In this article we bring you relevant information about the mesopotamian art. Also, what is the origin of the Sumerian civilization and how it was enhancing its culture through the study and Mesopotamian art? Keep reading and find out more!
Mesopotamian art
Mesopotamian art refers to a region or locality located in the Middle East and situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This is why the word Mesopotamia, translated into Spanish, means "the land between two rivers." This territory extends throughout the area between both rivers, boasting very fertile lands and coinciding with non-desert areas found in present-day Iraq. Although the term Mesopotamia was used in ancient times.
Therefore, it is important to emphasize that Mesopotamian art is a geographical and chronological division of the city during the ancient age, since many cultures make reference to the artistic expressions that occurred in Mesopotamia. From the Neolithic period, located in the 539th century BC, until the fall of Babylon to the Persians in XNUMX BC.
Throughout this period, several civilizations developed, such as the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian (or Chaldean), Kassite, Hurrian (Mittani), and Assyrian (Assyrian art). After thousands of years, Lower and Upper Mesopotamia dominated the entire region. Until the Persian Empire began to form, which enjoyed a far superior spatial order than both Alexander the Great's Empire and Hellenism.
Mesopotamian art had several avenues of contact, even long before the Persian era. It also had connections with Roman and Hellenistic art. These avenues of contact were numerous, including diplomacy, trade, and warfare.
There was also a connection between Mesopotamian art and various civilizations that lived in the Ancient Near East, such as the arts of the Hittite civilization, the art of the Phoenician civilization and the art of the ancient civilization of Israel. Other civilizations that stood out at that time for their art and had connections with Mesopotamian art are the art of India, the art of Egypt, the art of the Levant of the Mediterranean and many areas of the Central Asian region.
In Mesopotamian art, there was a great endogenous cultural diffusion, as well as the use of various materials and artistic techniques for the development of different works of art, for which it contributed to many scientific advances, which highlight the potters' ovens that were more efficient and then it gave way to the design of glazed ceramic kilns and metallurgy kilns.
Among the social and cultural advances of Mesopotamian society was the birth of a society dedicated to writing and religions, institutions were created that were governed by the government that directed the city. Many art specialists have come to affirm that a very complex civilization.
Much Mesopotamian art is preserved today, but it is a topic that has caused much controversy because many archaeologists and orientalists since the beginning of the 19th century, took the most valuable pieces of Mesopotamian art to different museums on the European continent and in the United States.
That is why there are currently collections of Mesopotamian art in several European museums, including the British Museum in London, the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
While current discoveries of Mesopotamian art have directed the works toward the National Museum of Iraq, the ongoing war in that country has led to the deterioration and looting of existing pieces, which are valued at no less than 10 US dollars.
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History of Mesopotamia
In the civilization of the Mesopotamia region between 6000 and 5000 BC, livestock and agriculture dominated, marking the beginning of the Neolithic period, where new production strategies developed in the early Neolithic era were implemented.
These strategies were developed and spread throughout the region, among which Lower Mesopotamia stands out, resulting in many cities developing more than others, among which the cities of Buqras, Umm Dabaghiyah and Yarim stand out, and then the cities of Tell es-Sawwan and Choga Mami developed, giving way to a new culture that was called Umm Dabaghiyah.
This culture was later replaced by the Hassuna-Samarra cultures, located between 5600 BC and 5000 BC, and the Halaf culture emerged between 5600 BC and 4000 BC. Over time, writing began to be used in Mesopotamia around 3000 BC. However, its main purpose was to keep administrative accounts for the community.
The earliest writings found by archaeologists were made of clay, a common form of clay in Mesopotamia. The writing consisted of several line drawings known as pictograms.
Urban civilization in the Mesopotamian region continued to make technological advances during the Obeid period, which lasted from 5000 BC to 3700 BC. These technological advances focused on new developments in the Mesopotamian art of pottery and irrigation. The first urban temples for the worship of the gods also began to be built.
Once the Obeid period ended, the Uruk period began. During this period, urban civilization in Mesopotamia began to take hold in the region, achieving major technical advances such as the wheel and calculus. Calculations were recorded on clay tablets to keep records. These would be the first representations of writing in Mesopotamia.
