Sumerian period (c. 4000–2270 BC) The rise of the
non-Semitic-speaking Sumerian culture spans a period of about two millennia, and saw the development of sophisticated artistic traditions, as well as the
invention of writing, first through pictographic signs, and then through
cuneiforms.
Pre-Dynastic period: Uruk (c. 4000 to 3100 BC) (centered on the area in yellow) and
Jemdet Nasr period (in brown). The Protoliterate or
Uruk period, named after the city of
Uruk in southern Mesopotamia, (ca. 4000 to 3100 BC) existed from the
protohistoric Chalcolithic to
Early Bronze Age period, following the
Ubaid period and succeeded by the
Jemdet Nasr period generally dated to 3100–2900 BC. It saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia, and the beginnings of
Sumerian civilization, and also the first "great creative age" of Mesopotamian art. Slightly earlier, the northern city of
Tell Brak, today in
Syria, also saw urbanization, and the development of a temple with regional significance. This is called the Eye Temple after the many "eye idols", in fact
votive offerings, found there, a type distinctive to this site. The stone
Tell Brak Head, 7 inches high, shows a simplified face; similar heads are in
gypsum. These were evidently fitted to bodies that have not survived, probably of wood. Like temples further south, the Eye Temple was decorated with cone mosaics made up of clay cylinders some four inches long, differently coloured to create simple patterns. Significant works from the southern cities in Sumer proper are the
Warka Vase and
Uruk Trough, with complex multi-figured scenes of humans and animals, and the
Mask of Warka. This is a more realistic head than the Tell Brak examples, like them made to top a wooden body; what survives of this is only the basic framework, to which coloured inlays, gold leaf hair, paint and jewellery were added. It could depict a temple goddess. Shells may have served as the whites of the eyes, and the lapis lazuli, a beautiful, blue semi-precious gemstone, may have formed the pupils. The
Guennol Lioness is an exceptionally powerful small figurine of a lion-headed monster, perhaps from the start of the next period. There are a number of stone or
alabaster vessels carved in deep
relief, and stone
friezes of animals, both designed for temples, where the vessels held offerings. Cylinder seals are already complex and very finely executed and, as later, seem to have been an influence on larger works. Animals shown are often representations of the gods, another continuing feature of Mesopotamian art. The end of the period, despite being a time of considerable economic expansion, saw a decline in the quality of art, perhaps as demand outstripped the supply of artists. Eye idol MET DP224749 (cropped).jpg|Eye idol; 3700–3500 BC; gypsum alabaster; 6.5 × 4.2 × 0.6 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Priest-king from Uruk, Mesopotamia, Iraq, c. 3000 BCE. The Iraq Museum.jpg|Sumerian dignitary, Uruk, circa 3300-3000 BCE. National Museum of Iraq. File:Warka_vase_(background_retouched).jpg|The original
Warka Vase, in the
National Museum of Iraq. It is one of the earliest surviving works of narrative
relief sculpture, dated to c. 3200–3000 BC. File:Rolzegel.JPG|Cylinder seal impression from Uruk, showing a "king-priest" in brimmed hat and long coat feeding the herd of goddess
Inanna, symbolized by two rams, framed by reed bundles as on the
Uruk Vase. Late Uruk period, 3300–3000 BC. A similar king-priest also appears standing on a ship. File:Warka_mask_(cropped).jpg|The
Mask of Warka; 3300–3000 BC; gypsum alabaster;
National Museum of Iraq (
Baghdad) File:Uruk period priest King circa 3300 BC.jpg|Sculpture of the ritually nude 'Priest-King', Late Uruk,
Louvre. File:Uruk3000BCE.jpg|Cylinder seal with
serpopards (monstrous lions) and lion-headed eagles; 4100–3000 BC;
jasper;
Louvre. This design was also adopted in
Egypt as a consequence of
Egypt-Mesopotamia relations. File:P1150884 Louvre Uruk III tablette écriture précunéiforme AO19936 rwk.jpg|Tablets with
proto-cuneiform pictographic characters, were used for noting commercial transactions (end of 4th millennium BC), Uruk III.
