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25 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Uruk Vase
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* Vertically layered friezes
* Register=plain band circumnavigating vases * Bottom to top-water, crops in fields, domesticated animals, register, priests carrying supplies/food, register, and finally, a procession of supplies to be presented to the goddess, Inanna (Ishtar), connected to the goddess Venus * Made of alabaster, very heavy * Bundled reed pole is symbol of Inanna |
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Cylinder seals
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* Tiny seals
* Developed with writing * Seals actually sealed merchandise, products of goods * Inventory * Protection from crime * Served also as a receipt |
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Weld-Blundell Prism
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* Carved c. 1900
* List of Sumerian kings * Kingship descends from heaven * Passed on from city to city according to who is strongest * Legitimacy of ruler * Length of rules |
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Eannatum Mace Head
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* C. 2400-2250
* Found in Aruz * Inscription reads that Barakisumun, a servent of Eannatum, the king of Lagash and servent of Ningirsu, a deity, has dedicated this to his master * Imported stone * "Nin"=lord * "Girsu"=city in Mesopotamia * Ningirsu of E-ninnu * E= "house" * Image has two images, Barakisumun?, and an Imdugud, the symbol of Ningirsu * Imdugud-body of eagle, head of lion |
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Lugalkisalsi Foundation Figure
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* Placed under foundation of a building to describe why a building was erected
* Like a stake or peg * Bearded figure, very important * King of Uruk and Ur * C. 2400-2250, Early Dynastic IIIB * Limestone * Submissive gesture of hands * Dedicated to Nanna, goddess wife of deity An, the sky god * "Lugal" in Sumerian * Big Man |
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Tell Ashmar/Eshnunna Statuettes
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* Diyala region
* Statuettes found in temple corner * Various sizes * All have their hands in pious positions * Carved limestone * Inlaid eyes of shell with black limestone pupils * Exaggerated eyes * Some are libation bearers * Between 59 and 72 cm * Early Dynastic II * Votive offerings considered to have a life of their own |
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Silver Vase of Entemena
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* Dedicated to Ningirsu
* c. 2400 BC * 35 cm * Silver * Found in Girsu * Important object due to silver being imported from Taurus Mtns, likely * The upper neck is inscribed with writing * The body is decorated with images of animals * The Imdugud symbol is on the body to indicate Ningirsu |
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Stele of Vultures
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* Found in Girsu
* 1.8 m * C. 2460 BC * Limestone * Commissioned by Eannatum, King of Lagash * Organized in registers * Earliest known war monument * Seven Fragments found * Entire background is text * Narrative: * Reverse: Eannatum leads Lagash into battle in a phalanx type formation, chariots are utilised, enemy bodies shown * Obverse: Ningirsu is huge and holds an Imdugud next to his wife Nanshe as the stand next to a battle net containing naked enemy soldiers. Below, Ningirsu drives a large Imdugud-ish driven chariot * Serves as a kind of treaty or cease-fire * Contains oaths sworn by Umma that they will not trespass the new boundary * Transgression=an act of war * Veiled in a disguise of religious sanctioned victory |
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Umma Gold Ornament for Shara
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* Dedicated by Bara'irnun, Queen of Umma
* Queen also dedicated a throne * Gold * 10 cm * Resplendent * Thus, the Queen is rich and has access to surplus resources for offerings * Ergo, offerings were very important and related to status * Possibly in a beard shape, clothing for the idol? * Maybe attached to throne * Vertical lines of text |
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Ur-Nanshe Wall Plaque
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* Limestone
* Hole in center, for peg? * 40 x 45 cm * From Girsu * Limestone was still coveted * Ur-Nansne * Ensi (king?) of Lagash depicted * Also, family members and officials * Ensi is depicted carrying a basket, as if a worker, to enhance his image * Political and social messages? * Inscription speaks of how Ur-Nansne built temples * Land of Dilhum referenced=Bahrain * Evidence for long distance trade |
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Gipar Wall Plaque
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* Ur
* EDIII * From a gipar, the residence of an entu, the priestess of the god Nanna of Ur * Often daughter of kings * Nanna sits, receiving libations * Fantastic headgear depicted * Nanna was the Moon God * Holiest deity/patron of Ur * Naked Priest is largest human and pours libation * Clothed females with head coverings behind the priest * Bottom section has more offerings, but at the gate of the temple * Synthesis of cult and political spheres |
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Royal Cemetery of Ur
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* Excavated by Leonard Woolley in 1920s
* 2000 burials over 500 years * 16 special, royal, tombs * Walled, fortified Ur did not exist yet * Located at southern part of the later wall on the periphery * Date to beginning of EDIIIA * Second half of third millennium * Most burials are simple pits * Special pits * All underground * One is c. 250 square meters * Many cylinder seals found and used to determine inhumed person * Kings and queens * Tomb of Queen Pu-abi * Servants buried with her in antechamber * Queen buried in small room with treasures * Servants committed suicide? |
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Standard of Ur
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* From PG 779
* Purpose unknown * Made with shell, lapis lazuli, red limestone * Set in bitumen, a sticky black substance * 20 x 47 cm * Three registers of scenes * Tapered box * No writing, just images * Front and back * Long processions * Found in the Tomb of Queen Pu-abi * Oxen and onagers pull chariots * Electrum= alloy of gold and silver * Registers depict post-battle and feasting * Showing off * Music shown |
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Lost Wax Process
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* No metals in Mesopotamia, but they have metallurgical techniques