The Sumerians
In the year 3000 BC, the Sumerian civilization began to develop several cities in the lower part of Mesopotamia, including Eridu, Ur, Ea, Uma, Kish, Lagash and Uruk, which were also known as city states.
The main economy and source of food for these cities was based on irrigation. These cities were ruled by an absolute king, who held a position known as vicar. This was because he had the power to communicate with the gods and protect the cities from various natural hazards.
In the history of the Sumerians, it stands out that it was a civilization in cuneiform writing and they built great temples for the worship of their gods, which meant a great advance in Mesopotamian art.
The Archaic Dynasty Period
While the Uruk civilization that lived in the region of Mesopotamia was acquiring great advances in Mesopotamian culture and art, it was giving birth to the Sumerian culture. Because many of the techniques that were used in Mesopotamian irrigation, economy and art were being used in various cities and in the new territories that were being occupied in the other regions of Mesopotamia.
Many of the new cities are going to stand out because they built walls. But the studies carried out by archaeologists have described that they were raised by the various wars that took place at that time. It also highlights writing as a Mesopotamian art, since it was used in the administrative area, as in the technique to write dedications on the statues that they offer to their gods.
It's worth noting that many Sumerian royal lists exist. However, this history is poorly documented and largely unknown. Many kingdoms had dates that were impossible to determine, and in the 17th century BC, kings began compiling royal lists, as these monarchs desired to know their lineage from epic times.
That's why many of the kings of the Archaic dynasty may be real, but many others are not; they were invented by other kings, and there is no historical evidence that they existed, and there are no physical figures of these kings.
The Akkadian Empire
Around the same year, 3000 BC, the Semitic civilization was known as a nomadic people inhabiting the Arabian Peninsula. They spread northward to found new civilizations, such as the Amorites, the Phoenicians, the Israelites, and the Arameans. In the Mesopotamian region, the Semitic peoples had the greatest influence, the Akkadians.
During the year 2350 BC, a king known as Sargon I of Akkad, who was of Akkadian lineage, invaded the city of Kish and seized power. The first thing he did was found a new capital, which he named Agade, and this led to several battles to conquer all the Sumerian cities. He defeated the king of these cities, known as Lugalzagesi.
All this was known as the first empire in the history of the world and would be led by the successors of Sargon who had to face the continuous revolts that were carried out to overthrow the Empire. Among the kings who stood out the most was his grandson and conqueror Naram-Sin. It was a period where the culture of the Sumerians declined and the culture of the Akkadians rose.
But in 2220 BC, the Empire collapsed due to the numerous revolts they had to face and the nomadic invasions of the Amorites and Gutians. When the empire fell, the entire region was dominated by these tribes. They promoted their culture and art to the various city-states of Mesopotamia. The main city of Agade was most affected, as its entire surroundings were destroyed.
The Sumerian chronicles dating from that period describe these events as very negative for society as a group of barbarians and mountain dragons that came to the city to destroy everything in their path. But some archaeologists have shown that this fact was not so bad, because in several cities there was a great flourishing in Mesopotamian culture and art.
A very clear example of this fact occurred in the city known as Lagash, during the reign of ruler Gudea, who emphasized Mesopotamian art, elevating its quality since the works that were made in this city of Lagash had very high-quality materials and came from distant cities such as Lebanon or diorite, gold and carnelian from the Indus Valley.
This characteristic leads archaeologists to believe that trade was not a factor, as transporting this material would have been very costly. Therefore, many people living in southern cities sought to buy their relatives' freedom in exchange for valuable materials for the development of the Mesopotamian economy and art. The cities of Uruk and Ur prospered greatly during the 7th and 2nd centuries, and their dynasty was highly respected.
The Sumerian Renaissance
The tablet found by researchers bears the name Utu-hegal, the king of the city of Uruk. He is listed in the year 2100 BC because he led his army to defeat the rulers of the city of Gutis in Sumerian territory. However, he failed to capitalize on this success, as he was soon dethroned by Ur-Nammu, the king of the city of Ur.
The city then became a dominant city throughout the Mesopotamian region during the Third Ur Dynasty. Although many specialists have called it the renaissance of Sumerian culture, the Sumerian Empire that emerged through this hegemony lasted as long as the empire of the Sargon dynasty.