Early artistic exchanges with Egypt (c. 3500–3200 BC) Egypt–Mesopotamia relations seem to have developed from the 4th millennium BCE, starting in the
Uruk period for
Mesopotamia and the
Gerzean culture of pre-literate
Prehistoric Egypt (circa 3500–3200 BC). Influences can be seen in the
Pre-Dynastic Art of Ancient Egypt, in imported products, and also in the possible transfer of writing from Mesopotamia to Egypt, Distinctly Mesopotamian objects and art forms entered Egypt during this period, indicating exchanges and contacts. The designs that were emulated by Egyptian artists are numerous: the Uruk "priest-king" with his tunique and brimmed hat in the posture of the
Master of animals, the
serpopards or sepo-felines, winged griffins, snakes around rosettes, boats with high prows, all characteristic of Mesopotamian art of the
Late Uruk (Uruk IV, c. 3350–3200 BC) period. The same "Priest-King" in visible in several Mesopotamian works of art of the end of the Uruk period, such as the
Blau Monuments, cylinder seals and statues.
Pre-Dynastic period: Jemdet Nasr (3100–2900 BC) The
Jemdet Nasr Period covers the period from 3100 to 2900 BC. It is named after the
type site Tell Jemdet Nasr, where the assemblage typical for this period was first recognized. Its geographical distribution is limited to south-central Iraq. The culture of the proto-historical Jemdet Nasr period is a local development out of the preceding
Uruk period and continues into the
Early Dynastic I period. The period is characterized by splendidly painted
monochrome and
polychrome pottery, as well as the appearance of large proto-cuneiform tablets, clearly going beyond the initial pictographic writing. Stone bowl, once inlaid with mother-of-pearl, red paste, and bitumen - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC06954.JPG|Djemdet Nasr stone bowl, once inlaid with mother-of-pearl, red paste, and bitumen. Cup with Nude Hero, Bulls and Lions, Tell Agrab, Shara Temple, Jamdat Nasr to Early Dynastic period, 3000-2600 BC, gypsum - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07461.JPG|Cup with Nude Hero, Bulls and Lions, Tell Agrab, Jamdat Nasr to Early Dynastic period, 3000–2600 BC. File:Stele of lion hunt, from Uruk, Iraq, 3000-2900 BCE. Iraq Museum.jpg|
Stele of lion hunt, Uruk, Iraq, 3000-2900 BC.
National Museum of Iraq File:Blau Monument British Museum 86260.jpg|The
Blau Monuments combine
proto-cuneiform characters and illustrations, 3100–2700 BC. British Museum.
Pre-Dynastic dress (4000-2700 BC): kilts and "net-dresses" The earliest type of dress attested in early
Sumerian art is not the
kaunakes, but rather a sort of
kilt or "net dress" which is quite closely fitting the lower body, while the upper body remains bare. File:Uruk_King_priest_feeding_the_sacred_herd.jpg|Cylinder seal from Uruk, with "net-dress", 3100 BC File:Blau_monuments_plaque_reverse.jpg|A "net dress" being worn on the
Blau Monuments (3000-2900 BC) File:Blau_Monuments_Priest_King.jpg|A kilt or "net-dress" on the
Blau Monuments (3000-2900 BC)
Early Dynastic period (2900–2350 BC) , king of
Uruk, c. 2380 BC. It reads: "For (goddess)
Namma, wife of (the god)
An, Lugalkisalsi, King of Uruk, King of Ur, erected this temple of Namma." The
Early Dynastic Period is generally dated to 2900–2350 BC. While continuing many earlier trends, its art is marked by an emphasis on figures of worshippers and priests making offerings, and social scenes of worship, war and court life. Copper becomes a significant medium for sculpture, probably despite most works having later being recycled for their metal. Few if any copper sculptures are as large as the
Tell al-'Ubaid Lintel, which is 2.59 metres wide and 1.07 metres high. Many masterpieces have also been found at the
Royal Cemetery at Ur (c. 2650 BC), including the two figures of a
Ram in a Thicket, the
Copper Bull and a bull's head on one of the
Lyres of Ur. The so-called
Standard of Ur, actually an inlaid box or set of panels of uncertain function, is finely inlaid with partly figurative designs. Major Discoveries of the
