The prefix meso originates from the Greek work, middle. Mesoamerican culture, as well as Mesopotamian, sprang up in the heart of their respective locations. Shared regional settlement is only one of the multiple similarities that these two early civilizations share. This essay will discuss not only the similarities of art and architecture, but also will discuss fundamental differences that occur.
The Olmec civilization thrived from c. 1500 BC to 400 BC, in the modern day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. Due to lack of archaeological evidence, the Olmec’s origin of ethnic identity is unknown. There is such a lack of knowledge that researchers still are unaware of the name this group of people referred to themselves as. The title Olmec …show more content…
For the Olmecs and the Sumerians, it was through a temple placed on man-made elevated structures. The elevated stature of these temples in both cultures is consistent with the widespread belief of the god’s residing in the sky. The elevations also increases The Sumerians built ziggurats, which are temple platforms constructed out of mud bricks. (Kleiner 33). The Olmecs similarly created a mound similarly out of local clay, where they placed a perishable shrine(Miller 35). The use of clay for both platforms is significant, due to the materials inevitable erosion from the elements, each culture still constructed these places of worship for their deities. This demonstrates how important the notion of a religion was to the culture. The White Temple and ziggurat of Uruk(Kleiner Fig 2-2) is forty feet above ground level, looking over the city center. The structure had several chambers, and waiting rooms where priests would wait for the gods’ to descend from the heavens. The stairway that leads up to the temple, but does not end at the front of the temple instead changing direction a few times, using a bent-axis plan, that is normal for the Sumerians temple structure(Kleiner 33). The Olmec’s structure is at La Venta, and is theorized to either be an homage to the Central Mexican volcano, or could simply be the erosion of a pyramid shaped platform(Miller Fig. 22). With either design, the elevation was used as a shrine. Unlike the Sumerians who used their temple as a place of worship and waiting, The Olmecs used theirs as an offering space, and perhaps a burial place. In the 1950a, archaeologists found burials under other structures in La Venta, but failed to excavate the main mound which is theorized to be the burial of one of the individuals portrayed on one of the colossal head sculptures of La Venta(Miller
The Olmec civilization thrived from c. 1500 BC to 400 BC, in the modern day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. Due to lack of archaeological evidence, the Olmec’s origin of ethnic identity is unknown. There is such a lack of knowledge that researchers still are unaware of the name this group of people referred to themselves as. The title Olmec …show more content…
For the Olmecs and the Sumerians, it was through a temple placed on man-made elevated structures. The elevated stature of these temples in both cultures is consistent with the widespread belief of the god’s residing in the sky. The elevations also increases The Sumerians built ziggurats, which are temple platforms constructed out of mud bricks. (Kleiner 33). The Olmecs similarly created a mound similarly out of local clay, where they placed a perishable shrine(Miller 35). The use of clay for both platforms is significant, due to the materials inevitable erosion from the elements, each culture still constructed these places of worship for their deities. This demonstrates how important the notion of a religion was to the culture. The White Temple and ziggurat of Uruk(Kleiner Fig 2-2) is forty feet above ground level, looking over the city center. The structure had several chambers, and waiting rooms where priests would wait for the gods’ to descend from the heavens. The stairway that leads up to the temple, but does not end at the front of the temple instead changing direction a few times, using a bent-axis plan, that is normal for the Sumerians temple structure(Kleiner 33). The Olmec’s structure is at La Venta, and is theorized to either be an homage to the Central Mexican volcano, or could simply be the erosion of a pyramid shaped platform(Miller Fig. 22). With either design, the elevation was used as a shrine. Unlike the Sumerians who used their temple as a place of worship and waiting, The Olmecs used theirs as an offering space, and perhaps a burial place. In the 1950a, archaeologists found burials under other structures in La Venta, but failed to excavate the main mound which is theorized to be the burial of one of the individuals portrayed on one of the colossal head sculptures of La Venta(Miller