Mesopotamian Art and Architecture

I

Introduction

Mesopotamian Art and Architecture, the art and architecture of the ancient Middle Eastern civilizations that developed in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers from prehistoric times but chiefly spanning the period from about 3500 bc to the 6th century bc. The lower parts of the Mesopotamian region encompassed a fertile plain, and it was here that the first cities of the ancient world developed, together with royalty and priesthood that each demanded imposing palaces and temples, decorated with wall paintings, inlays, bas-reliefs, and statues. The major basic building material in Mesopotamia was mudbrick, made from local clay. This clay also was used for their terracotta pottery and sculpture, and writing tablets. Few wooden artefacts have survived. 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 the finest sculpture and inlays. Stones of all kinds—including lapis lazuli, jasper, cornelian, alabaster, haematite, serpentine, and steatite—were used for cylinder seals. Stone was scarce in the region, however, and certain types had to be imported.

The art of Mesopotamia encompasses a 4,000-year tradition that, in style and iconography, is ostensibly homogeneous. It was in fact created and sustained by waves of invading peoples who differed ethnically and linguistically from one another. Each of these groups made its own contribution to the art of Mesopotamia until the Persian conquest in the 6th century bc. The first dominant people to control the region and shape its art were the Sumerians, a non-Semitic people, followed by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians, all of whom were Semitic. Just as Mesopotamian political control and artistic influences spread to neighbouring cultures, at times reaching as far as the Syro-Palestinian coast, so techniques and motifs from outlying areas had an impact on Mesopotamian centres. Moreover, as other peoples invaded the region, their art was shaped by native Mesopotamian traditions.

II

Prehistoric Period

The earliest traces of art and architecture known to date in Mesopotamia come from the proto-Neolithic site of Qermez Dere in the foothills of Jebel Sinjar, in northern Mesopotamia. Levels dating to the 9th millennium bc have revealed round sunken huts with one or two stone pillars rendered with plaster. When the buildings were abandoned, human skulls were placed on the floors, a practice that indicates some sort of ritual.

Mesopotamian art of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods (c. 7000-c. 3500 bc), before writing was fully developed, is designated by the names of archaeological sites: Hassuna, in the north, where houses and painted pottery were excavated; Samarra, where figurative and abstract designs on pottery may have had religious significance; and Tell Halaf, where seated female figures (presumed to be mother-goddesses) and painted pottery were made. In the south, the early ages are called Ubaid (c. 5500-c. 4000 bc) and early and middle Uruk (c. 4000-c. 3500 bc). Ubaid culture is also represented by dark-painted light pottery, the earliest of which is found at Ubaid; later examples are found at Ur, Uruk, Eridu, and Uqair. One of the earliest features in the long sequence of archaeological levels uncovered at Eridu is a small square sanctuary (c. 5500 bc); it had been rebuilt, incorporating a niche with a platform that could have supported a cult statue, and an offering table nearby. Subsequent temple structures built on top of it are more complex, with a central cella (sacred chamber) surrounded by small rooms with doorways; the exterior was decorated with elaborate niches and buttresses, typical features of Mesopotamian temples. Clay figures from the Ubaid period include a man from Eridu and, from Ur, a woman holding a child.

Artefacts from the late Uruk and Jamdat Nasr periods, also known as the Protoliterate period (c. 3500-2900 bc), have been found at several of the sites mentioned above. The major site was the city of Uruk, the biblical Erech and modern Warka, Iraq. The major building from level five at Uruk (c. 3500 bc) is the Limestone Temple; its superstructure has not survived, but limestone slabs on a layer of compacted earth show that it had niches and was monumental in size, measuring 76 by 30 m (250 by 99 ft). Some buildings from level four at Uruk were decorated with colourful cones set into the walls to form geometric patterns. Another decorative technique was whitewashing, as in the White Temple, so named after 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 12 m (40 ft) above the plain, on a high platform prefiguring the ziggurat—a stepped tower, the 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 communicate with the worshippers.

A few outstanding stone sculptures were unearthed at Uruk. The most beautiful is a white limestone head of a woman or goddess (c. 3500-3000 bc, Iraq Museum, Baghdad), with eyebrows, large open eyes, and a central parting in her hair, all intended for inlay. A tall alabaster vase (c. 3500-3000 bc, Iraq Museum) with horizontal bands, or registers, depicts a procession in the upper band, with a king presenting a basket of fruit to Inanna, goddess of fertility and love, or her priestess; naked priests bringing offerings in the central band; and in the bottom band a row of animals over a row of plants. In the late Uruk period, the cylinder seal was introduced, probably in close association with the first use of clay tablets. The cylinder remained the standard Mesopotamian seal shape for the following 3,000 years. These small engraved stones, used for personal identification in letters and documents, were rolled along soft, damp clay to create a continuous pattern or a ritual scene in miniature. The earliest seals display decorative motifs; bulls; priests or kings bringing offerings; animal husbandry, hunting, or boating scenes; architecture; and serpent-headed lions and other grotesque figures. Animals, imaginary or real, are depicted with great vitality, even when they are rendered in abstract form. The seal-cutter’s craft was as much an expression of Mesopotamian culture as were the monumental arts.