Early Dynastic Period were found through the excavations of Ur that took place between 1922 and 1934. These excavations were led by
C. Leonard Woolley in a collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania Museum and the British Museum. Although these excavations ranged across
Ur, the
Royal Cemetery led to many art discoveries. Sir Woolley notes that a major technical skill of the Sumerians was their development and knowledge of metal work. This element is carried throughout Woolley's discoveries ranging from a cast dagger to one of his most popular discoveries; The twin set of “
Rams in a Thicket” residing at The University of Pennsylvania Museum and The British Museum. Through Sir Woolley's discoveries we were able to understand more aspects of Ur than ever before, gaining more knowledge of daily life, architecture, art, government, and religion. This newly found understanding of Mesopotamia culture is found through Sir Woolley’s documentation of his excavations, writing ten volumes of
Ur Excavations in 1927 and many more books on his discoveries. These books were physical documentation serving as first hand sources of information on Ur and Mesopotamia, but also allowed for the distribution of his discoveries and widespread of Mesopotamian history. A group of 12 temple statues known as the
Tell Asmar Hoard, now split up, show gods, priests and donor worshippers at different sizes, but all in the same highly simplified style. All have greatly enlarged inlaid eyes, but the tallest figure, the main
cult image depicting the local god, has enormous eyes that give it a "fierce power". Later in the period this geometric style was replaced by a strongly contrasting one giving "a detailed rendering of the physical peculiarities of the subject"; "Instead of sharply contrasting, clearly articulated masses, we see fluid transitions and infinitely modulated surfaces". File:Reconstructed sumerian headgear necklaces british museum.JPG|Sumerian headgear necklaces. British museum. File:Raminathicket2.jpg|
Ram in a Thicket; 2600–2400 BC; gold, copper, shell, lapis lazuli and limestone; height: 45.7 cm; from the Royal Cemetery at Ur; British Museum File:Bull's head of the Queen's lyre from Pu-abi's grave PG 800, the Royal Cemetery at Ur, Southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. The British Museum, London..JPG|Bull's head from the Queen's Lyre from Pu-abi's grave, Ur, c. 2600 BC File:SumerianBulls.jpg|
Master of animals motif in a panel of the soundboard of the Ur harp File:Man carrying a box, possibly for offerings ca. 2900–2600 BCE Sumer.jpg|Man carrying a box, possibly for offerings. Metalwork, ca. 2900–2600 BC, Sumer.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. File:Stele of the vultures (war).jpg|Battle scene, with
phalanx led by King
Eannatum, on the
Stele of the Vultures, Early Dynastic III period, 2600–2350 BC File:Golden helmet of Meskalamdug in the British Museum.jpg|Gold helmet of
Meskalamdug, ruler of the
First Dynasty of Ur, circa 2500 BC, Early Dynastic period III. File:Ur-Nanshe.jpg|King
Ur-Nanshe, seated, wearing flounced skirt. Limestone, Early Dynastic III (2550–2500 BC). Found in Telloh (ancient city of Girsu).
Louvre Museum. File:Denis Bourez - British Museum, London (8747049029) (2).jpg|
Standard of Ur; 2600–2400 BC; shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli on wood; length: 49.5 cm; from the Royal Cemetery at Ur; British Museum File:Ring of Gold, Carnelian, Lapis Lazuli, Tello, ancient Girsu, mid-3rd millenium BC.jpg|Ring of Gold, Carnelian, Lapis Lazuli, Tello, ancient
Girsu, mid-3rd millennium BC. File:Flickr - Nic's events - British Museum with Cory and Mary, 6 Sep 2007 - 185.jpg|Cylinder-seal of the "lady" or "queen"
Puabi,
Royal Cemetery at Ur, c. 2600 BC;
British Museum File:Iku-Shamagan - Mari - Temple of Ninni-Zaza (front and side).jpg|Statue of
Iku-Shamagan king of
Mari, c.2500 BC.
National Museum of Damascus File:Sumerian Sheep Shell Plaque 27th BC.jpg|A Sumerian group of two separate shell inlay fragments forming the body and head of a sheep. Circa 27th - 24th Century BC. From a Mayfair gallery, London, UK.
Akkadian Empire period (c. 2271–2154 BC) ''; 2255–2220 BC; reddish sandstone with yellow patches (signs of having been burnt?); height: 200 cm, width: 150 cm;
Louvre The
Akkadian Empire was the first to control not only all Mesopotamia, but other territories in the
Levant, from about 2271 to 2154 BC. The Akkadians were not Sumerian, and spoke a
Semitic language. In art there was a great emphasis on the kings of the dynasty, alongside much that continued earlier Sumerian art. In large works and small ones such as seals, the degree of realism was considerably increased, but the seals show a "grim world of cruel conflict, of danger and uncertainty, a world in which man is subjected without appeal to the incomprehensible acts of distant and fearful divinities who he must serve but cannot love. This sombre mood ... remained characteristic of Mesopotamian art..."
King Naram-Sin's famous
Victory Stele depicts him as a god-king (symbolized by his horned headdress, typically reserved for deities) climbing a mountain above his soldiers, and his enemies, the defeated
Lullubi. Although the stele was broken off at the top when it was stolen and carried off by the
Elamite forces of
Shutruk-Nakhunte, it still strikingly reveals the pride, glory, and divinity of Naram-Sin. The stele seems to break from tradition by using successive diagonal tiers to communicate the story to viewers; however, the more traditional horizontal frames are visible on smaller broken pieces. It is tall, and made from pink
sandstone. From the same reign, the bare legs and lower torso of the copper
Bassetki Statue show an unprecedented level of realism, as does the imposing
bronze head of a bearded ruler (Louvre). There is deliberate damage on the left side of the face and eye, indicating that the bust was intentionally slashed at a later period to demonstrate political
iconoclasm. File:Sargon of Akkad (frontal).jpg|Bronze head of an Akkadian ruler, discovered in
Nineveh in 1931, presumably depicting either
Sargon of Akkad or Sargon's grandson
Naram-Sin. File:Bassetki Statue, Akkadian period, 23rd century BCE, from Bassetki, Iraq. Iraq Museum.jpg|The copper
Bassetki Statue File:P1050578 Louvre Obélisque de Manishtusu détail rwk.JPG|
Akkadian language inscription on the
obelisk of Manishtushu File:P1150890 Louvre stèle de victoire Akkad AO2678 rwk.jpg|Detail of a victory stele of Akkadian king
Rimush File:Sceau Ibni-sharrum impression.JPG|Seal impression with gods and
water buffaloes, thought to have been imported from the
Indus Valley civilization, an example of
Indus-Mesopotamia relations at the time. File:Cylinder seal and modern impression- bull-man combatting lion; nude hero combatting water buffalo; inscription MET DP109162.jpg|Cylinder seal and modern impression – bull-man combatting lion; nude hero combatting water buffalo; 2250–2150 BC;
albite; height: 3.4 cm, diameter: 2.3 cm;
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City) File:Nasiriyah Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, from Mesopotamia, Iraq, c. 2300 BCE. Iraq Museum.jpg|Naked captives, on the Nasiriyah stele of
Naram-Sin. File:Ishtar on an Akkadian seal.jpg|Goddess
Ishtar on an Akkadian Empire seal, 2350–2150 BC. She is equipped with weapons in her back, has a horned helmet, and is trampling a lion.
Neo-Sumerian period (c. 2112–2004 BC) After the fall of the Akkadian Empire, a local dynasty emerged in
Lagash.