After this, the theory of the unified Empire germinated in the region of Mesopotamia where the monarchs adapted to the system of government of the Akkadians who called themselves "the kings of Sumer and Acad" in the city Ur-Nammu where the kingdom will be in charge of the son Shulgi who faced the eastern kingdom of Elam and the nomadic tribes of the Zagros.
Later, his son Amar-Suen took power, followed by his brother Shu-Sin. This ended with Ibbi-Sin as the third king in succession to the throne of the Sumerian civilization. During this reign, however, the Amorite civilization, which originated in Arabia, grew stronger through technological and cultural advancements, until the last Sumerian empire in Mesopotamia fell in 2003 BC.
Then the culture that will predominate in the region of Mesopotamia will be that of the Babylonian civilization that inherited many characteristics and customs of the Sumerians.
The Amorite dynasty
When the hegemony of the city of Ur fell, this time the same history of darkness was not repeated for the population, since this stage was marked by an ascent of the dynasty of the Amorites who had greater culture and were more prepared to live in a better environment. civilization.
For the first 50 years of civilization, the Amorites lived in a city known as Isin, which they unsuccessfully attempted to establish throughout Mesopotamia. Then, in 1930 BC, the monarchs of the city of Larsa launched an invasion of other cities in the region, primarily targeting Elam and Diyala, and ultimately Ur.
However, this objective was not fully achieved, as it did not achieve complete dominance over the Mesopotamian region. It did, however, gain clear hegemony from the Paleo-Babylonian Empire of Hammurabi, but its hegemony fell between 1860 and 1803 BC when the city of Uruk, along with its army, decided to challenge the hegemonic power they had held due to the leadership they exercised throughout the region.
In the city of Elam, the Akkadian culture strengthened the kingdom of this city, which became increasingly involved in the politics of the Mesopotamian region.
While in the well-known northern Mesopotamia, stronger cities emerged that were reformed by trade and the economy that was practiced between the southern cities and that of Anatolia, where the kingdom of Assyria will stand out, which will expand throughout the territory until reaching the Mediterranean, led by the king of Shamshi-Adad I.
The paleobabylonian empire
According to the investigations carried out, Hammurabi came to the throne in the year 1792, where the city of Babylon was of little importance to the region of Mesopotamia. During that time the pharaoh will begin a policy of expansion throughout the region. In one of his first strategies was to liberate the city of Ur in the year 1786.
After facing his army and overthrowing the king of Larsa, known as Rim-Sin. He also seized control of the city of Uruk and of Isin. With the help of various armies that joined his cause. In the year 1762, he defeated the coalition that existed between the cities that were on the banks of the Tigris River.
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So that after a few years they decided to invade and conquer the city of Larsa after this maneuver the king could proclaim himself as the governor of the city of Sumer and Acard. This title had been used in the times when he led Sargon of Akkad. And it began to be used by each monarch who began to occupy the throne either by conquest or by succession. Throughout the region of Mesopotamia.
With the passage of time, the image of the monarchs became widespread, since the various conquests but also the use of a construction activity and maintenance of various irrigation systems and in the elaboration of a system of laws that had to be fulfilled as the well-known Hammurabi code.
In 1750 BC, King Hammurabi died, leaving his entire empire to his son Samsu-Iluna, who had to fight several battles against the Kassite nomads. This situation repeated itself several times until 1708 BC, during the reign of Abi-Eshuh. Many of the Kassite nomads' problems had multiplied.
This pressure was frequent throughout the 17th century BC and the empire was gradually weakened until the last attack by the Hittite king, Mursili I, established the empire, which fell under the power of the nomadic Kassites.
Characteristics of the History of Mesopotamian Art
To develop a bit of the history of Mesopotamian art, we must study the first studies and investigations that were carried out in the year 1786 by the well-known vicar and general Joseph de Beauchamps, who had to wait several years to be able to carry out the first real excavation in the Mesopotamia region.
Although these excavations were prompted by a French consul known as Paul Émile Botta, who was in the city of Motul, they focused on excavating the city of Tell Kuyunjik, but they were unsuccessful because they were located near the city of Nineveh. A villager suggested that they move the research and excavations further north of the city, where they found Mesopotamian art such as Syrian bas-reliefs.
