombs and as a fulfillment of the rituals and tradition required of them. Many were used as symbols representing the gods and architectural decorations in their royal buildings. Artwork in Mesopotamia function as a reminder of the great ancient artwork and inventions which form the ancient civilizations such as writing, discovery of the first wheel, and first cities long before the Egyptians built the pyramids (Kuiper, 2011). The works consisted of religious works with figures made in metal, some carved in wood while others were covered in silver gold shell or other materials.
The comparison between the artwork made of sculptures statues tombs and temples reveal the similarities and difference shared by the Egypt and Mesopotamia. They both paid attention to temples palaces and tombs but Egypt out of their high respect for their kings and rulers had more attachment to tombs and funerary artwork to celebrate their rulers and leaders which led to the construction of pyramids and many great symbols to remember them by. There existed differences in social, political and religious aspects with religion dominating most of their cultures from the early to the late kingdoms and histories.
References
Winter, I. J. (2010). On art in the ancient Near East . Leiden: Brill.
Evans, J. M. (2012). The lives of Sumerian sculpture: An archaeology of the early dynastic temple . New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kuiper, K. (2011). Mesopotamia: The world's earliest civilization . New York, NY: Britannica Educational Pub. In association with Rosen Educational Services.
Friedland, E. A., Sobocinski, M. G., & Gazda, E. K. (2015). The Oxford handbook of Roman sculpture. New York, NY: Oxford University Press