* First, make the object out of wax * Around the wax, shape soft clay * Bake the clay * Take the casing and pour out the wax, while pouring in the metal. * 3D crafting * Used to make such things as a small yoke for onagers found in Pu-abi tomb |
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Great Death Pit
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Royal Cemetery of Ur
* 6 armed men * 68 more people * Women or girls * Grave number 1237 * Part of a royal tomb * Part of a choir * Based on the finding of three large lyres and harps in the corner * Decorated with mythological scenes of anthropomorphic animals * Casts poured by Woolley to recover the lyres |
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Ram Statue
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Royal Cemetery of Ur
* From grave 1237 * Ram upright next to a tree * Gold leaf tree * Lapis horns * Unknown purpose * Part of an altar? |
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Temple of Isharat Statuettes
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* Gypsum and steatite
* 1.14 m high * King, also calling himself surveyor of land, dedicates a statue to his god * Ur Nanshe Statuette * Chief singer for king of Mari * Master musician, religiously related * Sumerian name |
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Ebla
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* Near Aleppo
* Evidence of third millennium occupation * Palace G dated to 2400-2300 * About 20,000 m square * Called Sazaki by locals in contemporary texts * Language was Semitic * Archives discovered * Storage area for vessels and wooden furniture * Dais for a throne against a wall in a courtyard * Fancy staircase next to administrative quarter * Underground limestone rooms * Lapis lazuli found in large chunks near admin quarter * Ergo: * Craftsmen * Trade or connections * Early Dynastic seals found as well * Small gold and steatite human-bull hybrid, wooden core * Many small sculptures and statuettes * Jasper, limestone, steatite all used * Leopard limestone sculpture * Composite veiled woman sculpture of all three materials * Hair made of solid carvings, but could be from many materials * Archive dated to mid-24th century in EDIII * Economy * Flax seed * Barley * Olive trees |
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Sargon
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* Illegitimate ruler
* Was a cupbearer in Kish * Launches a coup in Kish * Conquers surrounding city-states * Image: * Copper alloy life sized head of an Akkadian ruler * Cast with lost wax casting * Hair bun in the back is familiar |
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Bassetki Statue
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* Naked lower body, seated, with object between legs
* 160kg * From Dohuk/Bassetki in northern Iraq * Dedicated to Naram-Sin, king of Akkad, who won nine battles "when the four corners together were hostile to him" * "Everyone asked him to be their god" * "They built a temple for him in the midst of Akkad" * Mythic heroic figure that holds a staff between his legs, probably a bearded figure * Long inscription in rectangular box beneath the figure on the circular cast artifact * Story of apotheosis * His own people declared him a god, sanctioned by the gods of each surrounding city * The king quelled a revolt * The text would be read by the religiously initiated |
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Akkadian POW Stele
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* Alabaster
* Multiple registers * Light color * Akkadian commanders on bottom register * Bearded, helmeted, post-battle and carrying loot * Theory that the combat took place in coastal Anatolia |
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Victory Stele
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* Found in Susa in SW Iran
* Ergo, it had already been looted once * Found by the Frogs in 1900 * Limestone * 2 meters * Originally in Sippar, Babylonia * Currently in Louvre * Looted in twelfth century * Naram Sin's name is not actually on the stele * Depiction * Mountain scene * Soldiers march up a mountain * Plenty KIA * A single tree signifies wooded areas * Zagros or Taurus Mountains * Akkadians Assaulting an incline * Naram Sin is a colossal figure at the top of the mountain in a horned helmet * Lack of organized registers * Solid use of a landscape * Three suns |
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Ur III
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* Founded by two brothers
* Um-hergal * Ur-Namma * The brothers conquer several city-states * Ur III period * Sumerian speaking state, socially and beaurocratically * Essentially as large as Akkad * Last slightly longer * Ur III is somewhat forgotten * Not as cool as the Akkadians * Tons of archives, state archives devoted to administration * Sumerian King Lists include Ur III * Core region was lower Mesopotamia, shockingly in Ur |
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Gudea
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* King of Girsu in Lagash
* Popular in Sumerian because he left many records * At least twenty Gudea statues * Baseline for late ED ruler * Gudea Cylinders A and B * Dreams? * Tells of the oracle of a water goddess who orders the building of a temple of Ningirsu * Extended religious poem * Gathering of many precious materials justified by the building of the temple * A week long festival is held in which slaves become the equals of citizens * Gudea Statue example from the Metropolitan in NYC * C. 2090 * Half a meter high * Gudea seated on a throne with clasped hands, headgear, clean shaven, and a robe with writing inscribed on it * Diorite * Super hard stone * Volcanic rock found in mountainous areas * Egypt loved diorite * Showing Gudea seated is new. Deities were usually seated. * Found in Girsu * The Gudea statues are similar and could be mistaken for one another |
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Ur-Nammu Stele
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* From Ur
* Ur III Dynasty * Ur had an inner citadel, including a ziggurat and the Royal Cemetary * Ziggurat and temples was made of mud brick, which still preserved fairly well * Nanna (Sumerian)/Sin (Semitic) was patron deity of Ur and the moon God * From 2100 * Found by Leonard Woolley of UPenn * Attributed to Ur-Namma * The center area of Ur is oriented with the corners of the citadel pointed toward the cardinal points * The Ur-Nammu Stele would have been found in the center of the central temple citadel area * The stele sat on a dais of mud brick, 5 x 3 meters * Height: 3.2 meters * Width: 1.52 meters * LARGE * Limestone * Divided into Registers * Did not preserve well * The Elamites smashed the stele in in ancient history * Best preserved royal monument from this period of history * Five registers * Top register * At the top of the highest register is the sun over a crescent * The crescent has the bott |