This gave way to one of the most important early finds of Mesopotamian art that had only been named after the Bible. From that point on, various investigations and excavations began to find more evidence of Mesopotamian art and culture.
This also started a rivalry between the French and the English, as the English in their research managed to discover the beginning of Ashurbanipal's library, while the French managed to find the palace of Sargon II in Khorsabad.
But these discoveries met a sad end, as several works of Mesopotamian art, along with many cultural relics, were transported on a boat down the Tigris River. This vessel sank, and more than 230 crates of Mesopotamian material and art were lost at sea.
Then excavations began to be carried out in the south of the region in order to find more Mesopotamian art, with this they found the ruins of the cities of Uruk, Susa, Ur and Larsa. When the year 1875 arrived, evidence of the Sumerian civilization was found, as well as several works of Mesopotamian art.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a large number of remains of various statues belonging to Mesopotamian art were recovered from the city of Gudea. During this period, Americans and Germans began to take an interest in excavating to find Mesopotamian treasures and art to sell to various collectors interested in Mesopotamian art.
Culture in the Mesopotamia Region
Throughout the region of Mesopotamia, its culture and its Mesopotamian art was one of the pioneers in several branches of knowledge, one of the first characteristics was the development of cuneiform writing, since in principle it was very pictorial by which Mesopotamian art was developed. . In the field of law, the first codes of ethics were created.
While in architecture technology and innovation advanced and there were great advances such as the design of vaults and domes, they also had so much knowledge that they created a calendar that consisted of 12 months and 360 days a year. In the field of mathematics they had great mastery and certainty when using hexadecimal numbering.
Many of the characteristics of Mesopotamian art, as well as its culture, remain to be discovered and further studied. This was one of the civilizations that exerted great influence on several civilizations that were very close, and that is why it began to build and develop a Western culture.
Sciences Developed in Mesopotamian Art
One of the most widely used sciences in Mesopotamian art was mathematics, using hexadecimal numerals and, centuries later, the decimal numeral system. The first applications of the different numeral systems were in economics and trade.
They began to use mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to perform various mathematical calculations. At the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, their mathematics advanced to the point of using equations up to the third degree. They also knew a very approximate value for the number pi.
As well as the use of powers and roots in mathematical operations. Similarly, in the Mesopotamian region, they used calculus to determine volumes and surfaces in the main geometric figures.
The civilization also used astronomy to connect it with Mesopotamian art, as the Sumerians conducted studies and determined the existence of other planets and moving objects, as well as many stars. But the civilization that focused most on developing astronomy was the Babylonians, who had the ability and knowledge to predict phenomena in advance.
With this knowledge, the Babylonians adopted a very accurate lunar calendar, including a supplementary month to adjust it to the solar calendar. Among the various investigations that existed, several treatises on medicine and many lists of geology were found, containing various classifications of the different materials they discovered.
Literature Related to Mesopotamian Art
Before there was a strict development of literature with the written language that was widely used to write down the different transactions that were carried out in the administrative area to run an organization in the commune. But over time they were giving another application to literature and writing since it was related to Mesopotamian art.
Writing was used to record and explain the various events, catastrophes, myths, and legends that occurred in Mesopotamian civilization, and all these vicissitudes became intertwined with Mesopotamian culture and art. Therefore, it is important to highlight that Sumerian literature encompassed three major themes in Mesopotamian art: lamentations, myths, and hymns.
Of these, the hymns were composed of different stories recounting the distinct characteristics of the Mesopotamian gods, among whom Enlil, the father god and progenitor of the other gods, stood out; the goddess Inanna, who was known as the goddess of love and friendship. But when angered, she was considered the goddess of war.
Also featured was the freshwater god Enki, who was constantly at odds with the mountain goddess Ninhursag. All of these hymns were part of Mesopotamian culture and art. Hymns were used to sing praise and ceremonies to the gods and kings in the various cities and temples of Mesopotamia.
Lamentations were used as Mesopotamian art to recount the accidents and catastrophes that were happening throughout the Mesopotamia region and record everything that happened.
Many of these stories are based on events that occurred, such as wars or natural phenomena like floods, or the impressive construction of temples or statues for a specific god or king that were distorted over time. This is why literature is a Mesopotamian art, as it was based on various poems.