Gudea, ruler of
Lagash (reign ca. 2144 to 2124 BC), was a great patron of new temples early in the period, and an unprecedented 26
statues of Gudea, mostly rather small, have survived from temples, beautifully executed, mostly in "costly and very hard
diorite" stone. These exude a confident serenity. The northern
Royal Palace of Mari produced a number of important objects from before about 1800 BC, including the
Statue of Iddi-Ilum, and the most extensive remains of
Mesopotamian palace frescos. and much religious art was rather self-consciously conservative, perhaps in a deliberate assertion of Sumerian values. The quality of execution is often lower than in preceding and later periods. Some "popular" works of art displayed realism and mouvement, such as the
statuette of a walking four-headed god from
Ishchali, attributed to the period between 2000 and 1600 BC. The
Burney Relief is an unusual, elaborate, and relatively large (20×15 inches)
terracotta plaque of a naked winged goddess with the feet of a bird of prey, and attendant owls and lions. It comes from the 18th or 19th century BC, and may also be moulded. Similar pieces, small statues or reliefs of deities, were made for altars in homes or small wayside shrines, and small moulded terracotta ones were probably available as souvenirs from temples. The
Investiture of Zimri-Lim, now in the
Louvre, is a large palace
fresco that is the outstanding survival of Mesopotamian wall-painting, although comparable schemes were probably common in palaces. After the death of Hammurabi, the first Babylonian dynasty lasted for another century and a half, but his empire quickly unravelled, and Babylon once more became a small state. The Amorite dynasty ended in 1595 BC, when Babylonia fell to the
Hittite king
Mursilis, after which the
Kassites took control. File:F0182 Louvre Code Hammourabi Bas-relief Sb8 rwk.jpg|
Hammurabi (standing), depicted as receiving his royal insignia from
Shamash (or possibly
Marduk). Hammurabi holds his hands over his mouth as a sign of prayer (relief on the upper part of the stele of
Hammurabi's code of laws). File:King Hammurabi raises his right arm in worship. Detail of a votive monument. Limestone. Circa 1792-1750 BCE. From Sippar, Iraq. The British Museum, London.jpg|Detail of a
limestone votive monument from Sippar, Iraq, dating to showing King Hammurabi raising his right arm in worship, now held in the
British Museum File:Worshipper Larsa Louvre AO15704.jpg|"The
Worshipper of Larsa", a votive statuette dedicated to the god
Amurru for
Hammurabi's life; circa 1760 BC; bronze and gold; 19 x 15 cm;
Louvre File:Cylinder seal,ca. 18th–17th century B.C. Babylonian.jpg|Cylinder seal, ca. 18th–17th century BC. Babylonia
Kassites (1600–1155 BC) The original homeland of the Kassites is not well-known, but appears to have been located in the
Zagros Mountains, in what is now the
Lorestan Province of
Iran. This was generally not a period of the highest quality for cylinder seal images; at different times the inscription took prominence over the image, and the variety of scenes shown reduced, with the "presentation scene" of a king before a god, or an official before a seated king, becoming the norm at times. Especially from the
Kassite period several stone
kudurru stelae survive, mostly taken up with inscriptions recording grants of land, boundary lines, and other official records, but often with figures and emblems of the gods or the king as well; a
land grant by Meli-Shipak II is an example. File:Kudurru_Melishipak_Louvre_Sb23_n02.jpg|
Kassite king
Meli-Shipak II on his throne on a
kudurru-Land grant to Ḫunnubat-Nanaya. The eight-pointed star was Inanna-Ishtar's most common symbol. Here it is shown alongside the
solar disk of her brother
Shamash (Sumerian Utu) and the
crescent moon of her father
Sin (Sumerian Nanna). File:Kudurru Louvre Sb31.jpg|Kassite
Kudurru stele of Kassite king
Marduk-apla-iddina I.
Louvre Museum. File:Cylinder seal of king Kirigalzu II Louvre Museum AOD 105.jpg|Cylinder seal of Kassite king
Kurigalzu II (c. 1332–1308 BC). Louvre Museum AOD 105 File:Kassite cylinder seal impression, ca. 16th–12th century BC.jpg|Kassite cylinder seal, ca. 16th–12th century BC.
