Head of an Akkadian King (Sargon ?)

2350 BCE
Bronze
Iraq National Museum, Baghdad, Iraq

Demonstrates lost wax broze casting technique

The Bull Lyre is one of three

excavated from the Royal Cemetery of Ur.

Each lyre had a different animal head protruding from the front of the sound box to denote its pitch.

The front panel demonstrates registers.

Bull capital

 from Persepolis,

 500 B.C. Louvre Museum, Paris.

Cuneiform script

is the earliest known writing system in the world.

A scribe used a wooden stylus to make wedge shapes in moist clay.The tablets were later sun baked for preservation.

Gudea was a ruler of the city of Lagash in Southern Mesopotamis who ruled c. 2144-2124 BCE.

Twenty-six statues of Gudea have been found so far during excavations of the city.

This is an example of a block statue.

The Ishtar Gate

One of the eight gates of the inner city of Babylon, was built during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (604- 562 BC).

Reconstructed and displayed at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

Jericho Heads

were found in the excavations of that city.

Human skulls were plasterd and decorated to look like the dead.

Lammasu Guardian

A (paired)set of monumental stone lammasu, or guardian figures, from the Northwest Palace of the Assyrian king ...

A unique feature is the five legs so the legs could be seen from all points of view.

There is a set in the Louvre and another in the Metropolitan Museum in NYC.

Guardian Lion, figures from the Lion Gate

(SW. entrance to the city fortifications), Hattusas, 14th-13th century B.C.E.; Anatolia (Turkey): Hittite

The royal lion hunt,

Assyrian low-releif sculpture, about 645-635 BC,

from Nineveh, North Palace.

Lion-hunting was a sport reserved for kings. These hunts were symbolic of the ruling monarch’s duty to protect and fight for his people.^[

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin

Susa Akkad period. Around 2230 BC

This stele demonstrates the importance of descriptive perspective - or a heirarchy of images.

Painted Beaker from Susa

This ceramic vessel is from Iran and dates from about 5000-4000 BC.

It demonstrates the use of colored slip to create surface decoration.

Persepolis

was was the ceremonial capital of the persian Empire during the Achaemenid dynasty. 

Seen here is the great apadama (audience hall) and the staircase decorated with releifs.

Carved Cylinder Seals

were used by scribes to authenticate cuneiform documents.

The Standard of Ur (peace side)

was found in the Royal cemetary at Ur.

The side seen here represents a peaceful and ordered society.

It is an examples of the use of registers to organize space.

Stele of Hamurrabi

shows hammurabi presenting the code of laws to the god Shamash.

The lower part is inscribed with the laws.

Sculpted vase, Uruk, c. 3500 – 3000 B.C..

Alabaster, 3 ft. high, Iraq Museum, bagdad

Used in fertility ceremonies.

Votive Statues from Tell Asmar

2900-2600 BCE.

Votive is an offering. these were placed on graves.

Similar characteristics including, costume, position. Most hold a cup. various sizes, carved gypsum and limestone.

Ziggurat

3200 -3000 B.C.E.

An example of a simple ziggurat is the White Temple of Uruk, in ancient Sumer. The ziggurat itself is the base on which the White Temple is set.