The Religion Practiced in Mesopotamia
It should be noted that throughout the Mesopotamian region, the religion practiced was polytheistic, since each city worshipped its main god and a set of minor gods, although there were common gods worshipped by the population for their characteristics. The main gods worshipped in the Mesopotamian region were:
- Anu: god of the sky and father of the gods.
- Enki: god of the Earth
- Nannar: God of the Moon
- Utu: god of the Sun (around 5000 BC he was called Ninurta).
- Inanna: goddess Venus
- Ea: creator of men
- Enlil: god of the wind.
This was a major influence and support for Mesopotamian culture and art. It is therefore important to note that in the 17th century BC, King Hammurabi decided to unify the entire region of Mesopotamia into a single state. He established the city of Babylon as the capital and center of Mesopotamian economy, culture, and art. He placed the god Marduk as the principal god of worship and adoration throughout the Mesopotamian region.
This god held great responsibility in the civilization of Mesopotamia since he was in charge of reestablishing the great celestial order that meant making the land emerge from the sea and carving the body of humans similar to that of the gods and being able to distribute the domains of the universe between all of them.
An important point to highlight in Mesopotamian art based on religion was that the gods were related to different jobs that they carried out in civilization such as livestock, clothing, writing, among many other activities. This gave way to religion being very broad throughout the Mesopotamian region and for many people of that time and today it is very interesting and is an object of study as religion, culture and as Mesopotamian art.
In the region of Mesopotamia, since it was located between two rivers, its land was very fertile, which is why the civilization that occurred in that territory became nomadic peoples who came there to become farmers and ranchers, developing their own culture and Mesopotamian art that has surprised many people throughout history for its different styles and forms that they applied.
For all this, it can be highlighted that Mesopotamian art has enough unity in terms of its intentionality of everything it has meant and has resulted in a rigid, geometric and very closed style of art. Since Mesopotamian art will stand out for its practice and use and not for its aesthetics since it has always been developing to fulfill a service with Mesopotamian society.
The Sculpture that was Practiced in Mesopotamia
In Mesopotamian art, one of the most practical artistic techniques was sculpture, as many artisans made representations of gods, kings, and various government officials, always emphasizing individualized figures, almost always named after the person for whom they were making the sculpture.
One of the most notable characteristics of sculpture as a Mesopotamian art is that the statue sought to replace the person rather than make a representation of it, since it had features that stood out from the person, such as the face and head, which were disproportionate to the normal figure of the person.
At that time, what was known as conceptual realism developed in Mesopotamian art. This consisted of simplifying and regularizing the forms of the human body through the use of a technique called the law of frontality, which was based on making sculptures so that their left and right sides were symmetrical.
Many of the sculptures were developed in a kind of geometric cylinder very similar to a cone. Therefore, the various representations made did not fit with the reality of life. Many artisans began to make sculptures of the animals they worshipped that were more realistic than the sculptures of people.
Many themes that were addressed in Mesopotamian art intended for sculpture were the creation of monumental bulls that were very realistic since they were very stabilized. These bulls represented fantastic monsters in Mesopotamian art, but they were also venerated as geniuses and protectors of Mesopotamian society and that had supernatural powers.
The main techniques used in Mesopotamian art were based on the use of monumental relief, parietal relief, stele, seal, and glazed brick relief. They also developed new ways of sculpting stone and developing stories on temple walls based on different drawings that are part of Mesopotamian art.
Sculptures in Mesopotamian art were made to scale with the realities of people, but the artist who executed the work of Mesopotamian art imprinted it with symbolism that made it stand out or gave it a meaning beyond what people of the same civilization could perceive. Therefore, sculptures in Mesopotamian art were the categories in which this vanished civilization of the Mesopotamian region stands out the most.
The model used to design different sculptures in Mesopotamian art was that the hands were always crossed on the chest, the head was shaved, and the figure's torso or back was either uncovered or covered with a type of cloak. The theme was based on the prominent figures in Mesopotamian civilization, as well as the power of faith and the expressions they displayed.
While other characteristics of sculpture in Mesopotamian art was the use of bas-relief that was used to narrate stories of military wars and the most shocking events that had to be narrated so that future society would know the events.
As well as the religious motifs that were performed to the different gods that were worshiped in society were the main characteristics of Mesopotamian art.