Assyrian period (c. 1500 – 612 BC) An
Assyrian artistic style distinct from that of Babylonian art, which was the dominant contemporary art in Mesopotamia, began to emerge c. 1500 BC, well before their empire included
Sumer, and lasted until the fall of
Nineveh in 612 BC. s,
Nimrud The conquest of the whole of Mesopotamia and much surrounding territory by the
Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–609 BC) created a larger and wealthier state than the region had known before, and very grandiose art in palaces and public places, no doubt partly intended to match the splendour of the art of the neighbouring Egyptian empire. From around 879 BC the Assyrians developed a style of extremely large schemes of very finely detailed narrative low reliefs in stone or
gypsum alabaster, originally painted, for palaces. The precisely delineated reliefs concern royal affairs, chiefly hunting and war making. Predominance is given to animal forms, particularly horses and lions, which are magnificently represented in great detail. Human figures are comparatively rigid and static but are also minutely detailed, as in triumphal scenes of sieges, battles, and individual combat. Among the best known Assyrian reliefs are the famous
Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal scenes in alabaster, and the
Lachish reliefs showing a war campaign in the
Kingdom of Judah, both of which are of the 7th century BC, from Nineveh and now in the
British Museum. Reliefs were also carved
into rock faces, as at
Shikaft-e Gulgul, a style which the Persians continued. The Assyrians produced relatively little sculpture in the round, with the partial exception of colossal human-headed
lamassu guardian figures, with the bodies of lions or bulls, which are sculpted in high relief on two sides of a rectangular block, with the heads effectively in the round (and often also five legs, so that both views seem complete). These marked fortified royal gateways, an architectural form common throughout Asia Minor. A
single statue of a nude female is known. The Assyrian form of the
winged genie, winged spirits with bearded human heads seen in reliefs, influenced Ancient Greek art, which in its "
orientalizing period" added various winged mythological beasts including the
Chimera,
griffin and winged horses (
Pegasus) and men (
Talos). Many carry the
bucket and cone. Even before dominating the region the Assyrians had continued the cylinder seal tradition with designs which are often exceptionally energetic and refined. Large wooden gates throughout the period were strengthened and decorated with large horizontal metal bands, often decorated with reliefs, several of which have survived, such as the various
Balawat Gates. Other traditional types of art continued to be produced, and the Neo-Babylonians were very keen to stress their ancient heritage. Many sophisticated and finely carved seals survive. After Mesopotamia fell to the
Persian
Achaemenid Empire, which had much simpler artistic traditions, Mesopotamian art was, with
Ancient Greek art, the main influence on the cosmopolitan Achaemenid style that emerged, and many ancient elements were retained in the area even in the
Hellenistic art that succeeded the conquest of the region by
Alexander the Great. File:Detail, Nebuchadnezzar II's Building Inscription plaque of the Ishtar Gate, from Babylon, Iraq. 6th century BCE. Pergamon Museum.jpg|Detail of
Nebuchadnezzar II's Building Inscription plaque of the
Ishtar Gate, from
Babylon,
Iraq. 6th century BC. Pergamon Museum File:Head of a female MET DP-12499-003.jpg|Female head; circa 2000-1600 BC; ceramic; 18 x 12.7 cm;
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City) File:Pergamonmuseum Ishtartor 07.jpg|Facade of the Throne Room.
Babylon, coloured, glazed bricks. 604-562 BC. The Throne-Room was situated in the third courtyard complex of the royal palace. File:Black basalt monument of king Esarhaddon. It narrates Esarhaddon's restoration of Babylon. Circa 670 BCE. From Babylon, Mesopotamia, Iraq. The British Museum, London.jpg|Black basalt monument of king
Esarhaddon. It narrates Esarhaddon's restoration of
Babylon. Circa 670 BC. File:Cylinder seal,ca. 18th–17th century B.C. Babylonian.jpg|Cylinder seal with an impression; circa 18th–17th century BC;
hematite; 2.39 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Street in Babylon.jpg|A partial view of the ruins of
Babylon. File:Head MET ME1979 398.jpg|Male head; circa late 8th–early 7th century; ceramic; 12.5 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Ancient Remains in Babylon.jpg|Remains of brick structures in
Babylon File:Baylonianmaps.JPG|
Babylonian Map of the World, 6th century BC clay tablet ==Characteristics==