III

Early Dynastic Period

The first historical epoch of Sumerian dominance extended from about 3000 bc until about 2340 bc. While earlier architectural traditions continued, a new type of building was introduced; this was the temple oval, an enclosure with a central platform supporting a shrine. City states centring on such cities as Ur, Umma, Lagash (modern Al-Hiba), Kish, and Eshnunna (modern Tall al Asmar) were headed by governors or kings who were not considered divine. Many of the artefacts from this period are commemorative; plaques, frequently depicting banquet scenes, celebrate victories or the completion of a temple. These were often used as boundary stones, as was the limestone stele (Musée du Louvre, Paris) of King Eannatum from Lagash. In two registers on one side of the stele the king is depicted leading his army into battle; on the other side the god Ningirsu, symbolically represented as much larger than a human, holds the net containing the defeated enemy. The Standard of Ur (c. 2700 bc, British Museum, London), a wooden plaque inlaid with shell, schist, lapis lazuli, and pinkish stone, depicts processions and religious scenes arranged in three bands.

Mythological figures are the subjects of finely carved cylinder seals and metal sculpture. In a large copper relief from the temple at Ubaid (c. 2340 bc, British Museum, London), a lion-headed eagle with spread wings hovers over two heraldic stags. Half-man, half-bull images were prominent motifs, as were male heroes fighting with lions. Not all of the mythological beings can be identified. Elegantly crafted objects, such as crowns, daggers, vases, and decorative objects, have also been excavated. Many were found at the Royal Cemetery of Ur (c. 2600 bc) by Sir Leonard Woolley between 1926 and 1931. Two of the most beautiful are a pair of standing goats (University Museum, Philadelphia, and British Museum, London); their forelegs rest against a golden tree that has branches terminating in rosettes. The tree and goats’ heads and legs are covered with beaten gold; their bellies are made of beaten silver, their fleece of shells, and their beards, manes, and horns are carved from lapis lazuli.

Sumerian sculpture, usually of gypsum alabaster, displays a variety of styles, and the geometric forms can be very dramatic; it comprises figures of worshippers, either priests or rulers, a few of them female. Twelve such sculptures were found at the Temple of Abu at Tall al Asmar. These stone sculptures with clasped hands (c. 2750-c. 2600 bc, Iraq Museum; Oriental Institute, Chicago; and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) have huge, round staring eyes made of shell and black limestone. A seated alabaster male figure (c. 2400 bc, Musée du Louvre, Paris) from Mari is slightly more realistic. The architecture of Mari (Tell Hariri, Syria) from this period shows influences from areas west of Mesopotamia.

IV

Akkadian Period

The Semitic Akkadians gradually rose to power in the late 24th century bc; under Sargon I, called the Great (reigned c. 2335-2279 bc), they extended their rule over Sumer and united the whole of Mesopotamia. Little Akkadian art remains, but what has survived is endowed with technical mastery, great energy, and spirit. In the Akkadian cities of Sippar, Assur, Eshnuna, Tell Brak, and the capital at Akkad (still to be found), the palace became more important than the temple. A magnificent copper head from Nineveh (Iraq Museum), probably representing Naram-Sin (reigned c. 2255-2218 bc), Sargon’s grandson, emphasizes the nobility of these Akkadian kings, who took on a godlike aspect. Naram-Sin is also the subject of a skilfully executed sandstone stele (Musée du Louvre, Paris), which records one of his victories in the mountains. He wears a horned helmet symbolic of divinity, and, unlike the iconography of the Stele of Eannatum, here the deity is not credited with his military success. The celestial powers are merely hinted at by sun-stars over a mountain peak. The rhythmic movement of Naram-Sin’s triumphant army up the mountain, with the enemy falling downward, is perfectly adapted to the shape of the stone.

The most significant Akkadian innovations were those of the seal-cutters. The minimal space of each seal is filled with action: gods and heroes grapple with beasts, slay monsters, and drive chariots in processions. A new Akkadian theme, developed and continued in the following periods, was the presentation scene, in which an intermediary or a personal deity presents another figure behind him to a more important seated god. Some of the themes depicted on Akkadian seals have been identified in stories related in the Gilgamesh epic; many of them, however, have not been interpreted.