Painting in Mesopotamia
Painting in Mesopotamian art was not particularly prominent due to the characteristics of the Mesopotamian region, so very few works of art exist. However, the art produced in Mesopotamia is very similar to the art practiced in the Magdalenian period of prehistory. The technique used in the Mesopotamian region was the same as parietal relief. There was no perspective, and the works had a purely decorative purpose.
In the different paintings and engravings that the archaeologists found in the investigations carried out, a hierarchy of the paintings was shown according to the size of the people who were painted in the Mesopotamian work of art. Since those who had the highest position such as monarchs and high officials were painted larger than other people.
However, it should be noted that in Mesopotamian art, painting was used to decorate and embellish architecture, but it lacks perspective and is chromatically poor; only red, blue, and white are used, using the tempera technique appreciated in decorative mosaics and tiles. The most recurrent themes used in Mesopotamian art were highly realistic scenes of sacrifice, rituals, and wars.
Other paintings found from Mesopotamian art were paintings of animals, geometric figures, monsters and people with animal heads that were used for decoration in the different houses and temples and did not contain shadows.
Architecture in the Region of Mesopotamia
It should be noted that the architecture in Mesopotamia was very particular as Mesopotamian art due to all the resources and materials that were used, that several of the constructions were based on two basic systems which were the lintel and the vault.
Mesopotamian architecture was based on constructing mosaics with vibrant colors, including green, black, and two-tone, designed by the same artisans who created highly creative murals. Light came through the roof, as many temples lacked windows.
But in the Mesopotamian civilization, they were very concerned about what happened in earthly life and did not pay much attention to the world of the dead, so the buildings that were most represented were palaces and temples.
Therefore, temples were dedicated to many purposes, including politics, religion, and economics. These temples also had large areas of land for farming, and there were flocks of sheep and cattle. Some temples had warehouses and storehouses for storing various crops.
Of course, there were also workshops where utensils, bronze and copper statues, as well as ceramic statues that represented great cultural value in Mesopotamian art were made.
The priests of the different temples were the ones who organized the city's commerce, since they employed peasants, artisans and shepherds to sell the merchandise found in the temples and these people were paid with small plots of land for growing cereals, dates or wool.
Furthermore, the people known as ziggurats had houses with large rooms to accommodate people who came from nearby cities to exchange goods, thus boosting the city's economy. It should be noted that urban planning began to be regulated in several cities, one of the most important being Babylon and the city of Nebuchadnezzar II.
While their engineering works were notable for the network of canals they built to connect the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. This facilitated agriculture, irrigation, and navigation. The main features found in the monuments are:
The palace: since in Mesopotamian art there was no exact form of the palaces, but rather they were a series of buildings that had different sizes and were united by several corridors, corridors and galleries that were connected by large patios and with walls around for protection. from town.
Many of these palaces were designed in a quadrangular construction that had a very simple patio which received sunlight and ventilation and were raised by large brick terraces that could be reached by large ramps or stairs and had a drainage system. very well designed to protect itself from the different floods that were carried out by the flooding of the rivers.
Palace gates were designed with fine bronze leaves surrounded by statues of winged bulls with human heads, a very important feature of Mesopotamian art. Palace walls were decorated with frescoes on a lime base, clad with glazed bricks, which made Mesopotamian art stand out in a very fluid manner.
The walls: Cities in the Mesopotamian region were protected by large walls to protect against invasion. Furthermore, they were designed at right angles and were reinforced at intervals with square towers. Entrance to the cities had to be through the main entrance, which was heavily fortified and fairly secure.
In order to open the gates of the city, they were designed in the form of a vault with a large cannon in the middle and on the sides were placed large statues of winged bulls with human heads that were a very important feature of Mesopotamian culture and art.
The tombs: From the point of view of Mesopotamian art and architecture, the tombs did not have great interest in the population of Mesopotamia since they were designed as simple brick vaults which had several chambers, which had a small monument on the outside of each chamber. that represented some contribution to the deceased who were there.
While inside the tombs, various artifacts were found as gadgets of great importance in Mesopotamian culture and art. Since there was furniture as well as the dead bodies of ladies, musicians, servants, coachmen and guards who were immolated in groups that reveal that they had very rare funeral customs in these towns of the Mesopotamia region.
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