Analysis Of The Bull-Headed Lyre

Ancient Mesopotamia was home to many artistic and mechanical developments. This was due to the emerging civilizations in the fourth millennium BCE. Among these creations, archaeologists discovered musical instruments, which were carefully crafted by Sumerian artists. One of the most acclaimed artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia is the Bull-Headed Lyre. The discovery of the Bull-Headed Lyre has reinvented the way that history professionals evaluate early human civilization. Conducting a visual analysis of the Bull-Headed Lyre, evaluating its discovery, and analyzing its representation of wealth can generate conclusions about the people of Ur and the culture in which they lived. Dating back to ca. 2600-2400 BCE, There is a lot of meaning behind …show more content…
There are a series of four curved expression lines that are carved above each eye. The bull’s nostrils and chin are defined by the use of soft curved lines. These soft curved lines also are used to add depth to the bull’s ears. The beard and hair is textured with a repeated sequence of wavy lines, which connect to become a spiral towards the end of each section of the beard. Straight lines are also utilized to separate each register on the front of the sound …show more content…
The warm tones from the gold and the cool tones from the lapis lazuli compliment each other to create a visually appealing piece. The gold used to construct the bull’s head varies from a rich bronze tone in the darker areas to a white gold in the areas where the light is reflected. The lapis lazuli is a deep blue stone, which adds emphasis to the bull’s features. The lapis lazuli ranges from a black with a blue undertone, to a royal blue, all the way up the spectrum to a pale baby blue depending on the light. The panel on the front of the sound box is constructed of shell and lapis lazuli, however the lapis lazuli used for the panel was much darker than that used for the bull’s features. The space of the Bull-Headed Lyre is created through the use of the third dimension. The sculpture is very dimensional by utilizing, which can be visualized through the use of concave and convex regions within the bull’s face, specifically the nose and ears. The panel underneath the bullhead forms an acute angle with the ground underneath it. This creates negative space between the bull’s beard and the panel itself, which creates the illusion of the head protruding out from the sound box as if the sound box served as the body of the