Ancient Mediterranean - Khan Academy

 TEST SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY, 11/4. It will cover Content Area 2 (Ancient Near East & Egyptian Art)   

MESOPOTAMIAN & PERSIAN ART
(Art of the Near East)
 
NEED TO KNOW DATES
Sumeria, 3000 BCE
Babylon, 1900 BCE
Persia, 539 BCE (ending with the razing of Persepolis by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE)

S.A.N.B.A.N.P.
(Sumerian, Akkadian, Neo-Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, Persian)


   KEY PERIODS 
* Sumerian Art: 300-2000 BCE
  * Akkadian Art: 2300-2150 BCE
  * Neo-Sumerian Art: 2150-2000 BCE
  * Babylonian Art: 2000-1750 BCE
  * Assyrian Art: 1200-612 BCE
  - Battle of Ninevah, 612 BCE (modern day Iraq) Babylon won thus resurrecting their former glory!
  * Neo-Babylonian Art: 612- 539 BCE
- Persian King, Cyrus, overthrows Babylon
  * Persian Art: 539-330 BCE
- Height of Persia ends at the razing of Persepolis by Alexander the Great.

KEY IDEAS 
  * Mudbricks are the main building block from soil deposits left by the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers
* Conventions of hierarchal 
* Early images often depict royalty and deities
* Figures and animals are depicted in profile or in twisted perspective
* New gods or guardian figures (Composite creatures)
* Assyrian lion reliefs are some of the first narratives in art history
* Invention of cuneiform - first wedge-shaped writing
* Nudity is a sign of debasement (lowering the status or quality)
* Constant political change and ruling groups
* The cosmos play a roll in in architecture and rituals.


  Characteristics of Sculpture
S: Size of sculpture increases - shows permanence of cities
S: Large scale reliefs within palaces
S: Stelai commemorating  the achievements of rulers
AK:  Deification of rulers
B: Stele of Hammurabi- new set of laws
AS: Rulers are portrayed as stoic
AS: Cuneiform takes a leap

 
  Characteristics of Architecture
  S: Architecture was created for religious purposes
B: World Wonder: Hanging Gardens
  H: Used stone blocks rather than baked mudbricks
P: Persepolis


  Student Resources
PowerPoint - Key Ideas - Key Ideas - Key Periods - Characteristics: Sculpture & Architecture
Map of the Fertile Crescent
  Artworks List - Vocabulary - Q card Images
* Crash Course: Mesopotamia
  * YouTube: Standard of Ur
* YouTube: Persepolis: The Richest Ancient City Under the Sun
  * Video of the excavation of Persepolis
* Code of Hammurabi's content and significance by the Louvre

Artwork List
1. White Temple and its ziggurat, Uruk
2. Sumerian Votive Offerings
3. The Standard of Ur
4. Code of Hammurabi
5. Lamassu
6. The Audience/Throne Hall (apandana) at the Citadel at Persepolis

Additions
7. Stele of Naram sin
8. Gudea of Lagash
9. Ishtar Gate

 
  Vocabulary
1. registers/friezes
2. lapiz lazuli
3. hierarchy of scale
4. votive offering
5. bent axis
6. cella
7. stele
8. apadana
9. column
10. capital
11. shaft
12. base
13. volutes
14. hypostyle hall

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Thank you so much to Lynn Wilkinson, Mary McConnell, Valerie Park and Martha Kunz for all their quidance and resources.

NEXT UP: ANCIENT EGYPT.

BACK TO CONTENT AREA 2 - ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN.