Sumerian ornaments. Sumerian culture. Other important deities

Art of Sumer (27-25 centuries BC)

At the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. the growth of class contradictions led to the formation of the first small slave states in Mesopotamia, in which the vestiges of the primitive communal system were still very strong. Initially, individual cities (with adjacent rural settlements), usually located at the sites of ancient temple centers. There were continuous wars between them for the possession of the main irrigation canals, for the seizure of the best lands, slaves and livestock.

The Sumerian city-states of Ur, Uruk, Lagash and others arose earlier than others in the south of Mesopotamia. economic reasons caused a tendency to merge into larger state entities which was usually carried out using military force. In the second half of the 3rd millennium, Akkad rose in the north, whose ruler, Sargon I, united under his rule most Mesopotamia, creating a single and powerful Sumerian-Akkadian kingdom. The royal power, which represented the interests of the slave-owning elite, especially since the time of Akkad, became despotic. The priesthood, which was one of the pillars of ancient Eastern despotism, developed a complex cult of the gods and deified the power of the king. A major role in the religion of the peoples of Mesopotamia was played by the worship of the forces of nature and remnants of the cult of animals. Gods were depicted as people, animals and fantastic creatures supernatural power: winged lions, bulls, etc.

During this period, the main features characteristic of the art of Mesopotamia of the early slave era were consolidated. The leading role was played by the architecture of palace buildings and temples, decorated with works of sculpture and painting. Due to the military nature of the Sumerian states, the architecture was of a fortress nature, as evidenced by the remains of numerous city buildings and defensive walls equipped with towers and well-fortified gates.

Main building material The buildings of Mesopotamia were made of raw brick, much less often burnt brick. The design feature of monumental architecture was going back to the 4th millennium BC. the use of artificially constructed platforms, which is explained, perhaps, by the need to isolate the building from the dampness of the soil, moistened by spills, and at the same time, probably, by the desire to make the building visible from all sides. Another characteristic feature, based on an equally ancient tradition, was broken line walls formed by projections. Windows, when they were made, were placed at the top of the wall and looked like narrow slits. The buildings were also illuminated through a doorway and a hole in the roof. The roofs were mostly flat, but there was also a vault. Residential buildings discovered during excavations in the south of Sumer had an internal open courtyard around which covered rooms were grouped. This layout, which corresponded to the climatic conditions of the country, formed the basis for the palace buildings of the southern Mesopotamia. In the northern part of Sumer, houses were discovered that, instead of an open courtyard, had a central room with a ceiling. Residential buildings were sometimes two-story, with blank walls facing the street, as is often the case to this day in eastern cities.

About the ancient temple architecture of Sumerian cities of the 3rd millennium BC. give an idea of ​​the ruins of the temple at El Obeid (2600 BC); dedicated to the goddess of fertility Nin-Khursag. According to the reconstruction (however, not indisputable), the temple stood on a high platform (area 32x25 m), made of tightly compacted clay. The walls of the platform and sanctuary, in accordance with the ancient Sumerian tradition, were dissected by vertical projections, but, in addition, the retaining walls of the platform were coated in the lower part with black bitumen, and whitewashed at the top and thus were also divided horizontally. A rhythm of vertical and horizontal sections was created, which was repeated on the walls of the sanctuary, but in a slightly different interpretation. Here the vertical division of the wall was cut horizontally by ribbons of friezes.

For the first time, round sculpture and relief were used to decorate the building. The lion statues on the sides of the entrance (the oldest gate sculpture) were made, like all other sculptural decorations of El Obeid, from wood covered with a layer of bitumen with hammered copper sheets. Inlaid eyes and protruding tongues made of colored stones gave these sculptures a bright, colorful appearance.

Along the wall, in the niches between the ledges, there were very expressive copper figures of walking bulls. Higher up, the surface of the wall was decorated with three friezes, located at some distance from one another: a high relief with images of lying bulls made of copper and two with a flat mosaic relief laid out of white mother-of-pearl on black slate plates. In this way, a color scheme was created that echoed the colors of the platforms. On one of the friezes, scenes of economic life were quite clearly depicted, possibly having cult significance, on the other - sacred birds and animals walking in a line.

The inlay technique was also used when making columns on the facade. Some of them were decorated with colored stones, mother-of-pearl and shells, others with metal plates attached to a wooden base with nails with colored heads.

The copper high relief placed above the entrance to the sanctuary, turning in places into a round sculpture, was executed with undoubted skill; it depicts a lion-headed eagle clawing deer. This composition, repeated with minor variations on a number of monuments of the mid-3rd millennium BC. (on a silver vase of the ruler Entemena, votive plates made of stone and bitumen, etc.), was apparently the emblem of the god Nin-Girsu. A feature of the relief is a very clear, symmetrical heraldic composition, which later became one of characteristic features Central Asian relief.

The Sumerians created the ziggurat - a unique type of religious building, which for thousands of years occupied a prominent place in the architecture of the cities of Western Asia. The ziggurat was erected at the temple of the main local deity and was a high stepped tower made of raw brick; at the top of the ziggurat there was a small structure that crowned the building - the so-called “home of god.”

The ziggurat in Uret, erected in the 22nd - 21st centuries BC, has been preserved better than others, rebuilt many times. (reconstruction). It consisted of three massive towers, built one above the other and forming wide, possibly landscaped terraces, connected by stairs. The lower part had a rectangular base 65x43 m, the walls reached 13 m in height. The total height of the building at one time reached 21 m (which is equal to a five-story building today). There was usually no interior space in a ziggurat, or it was reduced to a minimum, to one small room. The towers of the ziggurat of Ur were different colors: bottom - black, coated with bitumen, middle - red (the natural color of baked brick), top - white. On the upper terrace, where the “home of God” was located, religious mysteries took place; it may also have served as an observatory for the stargazer priests. Monumentality, which was achieved by massiveness, simplicity of shapes and volumes, as well as clarity of proportions, created the impression of grandeur and power and was a distinctive feature of ziggurat architecture. With its monumentality, the ziggurat is reminiscent of the pyramids of Egypt.

Plastic art of the mid-3rd millennium BC. characterized by the predominance of small sculpture, mainly for religious purposes; its execution is still quite primitive.

Despite the rather significant diversity that sculpture monuments of various local centers Ancient Sumer, two main groups can be distinguished - one associated with the south, the other with the north of the country.

The extreme south of Mesopotamia (the cities of Ur, Lagash, etc.) is characterized by almost complete indivisibility of the stone block and a very summary interpretation of the details. Squat figures with an almost absent neck, a beak-shaped nose and large eyes predominate. The body proportions are not respected. The sculptural monuments of the northern part of the southern Mesopotamia (the cities of Ashnunak, Khafaj, etc.) are distinguished by more elongated proportions, greater elaboration of details, and a desire for a naturalistically accurate representation of the external features of the model, albeit with greatly exaggerated eye sockets and excessively large noses.

Sumerian sculpture is expressive in its own way. Especially clearly it conveys the humiliated servility or tender piety, so characteristic mainly of the statues of praying people, which noble Sumerians dedicated to their gods. There were certain poses and gestures that had been established since ancient times, which can always be seen in reliefs and in round sculpture.

Greater perfection in Ancient Sumer metal-plastic differed from other types of artistic craft. This is evidenced by the well-preserved burial goods of the so-called “royal tombs” of the 27th - 26th centuries. BC, discovered in Ur. Finds in the tombs speak of class differentiation in Ur at this time and of a developed cult of the dead, associated with the custom of human sacrifices, which were widespread here. The luxurious utensils of the tombs were skillfully made of precious metals (gold and silver) and various stones (alabaster, lapis lazuli, obsidian, etc.). Among the finds of the “royal tombs”, a golden helmet of the finest work from the tomb of the ruler Meskalamdug, reproducing a wig with the smallest details intricate hairstyle. Very good is a golden dagger with a scabbard of fine filigree work from the same tomb and other objects that amaze with the variety of shapes and elegance of decoration. The goldsmiths' art in depicting animals reaches particular heights, as can be judged by the beautifully executed bull's head, which apparently adorned the soundboard of the harp. Generalized, but very faithfully, the artist conveyed the powerful, full of life bull's head; The swollen, seemingly fluttering nostrils of the animal are well emphasized. The head is inlaid: the eyes, beard and fur on the crown are made of lapis lazuli, the whites of the eyes are made of shells. The image is apparently associated with the cult of animals and with the image of the god Nannar, who was represented, judging by the descriptions of cuneiform texts, in the form of a “strong bull with an azure beard.”

In the tombs of Ur, examples of mosaic art were also found, among which the best is the so-called “standard” (as archaeologists called it): two oblong rectangular plates, fixed in an inclined position like a steep gable roof, made of wood covered with a layer of asphalt with pieces of lapis. azure (background) and shells (figures). This mosaic of lapis lazuli, shell and carnelian forms a colorful design. Divided into tiers according to the tradition already established by this time in Sumerian relief compositions, these plates convey pictures of battles and battles, tell about the triumph of the army of the city of Ur, about captured slaves and tribute, about the rejoicing of the victors. The theme of this “standard”, designed to glorify military activities rulers, reflects the military nature of the state.

The best example of the sculptural relief of Sumer is the stele of Eannatum, called the “Stela of the Vultures”. The monument was made in honor of the victory of Eannatum, the ruler of the city of Lagash (25th century BC) over the neighboring city of Umma. The stela is preserved in fragments, but they make it possible to determine the basic principles of the ancient Sumerian monumental relief. The image is divided by horizontal lines into belts, along which the composition is built. Separate, often multi-temporal episodes unfold in these zones and create a visual narrative of events. Usually the heads of all those depicted are at the same level. The exception is the images of the king and god, whose figures were always made on a much larger scale. This technique emphasized the difference in social status depicted and the leading figure of the composition stood out. The human figures are all exactly the same, they are static, their turn on the plane is conventional: the head and legs are turned in profile, while the eyes and shoulders are shown in front. It is possible that this interpretation is explained (as in Egyptian images) by the desire to show the human figure in such a way that it is perceived especially clearly. On the front side of the “Stela of the Vultures” a large figure of the supreme god of the city of Lagash is depicted, holding a net in which the enemies of Eannatum are caught. On the back of the stele, Eannatum is depicted at the head of his formidable army, walking over the corpses of defeated enemies. On one of the fragments of the stele, flying kites carry away the severed heads of enemy warriors. The inscription on the stele reveals the content of the images, describing the victory of the Lagash army and reporting that the defeated inhabitants of Umma pledged to pay tribute to the gods of Lagash.

Glyptic monuments, that is, carved stones - seals and amulets, are of great value for the history of art of the peoples of Western Asia. They often fill gaps caused by the absence of monuments monumental art, and allow us to more fully imagine artistic development art of Mesopotamia. Images on cylinder seals of Western Asia (I class="comment"> The usual form of seals of Western Asia is cylindrical, on the round surface of which artists easily placed multi-figure compositions.). They are often distinguished by great skill in execution. Made from various breeds stones, softer for the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. and harder ones (chalcedony, carnelian, hematite, etc.) for the end of the 3rd, as well as the 2nd and 1st millennia BC. extremely primitive instruments, these small works of art are sometimes true masterpieces.

Cylinder seals dating back to the time of Sumer are very diverse. Favorite subjects are mythological, most often associated with the very popular epic in Western Asia about Gilgamesh - a hero of invincible strength and unsurpassed courage. There are seals with images on the themes of the myth of the flood, the flight of the hero Etana on an eagle to the sky for the “grass of birth”, etc. Sumerian cylinder seals are characterized by a conventional, schematic representation of the figures of people and animals, an ornamental composition and the desire to fill the entire surface of the cylinder with an image . As in monumental reliefs, artists strictly adhere to the arrangement of figures, in which all heads are placed on the same level, which is why animals are often represented standing on hind legs. The motif of Gilgamesh’s fight against predatory animals that harmed livestock, often found on cylinders, reflects the vital interests of the ancient cattle breeders of Mesopotamia. The theme of the hero fighting with animals was very common in the glyptics of Western Asia and in subsequent times.

At the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. the growth of class contradictions led to the formation of the first small slave states in Mesopotamia, in which the vestiges of the primitive communal system were still very strong. Initially, such states became individual cities (with adjacent rural settlements), usually located in the sites of ancient temple centers. There were continuous wars between them for the possession of the main irrigation canals, for the seizure of the best lands, slaves and livestock.

Earlier than others, the Sumerian city-states of Ur, Uruk, Lagash and others arose in the south of Mesopotamia. Subsequently, economic reasons gave rise to a tendency to unite into larger state formations, which was usually accomplished with the help of military force. In the second half of the 3rd millennium, Akkad rose in the north, whose ruler, Sargon I, united most of Mesopotamia under his rule, creating a single and powerful Sumerian-Akkadian kingdom. The royal power, which represented the interests of the slave-owning elite, especially since the time of Akkad, became despotic. The priesthood, which was one of the pillars of ancient Eastern despotism, developed a complex cult of the gods and deified the power of the king. A major role in the religion of the peoples of Mesopotamia was played by the worship of the forces of nature and remnants of the cult of animals. The gods were depicted as people, animals and fantastic creatures of supernatural power: winged lions, bulls, etc.

During this period, the main features characteristic of the art of Mesopotamia of the early slave era were consolidated. The leading role was played by the architecture of palace buildings and temples, decorated with works of sculpture and painting. Due to the military nature of the Sumerian states, the architecture was of a fortress nature, as evidenced by the remains of numerous city buildings and defensive walls equipped with towers and well-fortified gates.

The main building material for buildings in Mesopotamia was raw brick, much less often baked brick. The design feature of monumental architecture was going back to the 4th millennium BC. the use of artificially constructed platforms, which is explained, perhaps, by the need to isolate the building from the dampness of the soil, moistened by spills, and at the same time, probably, by the desire to make the building visible from all sides. Another characteristic feature, based on an equally ancient tradition, was the broken line of the wall formed by the projections. Windows, when they were made, were placed at the top of the wall and looked like narrow slits. The buildings were also illuminated through a doorway and a hole in the roof. The roofs were mostly flat, but there was also a vault. Residential buildings discovered during excavations in the south of Sumer had an internal open courtyard around which covered rooms were grouped. This layout, which corresponded to the climatic conditions of the country, formed the basis for the palace buildings of the southern Mesopotamia. In the northern part of Sumer, houses were discovered that, instead of an open courtyard, had a central room with a ceiling. Residential buildings were sometimes two-story, with blank walls facing the street, as is often the case to this day in eastern cities.

About the ancient temple architecture of Sumerian cities of the 3rd millennium BC. give an idea of ​​the ruins of the temple at El Obeid (2600 BC); dedicated to the goddess of fertility Nin-Khursag. According to the reconstruction (however, not indisputable), the temple stood on a high platform (area 32x25 m), made of tightly compacted clay. The walls of the platform and sanctuary, in accordance with the ancient Sumerian tradition, were dissected by vertical projections, but, in addition, the retaining walls of the platform were coated in the lower part with black bitumen, and whitewashed at the top and thus were also divided horizontally. A rhythm of vertical and horizontal sections was created, which was repeated on the walls of the sanctuary, but in a slightly different interpretation. Here the vertical division of the wall was cut horizontally by ribbons of friezes.

For the first time, round sculpture and relief were used to decorate the building. The lion statues on the sides of the entrance (the oldest gate sculpture) were made, like all other sculptural decorations of El Obeid, from wood covered with a layer of bitumen with hammered copper sheets. Inlaid eyes and protruding tongues made of colored stones gave these sculptures a bright, colorful appearance.

Along the wall, in the niches between the ledges, there were very expressive copper figurines of walking bulls (ill. 16 a). Higher up, the surface of the wall was decorated with three friezes, located at some distance from one another: a high relief with images of lying bulls made of copper and two with a flat mosaic relief laid out of white mother-of-pearl on black slate plates. In this way, a color scheme was created that echoed the colors of the platforms. On one of the friezes, scenes of economic life were quite clearly depicted, possibly having cult significance (ill. 16 b), on the other - sacred birds and animals walking in a line.

The inlay technique was also used when making columns on the facade. Some of them were decorated with colored stones, mother-of-pearl and shells, others with metal plates attached to a wooden base with nails with colored heads.

The copper high relief placed above the entrance to the sanctuary, turning in places into a round sculpture, was executed with undoubted skill; it depicts a lion-headed eagle clawing deer (ill. 17 6). This composition, repeated with minor variations on a number of monuments of the mid-3rd millennium BC. (on a silver vase of the ruler Entemena, votive plates made of stone and bitumen, etc.), was apparently the emblem of the god Nin-Girsu. A feature of the relief is a very clear, symmetrical heraldic composition, which later became one of the characteristic features of the Western Asian relief.

The Sumerians created the ziggurat - a unique type of religious building, which for thousands of years occupied a prominent place in the architecture of the cities of Western Asia. The ziggurat was erected at the temple of the main local deity and was a high stepped tower made of raw brick; at the top of the ziggurat there was a small structure that crowned the building - the so-called “home of god.”

The ziggurat in Uret, erected in the 22nd - 21st centuries BC, has been preserved better than others, rebuilt many times. (reconstruction). It consisted of three massive towers, built one above the other and forming wide, possibly landscaped terraces, connected by stairs. The lower part had a rectangular base 65x43 m, the walls reached 13 m in height. The total height of the building at one time reached 21 m (which is equal to a five-story building today). There was usually no interior space in a ziggurat, or it was reduced to a minimum, to one small room. The towers of the ziggurat of Ur were of different colors: the lower one was black, coated with bitumen, the middle one was red (the natural color of baked brick), the upper one was white. On the upper terrace, where the “home of God” was located, religious mysteries took place; it may also have served as an observatory for the stargazer priests. Monumentality, which was achieved by massiveness, simplicity of shapes and volumes, as well as clarity of proportions, created the impression of grandeur and power and was a distinctive feature of ziggurat architecture. With its monumentality, the ziggurat is reminiscent of the pyramids of Egypt.

Plastic art of the mid-3rd millennium BC. characterized by the predominance of small sculpture, mainly for religious purposes; its execution is still quite primitive.

Despite the rather significant diversity represented by the sculpture monuments of various local centers of Ancient Sumer, two main groups can be distinguished - one associated with the south, the other with the north of the country.

The extreme south of Mesopotamia (the cities of Ur, Lagash, etc.) is characterized by almost complete indivisibility of the stone block and a very summary interpretation of the details. Squat figures with an almost absent neck, a beak-shaped nose and large eyes predominate. The proportions of the body are not observed (ill. 18). The sculptural monuments of the northern part of the southern Mesopotamia (the cities of Ashnunak, Khafaj, etc.) are distinguished by more elongated proportions, greater elaboration of details, and a desire for a naturalistically accurate representation of the external features of the model, albeit with greatly exaggerated eye sockets and excessively large noses.

Sumerian sculpture is expressive in its own way. Especially clearly it conveys the humiliated servility or tender piety, so characteristic mainly of the statues of praying people, which noble Sumerians dedicated to their gods. There were certain poses and gestures that had been established since ancient times, which can always be seen in reliefs and in round sculpture.

Metal-plastic and other types of artistic craft were distinguished by great perfection in Ancient Sumer. This is evidenced by the well-preserved burial goods of the so-called “royal tombs” of the 27th - 26th centuries. BC, discovered in Ur. Finds in the tombs speak of class differentiation in Ur at this time and of a developed cult of the dead, associated with the custom of human sacrifices, which were widespread here. The luxurious utensils of the tombs were skillfully made of precious metals (gold and silver) and various stones (alabaster, lapis lazuli, obsidian, etc.). Among the finds from the “royal tombs”, a golden helmet of the finest work from the tomb of the ruler Meskalamdug, reproducing a wig with the smallest details of an intricate hairstyle, stands out. Very good is a golden dagger with a scabbard of fine filigree work from the same tomb and other objects that amaze with the variety of shapes and elegance of decoration. The art of goldsmiths in depicting animals reaches particular heights, as can be judged by the beautifully executed bull’s head, which apparently adorned the soundboard of the harp (ill. 17 a). Generally, but very faithfully, the artist conveyed the powerful, full of life head of a bull; The swollen, seemingly fluttering nostrils of the animal are well emphasized. The head is inlaid: the eyes, beard and fur on the crown are made of lapis lazuli, the whites of the eyes are made of shells. The image is apparently associated with the cult of animals and with the image of the god Nannar, who was represented, judging by the descriptions of cuneiform texts, in the form of a “strong bull with an azure beard.”

In the tombs of Ur, examples of mosaic art were also found, among which the best is the so-called “standard” (as archaeologists called it): two oblong rectangular plates, fixed in an inclined position like a steep gable roof, made of wood covered with a layer of asphalt with pieces of lapis. azure (background) and shells (figures). This mosaic of lapis lazuli, shell and carnelian forms a colorful design. Divided into tiers according to the tradition already established by this time in Sumerian relief compositions, these plates convey pictures of battles and battles, tell about the triumph of the army of the city of Ur, about captured slaves and tribute, about the rejoicing of the victors. The theme of this “standard”, designed to glorify the military activities of the rulers, reflects the military nature of the state.

The best example of a sculptural relief from Sumer is the stele of Eannatum, called the “Stele of the Vultures” (ill. 19 a, 6). The monument was made in honor of the victory of Eannatum, the ruler of the city of Lagash (25th century BC) over the neighboring city of Umma. The stela is preserved in fragments, but they make it possible to determine the basic principles of the ancient Sumerian monumental relief. The image is divided by horizontal lines into belts, along which the composition is built. Separate, often multi-temporal episodes unfold in these zones and create a visual narrative of events. Usually the heads of all those depicted are at the same level. The exception is the images of the king and god, whose figures were always made on a much larger scale. This technique emphasized the difference in the social status of those depicted and highlighted the leading figure of the composition. The human figures are all exactly the same, they are static, their turn on the plane is conventional: the head and legs are turned in profile, while the eyes and shoulders are shown in front. It is possible that this interpretation is explained (as in Egyptian images) by the desire to show the human figure in such a way that it is perceived especially clearly. On the front side of the “Stela of the Vultures” a large figure of the supreme god of the city of Lagash is depicted, holding a net in which the enemies of Eannatum are caught. On the back of the stele, Eannatum is depicted at the head of his formidable army, walking over the corpses of defeated enemies. On one of the fragments of the stele, flying kites carry away the severed heads of enemy warriors. The inscription on the stele reveals the content of the images, describing the victory of the Lagash army and reporting that the defeated inhabitants of Umma pledged to pay tribute to the gods of Lagash.

Glyptic monuments, that is, carved stones - seals and amulets, are of great value for the history of art of the peoples of Western Asia. They often fill the gaps caused by the lack of monuments of monumental art, and allow us to more fully imagine the artistic development of the art of Mesopotamia. Images on cylinder seals of Western Asia (I class="comment"> The usual form of seals of Western Asia is cylindrical, on the round surface of which artists easily placed multi-figure compositions.). They are often distinguished by great skill in execution. Made from various types of stones, softer for the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. and harder ones (chalcedony, carnelian, hematite, etc.) for the end of the 3rd, as well as the 2nd and 1st millennia BC. extremely primitive instruments, these small works of art are sometimes true masterpieces.

Cylinder seals dating back to the time of Sumer are very diverse. Favorite subjects are mythological, most often associated with the very popular epic in Western Asia about Gilgamesh - a hero of invincible strength and unsurpassed courage. There are seals with images on the themes of the myth of the flood, the flight of the hero Etana on an eagle to the sky for the “grass of birth”, etc. Sumerian cylinder seals are characterized by a conventional, schematic representation of the figures of people and animals, an ornamental composition and the desire to fill the entire surface of the cylinder with an image . As in monumental reliefs, artists strictly adhere to the arrangement of figures, in which all heads are placed at the same level, which is why animals are often represented standing on their hind legs. The motif of Gilgamesh’s fight against predatory animals that harmed livestock, often found on cylinders, reflects the vital interests of the ancient cattle breeders of Mesopotamia. The theme of the hero fighting with animals was very common in the glyptics of Western Asia and in subsequent times.

Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia) is a region in the middle and lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in Western or Western Asia). One of the oldest centers of civilization.

Mesopotamia is the area only between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and Mesopotamia includes the territories adjacent to the rivers.

Both rivers are for Mesopotamia what the fertile Nile is for Egypt. From March to September they overflow, carrying powerful streams of water from the mountains, and moisten the ground dotted with artificial irrigation canals. Fabulous fertile lands Mesopotamia already in 4 thousand BC. were inhabited by various tribes.
Most of the inhabitants of the south were Sumerians, and the majority of the north were Akkadians. The Sumerian tribes came from the southern part Central Europe. They were not Aboriginal. The southern part of Mesopotamia was very swampy.
Mesopotamia was inhabited different peoples and was not protected from invasion by impassable sands, like Egypt. Here are city-states. Peoples who were at war with each other created several cultures, but there are still common features.

Bronze Age in the Middle East

Periodization

Religion
Due to the constant transfer of power from city to city, there was no dream of prolonging the blessings of life in the dead world. The brutal struggle without mercy for the vanquished gave rise to the worldview that death is inevitable and terrible. Art reflects thoughts not about the afterlife, but about the present - the struggle for power, life, depending on the will of higher powers.
Writing is cuneiform. The oldest Sumerian epic is about the brave Gilgamesh.

Sumerian art

Sumerian cities: Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Kish, etc.
All ancient civilizations began with ceramic cultures. Why ceramic? Dishes were needed.
In 5 thousand BC. already had pets.

Ceramics. A cruciform shape is formed by 4 naked female figures with flying hair - a swastika (exists from 6 thousand BC). Symbolizes: the sun, stars, infinity, forming a Maltese cross.
Chess fields - mountains.

In the middle of 4 thousand BC, during the rise of the city of Uruk, a frame was invented for raw bricks, which were not fired, but dried in the sun. The construction of rectangular churches began. The main premises were surrounded by utility rooms.
The architectural features of Mesopotamia are largely explained by natural conditions. There was no forest or stone in this area, so raw brick became the main building material. Even temples and palaces were built from adobe. Sometimes buildings were faced with baked bricks and finished with imported stone and wood. Reeds were commonly used for huts and outbuildings.

Ser. 4 thousand BC (time of Gilgamesh)
It was whitewashed with lime - hence the name.

The temple was the main city building. It was erected in the center of the city on a platform made of compacted clay, to which staircases-ramps led on both sides.
Flat protrusions-scapulae kept them from crumbling and decorated the surface of the walls.
The sanctuary - the house of the god - was moved to the edge of the platform and had an internal open courtyard.

Inside, the temple was richly decorated with mother-of-pearl, a mosaic of multi-colored (red, black, white) nails driven into the raw material.

At the turn of 4 - 3 thousand BC. the priesthood is distinguished as a separate caste, the right to be a priest is inherited. In 3 thousand BC. Class stratification is increasing.

Alabaster. N – 19 cm. Head of the granaries of the city of Mari. Always praying for grace.
It seems childish and primitivistic, but it fulfills all social and religious tasks. System for transmitting ethnic traits: large forehead, narrow lips. Closed hands - a request for propitiation.
Eye inlay. Shoulders, beard, skirt - different textures of materials.

Limestone, apsidian eyes. God the Father, the all-seeing eye.
Luxurious vegetation is a sign of fertility (the ability to produce all living things).

, his wife. Statues were placed in temples along the walls.

Craftsmanship of arts and crafts

Harp from the royal tomb at Ur. About 2600 BC

Harp resonator from the royal tomb at Ur. Gold and lapis lazuli. The mighty bull's head is magnificent.

Animals are endowed with human traits. A donkey plays a harp, a dancing bear... monumentality + jewelry subtlety.

Sumerian-Akkadian art

OK. 2400 BC Akkadian king Sargon the Ancient united Sumer, all of Mesopotamia and Elam. The center of the first large state Mesopotamia (Anterior Asia) became the city of Akkad, located in the northern part of Southern Mesopotamia.

The government becomes autocratic, temple lands turn into royal lands.

Head of Sargon the Ancient (Akkadian). 23rd century BC.
A stern, domineering personality.

Epic in stone. The rhythmic ascent of the royal warriors to the mountain.
Line by line storytelling.
Clarity of composition.
The pride of triumph over the enemy.
There are only stars above the giant figure of the king.

City of Lagash (Sumerian lands)

City of Ur

The temple is the home of the deity to whom the city belonged. He was supposed to live at the top. Therefore, ziggurats had from 3 to 7 routes.
In addition to rituals, the priests made astronomical observations from the ziggurat.

The majestic ziggurat in Ur, towering above the buildings, expressed the idea of ​​the power of the gods and the deified king.

Art of Ancient Babylon

The period of the highest flowering of the Old Babylonian civilization was under King Hamurappi (18th century BC).
And in the place where the rivers came closest, on the left bank of the Euphrates stood the city of Babylon.
Under King Hammurabi (1792 - 1750 BC), the city united all regions of Sumer and Akkad under its leadership. The glory of Babylon and its king thundered throughout the surrounding world.
Hammurabi's greatest achievement was the creation of a set of laws - the constitution.

. A high relief decorated the pillar on which the laws were written.
Monumentality and picturesqueness. The sun god Shamash presents the king with symbols of power (a rod and a magic ring).

Art of Assyria

The Assyrians transformed the religion, culture and art of Babylonia, significantly coarsening them, but also endowing them with a new pathos of power, as the Romans did with the Greeks. They spread their power from the Sinai Peninsula to Armenia. Even Egypt itself was conquered a short time them.
In art there is the pathos of strength, glorification of the power, victory and conquests of the Assyrian rulers.
Period of greatest power: 2nd half. 8 – 1 floor. 7th century BC.

. 2nd floor 8th century BC. Alabaster.
Majestic and fantastic. They rose at the entrance to the palace. Bulls in tiaras with arrogant human faces, completely curled curls of the beard, 5 heavy hooves trampling everything under them. Guarded the royal palaces. On the side there is a frightening heaviness of movement, in front there is a menacing calm.

The Assyrian state is characterized not by cultic, but by secular, grandiose palace architecture and secular subjects in interior paintings and reliefs.

Relief from the palace of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh. Ser. 7th century BC.

Art of New Babylon

In 605 BC. Assyria was conquered and destroyed by Media and Babylonia. Tower of Babel. Reconstruction. The Tower of Babel, famous in the Bible, was a seven-tiered ziggurat 90 m high. It was built under King Nimrod. Assyrian architect Aradakhdeshu.
The sanctuary was dedicated to the main god Marduk. It was most likely crowned with gilded horns. The sanctuary sparkled with bluish-purple glazed bricks.
According to Herodotus’ descriptions, a statue of a deity made of gold weighing approx. 2.5 t.

Dutch Renaissance artist of the 16th century. Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Tower of Babel. 1563

The famous Gardens of Queen Semiramis date back to the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar. Archaeologists have found a system of wells. Slaves supplied water to the terraces by turning a huge wheel. During the time of King Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon was an impregnable stronghold. The walls of the city with countless towers are so large that two chariots drawn by four horses could easily pass along them.

The walls of the road in front of the Ishtar Gate were lined with blue glazed bricks and decorated with a relief frieze.

Decorated with symbolic images of the god Marduk - dragons.

A procession of lions, bulls and dragons was depicted.

In general, the art of New Babylon did not create something new and original, but repeated with greater pomp, sometimes even excessive, the patterns created by ancient Babylonia and Assyria.

Achimenid Dynasty
Persian or Iranian Empire

First of all, this is palace and court art.
Palace ensembles in Pasargadae, Persepolis, Susa.

Sumerians and Akkadians- two ancient peoples who created the unique historical and cultural appearance of Mesopotamia in the IY-III millennia BC. There is no exact information about the origin of the Sumerians. It is only known that they appeared in Southern Mesopotamia no later than the 4th millennium BC. Having laid a network of canals from the Euphrates River, they irrigated the barren lands and built on them the cities of Ur, Uruk, Nippur, Lagash, etc. Every Sumerian city was separate state with its ruler and army.

The Sumerians also created a unique form of writing - cuneiform. The writing of Sumer captured the laws, knowledge, religious ideas and myths.

Architectural monuments Very little of the Sumerian era has survived, since in Mesopotamia there was neither wood nor stone suitable for construction. Most buildings were erected from a less durable material - unfired brick. The most significant buildings that have survived to this day (in small fragments) are considered to be the White Temple and the Red Building in Uruk (3200-3000 BC). The Sumerian temple was usually built on a compacted clay platform. Long stairs or ramps led to it. The walls of the platform, just like the walls of the temple, were painted, decorated with mosaics, and decorated with niches and vertical rectangular projections - blades. Usually raised above the residential part of the city, the temple reminded people of the indissoluble connection between Heaven and Earth. The temple is a low, thick-walled building with a courtyard. On one side of the courtyard there was a statue of a deity, on the other - a table for sacrifices. The ceilings were usually supported by beams, but vaults and domes were also used.

Beautiful examples of Sumerian sculpture created at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC have survived to this day. The most common type of sculpture was adorant, which was a statue of a person praying - a figurine of a person sitting or standing with his hands folded on his chest, which was presented to the temple. The huge eyes were especially carefully executed adorants- they were often inlaid. Sumerian sculpture never gave a portrait likeness; Its main feature is its conventional image.

The walls of Sumerian temples were decorated with reliefs telling how historical events in the life of the city (military campaign, foundation of temples), and about everyday affairs. The relief consisted of several tiers, the events unfolded before the viewer sequentially from tier to tier. All the characters were the same height - only the king was always depicted larger than the others (stela of the ruler of the city of Lagash Eannatum - around 2470 BC).

A special place in the Sumerian visual heritage belongs to glyptics- carving on precious or semiprecious stone. The seals were rolled over a clay surface and an impression was obtained - a miniature relief with a large number characters and carefully constructed composition. Most of the subjects depicted on the seals are dedicated to the confrontation between various animals or fantastic creatures. Seals were considered objects that had magical meaning, they were kept as talismans, given to temples, and placed in burial places.

At the end of the 21st century. BC. The Akkadians conquered the territory of southern Mesopotamia. Their ancestors are considered to be Semitic tribes who settled in Central and Northern Mesopotamia in ancient times. The Akkadian king Sargon the Great subjugated the Sumerian cities weakened by internecine wars and created the first in this region single state- the kingdom of Sumer and Akkad, which existed until the end of the 3rd millennium BC. The Akkadians treated Sumerian culture with care. They mastered and adapted Sumerian cuneiform for their language and preserved ancient texts and works of art. Even the religion of the Sumerians was adopted by the Akkadians, only the gods received new names.

During the Akkadian period, a new form of temple appeared - ziggurat. This is a step pyramid, on top of which there was a small sanctuary. The lower tiers of the ziggurat were painted black, the middle tiers red, and the upper tiers white. The symbolism of the ziggurat shape is “stairway to heaven.” In the 21st century BC. In Ur, a three-tiered ziggurat was built, the height of which was 21 meters. Later it was rebuilt, increasing the number tiers up to seven.

Monuments visual arts very little remains from the Akkadian period. Cast copper portrait- possibly a portrait of Sargon the Great. The appearance of the king is filled with calmness, nobility and inner strength. The master strives to embody in sculpture the image of an ideal ruler and warrior. The silhouette is clear, the details are made carefully - everything indicates an excellent mastery of metalworking techniques.

Thus, during the Sumerian and Akkadian periods, the main directions of art were determined in Mesopotamia - architecture and sculpture, which later received their development.

Sumer was the first written civilization to exist in southeastern Mesopotamia. 5-4 thousand years BC

Geography: From the ancient Greek language the word “Mesopotamia” is translated as “(country) between the rivers.” Mesopotamia extends between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in their middle and lower reaches. These rivers originate in the mountains of Armenia and in the territory of modern Turkey. It was in the southern part of Mesopotamia that the country we call Sumer was located. And it is there that one should look for the origins of the Sumerian-Akkadian civilization.

Stone construction is developing. Cuneiform appeared - this is a unique system of writing on clay, which used a system of three-dimensional symbols, from the combination of which meaning was born. Such clay tablets are characterized by a lens-shaped shape. A book in the Sumerian tradition is a basket with stone tablets. Cuneiform writing is developing into a unified system. ASSHUR-BONNEPAL LIBRARY.

Temples of Mesopotamia.

The center of each city-state was a temple with a large temple economy allocated to it by the community, in which dependent freemen and slaves worked, and later - exclusively slaves. The oldest example of a Sumerian temple dates back to the late Neolithic period. Although this building, excavated in the city of Eridu (modern Abu Shahrain), was poorly preserved, judging by the layout, all the main features characteristic of the later temples of the southern Mesopotamia were already present. The temple stands on a high platform, to which stairs (or ramps) lead on both sides; the sanctuary itself is somewhat shifted to the edge of the platform and has an internal courtyard open at the top; In essence, the only decoration of the temple is the division of the walls with narrow rectangular niches on the outside and inside. No less characteristic is the absence of windows, which were not needed in the very hot climate of the Southern Mesopotamia. For air flow and top-side lighting, rectangular doorways and small openings - vents under the ceiling - were used. Temples dedicated to the gods were built. They were named after the color of the walls. Example: “White” and “Red” temples in Uruk (dedicated to Anu - the god of the sky; decorated with glazed tiles). Tel-ukair - a temple on a high cushion, frescoes, a frieze with lions and leopards have been preserved; many stairs. Built from raw brick. The only discovered example of a public building - a house - dates back to the Uruk and Jemdet-Nasr periods. people's assemblies, the so-called Red Building in the city of Uruk, late 4th millennium BC. Its plan is characteristic: a large closed courtyard with a tribune at one of the walls is surrounded by powerful semi-columns and columns made of mud brick. The semi-columns and columns are decorated with geometric patterns, which were obtained as a result of a peculiar technique - using fired stone or clay cones hammered into adobe masonry, the flat-cut ends of which are painted red, black and white. Obviously, this original decoration is an imitation of woven mats. A similar system of surface decoration disappears in the art of Mesopotamia in later periods.

Architecture in the 2nd millennium.

From the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, rulers began to build palaces for themselves. The palace is an overgrown house with a series of courtyards, sometimes with an outer fortress-type wall. The palace of King Zimrilim in Mari dates back to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, where ceremonial rooms with wall paintings of a cult nature were opened. The depicted scenes are static, which is usual for religious subjects in the art of Mesopotamia, but very colorful. The content of the images is ornamentally framed processions of gods and cult scenes; iconic character obviously has interesting scene date collection, which, however, occupies a subordinate place in overall composition. Of course, there is no need to talk about fresco painting at this time - before us is simply painting the walls dry.

Ziggurat- a stepped rectangular brick tower, on the first platform there is a temple dedicated to. to some god - an integral part of the temple complex. Example: Ziggurat in Nipur - consisted of three steps of different colors, total height 21 m, width 60x40 m. It was also the oldest observatory. The priests observed the stars, gave names to the planets and gods. This tradition was adopted by the Romans.

Royal Tombs at Ur– a large number of highly artistic works of art: weapons, helmets, products made of precious metals, stones; a harp decorated with gold, decorated with the head of a bull, was found.

Tomb of Meskalamdug– they found a ceremonial helmet made of gold.

The architecture of the Akkadian period developed in the general mainstream of Mesopotamian architecture, preserving its traditional techniques, such as the horizontal division of walls, by alternating projections (pilasters) and niches, the construction of temples on artificial elevations, etc.

art

The art of early Sumer differs from the monuments of art of the late Neolithic, primarily by its rejection of the conventionality of figures and geometricism (with rare exceptions). On the contrary, there is a clear desire, but the ability to more accurately convey the depicted nature, especially when it comes to reproducing representatives of the animal world. Small figurines of domestic animals - calves, bulls, rams, goats - are made of soft stone (serpentine, sandstone); various scenes associated with the life of domestic and wild animals are presented on reliefs, cult vessels, and seals. Many of these images are so accurate that the species and breed of the animal can be easily determined; Their characteristic poses and movements are vividly conveyed. However, no matter how vitally the artist reproduced nature at other times, all these images were subordinated to magical purposes, although, unfortunately, it is not always possible to guess what requirements and tasks magic made for the image in each individual case.

An excellent example of the plastic arts of ancient Mesopotamia, which allows us to judge the characteristic features of the art of this time, is a vessel found in Uruk. The vessel was intended for sacrificial libations and had two necks. On the sides of the drain, as if guarding it, there are two figures of a lion. On the body of the vessel are two lions, rising on their hind legs, attacking two bulls. All the figures are presented in very high relief, and the heads of the animals protrude from the surface, so we can talk about the plastic, sculptural design of the vessel. The bodies of the bulls are somewhat shortened, which creates the appearance of a promising reduction. On a cult vessel from Uruk, which shows us a festive procession with gifts, we clearly see these image features characteristic of ancient Eastern art: figures with the torso turned in front, face in profile, with an eye in front, legs in profile; the animals are presented entirely in profile, the river is rendered in wavy lines.

The main monuments of fine art of ancient Sumerian civilization:

Round or cylindrical seals required for a "signature" and sometimes appearing as amulets.

Heraldic compositions - copper reliefs of temples (coats of arms).

Palettes are plates made of natural stone with carved images.

Steles are stone, marble, granite or wooden slabs with images carved on them, but more often texts. Most often they were installed as a funeral stone.

Dorants are dedicatory figurines of a person in a praying pose.

A sculptural head from Uruk, slightly smaller in size than the natural one, in which the goddess Inanna is supposedly seen (the sculpture was in the temple of Inanna in Uruk), reveals a combination of subtly noted, perhaps even individual, facial features with features interpreted definitely canonically and conventionally (eyebrows, huge inlaid eyes). This gives special expressiveness to the monument, one of the best in the history of fine art of Mesopotamia.

Head of a goddess from the White Temple in Uruk (fertility goddess Ishtar) – flat, 2 meters high. Wavy wig made of gold leaf + inlaid with expensive stones and shells. Monumental plasticity. The binding material is bitumen (local origin).

Standard of “war and peace” from Ur – inlay technique + gold figures + mother-of-pearl + ornament = 3 registers. In fig. In art, the role of the main character is emphasized by size (if the king, then the largest in the image), also the more frills on the skirt, the more magnificent it is, the more important the character.

Epigraphy is the science that studies ancient inscriptions.

Stella of kites, Foundation slabs, Sumerian-Akkadian culture.

Some rulers: Sargon 1, Naram Suen

Capital: Akkad.

Around the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. e. Eastern Semites, the ancestors of the Akkadians, moved to the lands of Upper Mesopotamia, presumably from the Arabian Peninsula. Over time, they borrowed writing from the Sumerians, adapting it to their language, as well as mythology and way of life.

Art monuments:

Bronze head of a statue of King Sargon the Ancient of Akkad.

The features are perfectly conveyed: majesty and authority. Sargon the Ancient created a dynasty that ruled for 150 years.

He united all of Mesopotamia, created a centralized state with elements of the east. dispotia.

Akkadian craftsmen achieved significant success in making reliefs. The most striking monuments are the stone steles of kings Rimush and Naram-Suen.

The glyptics of Ancient Mesopotamia were traditionally almost always represented by cylinder seals. They were made from colored semi-precious stones, and their imprints conveyed various mythological scenes. Unlike monuments of architecture and sculpture, quite a lot of seals from the Akkadian period have been preserved.

Sculpture. Sculptural images made of different types of stone (limestone, local alabaster sandstone), bronze, and possibly even wood were made primarily for temples. Their size is generally small - up to 35-40 cm.

Frontally located figures are static. They are shown standing, very rarely with one leg extended forward, or sitting. The arms are bent at the elbows and clasped palm to palm at the chest in a pleading gesture. There is a plea in the wide open, straight-looking eyes and lips touched by a smile. The prayerful pose and facial expressions of the supplicant are the main things that needed to be expressed during the execution of this sculpture. There was no religious, magical requirement to embody specific, individual characteristics of the original. The man’s appearance conveyed his characteristic ethnic features as a Sumerian: a large nose, thin lips, a small chin, a large sloping forehead. Through them only the features of a particular person are visible. It is no coincidence that on the back or shoulder of many figures, the name of the one whom the sculpture depicted, as well as the name of the deity to whom it was dedicated, was carved in a rectangular frame.

Master artists of the early dynastic period created typified human figures-symbols. However, in that era, despite the general ideology, there were still no established norms and methods of implementation legitimized by the official tradition and the single supreme secular and religious authority. Each of the sculptures was made without literally repeating or copying others. The modeling of hairstyles, beards, and large strands of wool on clothing is very different. The lines and curls of these strands are deeply cut across the surface of statues and reliefs, sometimes smoothly and lightly, sometimes angularly and dryly. These details, along with the eyes inlaid with black and white stone, enliven the images and make them decorative and elegant.

The statue of Ebikh-Il is made of blue and white stone, his pleadingly raised eyes give the appearance of this bearded man an expression of naivety. Ebikh-Il sits on a round “stool” in a full skirt with strands of thick wool decorating it. His entire figure is realistic and proportional. The torso and arms are bare.

Relief images of the early dynastic period, due to the absence of unified canonized standards of execution, are marked by a peculiar expressiveness and decorativeness. This is reflected, first of all, in the variety of compositions in different modeling of forms. The sequence of visual narration about a particular event dominates. To convey everything as clearly as possible, individual scenes are distributed with belts, the figure of the main character - a ruler or god - is highlighted larger than the others, as if in a larger view.

The reliefs are carved on a neutral background, not occupied by other images, in clear, more or less flat silhouettes. Faces, as well as figures, are generally typified.

The most common plots: laying of temples, victory over enemies, feast after laying or victory.

The Eanatum Stele was created to commemorate the victory of the city-state of Lagash over one of the neighboring cities of Umma. The stela of Eanatum was undoubtedly carved by a creatively gifted author. Victory is personified by the large figure of the god Ningirsu, which occupies the entire front side of the slab. However, God quite realistically finishes off with his mace the captive warriors of the Ummah floundering in a mesh bag. The relief lines on the other side of the stele are even more specific. Eanatum on a chariot, raising his spear, enters the battle. There are warriors behind him. Above, Eanatum leads the Lagashites on foot. A total of nine warriors' heads are visible above the large shields covering their bodies. There is a feeling of a very large, steadily moving mass of people. This result was obtained using the image of numerous hands protruding from behind the shields, clutching spears.

Strictness, restraint of silhouettes, clarity of forms, fine elaboration of details characterize the golden ceremonial helmet of Meskalamdug. golden vessels - bowls, cups.

As in round plastic and reliefs, all these products are dominated by large divisions that monumentalize them. Their color scheme is based on deep, rich color combinations of the natural colors of semiprecious stones - dark blue lapis lazuli, orange-pink carnelian, gold and silver (i.e., on the natural decorativeness of these materials).

Numerous figures and statues made of dionite are known. Good knowledge of anatomy and portrait is presented.

11.The art of Babylonia. Chronology. Geographical framework. General characteristics of the phenomenon. Bibliography of the issue: M. V. Dobroklonsky. History of arts of foreign countries, volume I, Academy of Arts of the USSR, Gnedich.

The history of the Ancient East and Byzantine art is divided into 2 periods: the Old Babylonian period (20-17 centuries BC) and New Babylonian art (7-6 centuries BC). In the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. The most significant in Mesopotamia was the so-called Old Babylonian culture. It took shape as a result of an important political transformation. King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC), who ruled on the middle reaches of the Euphrates, united the regions of Sumer and Akkad into one state under the leadership of the city of Babylon, (translated as “Gate of God”). The style of performance of the works of Old Babylonian that have come down to us pores testifies to the vitality of the traditions of Sumerian-Akkaan art at that time.

Sculpture. The diorite stele of King Hammurabi, with a code of laws and a relief in its upper part, is the most characteristic monument of the era. The relief composition on the stele is symbolic. This is an investiture - the scene of King Hammurabi receiving signs of power from the sun god Shamash. Shamash, sitting on a schematically rendered ziggurat, hands the king a coiled rope and a staff, and perhaps also measures of length, that is, the attributes of a builder. The deity, as it were, transfers to the ruler of the country, his chief servant, the authority to act on his behalf, the deity, and for his glorification. The composition of two figures of a god and a king, placed opposite each other, is distinguished by its balance. On the uneven, strongly protruding, almost triangular face of the stone, this was not easy to achieve. The folds of clothes and strands of hair of the characters are worked out, cut into picturesque indentations, taking into account the play of light and shadow. The king's face is thin, with strongly sunken cheeks and prominent high cheekbones, portrait-like. The last circumstance particularly clearly confirms the high artistic level of the monument’s execution. The perception of the realistic achievements of Akkadian art by Neo-Babylonian artists becomes undeniable. The plasticity of the Old Babylonian period is equally clearly represented by a diorite male head from a statue, possibly of King Hammurabi. Given the monumental compactness of the total volume of the head, all parts of it are rendered plastically, softly and picturesquely. There is no doubt that the sharp, strong-willed, even stern features of the narrow face with sunken cheeks are portrait-like. Monuments of the 18th century BC. from the city-state of Mari, on the middle Euphrates, from the western outskirts of Babylonia, are the most valuable evidence of the style of Old Babylonian art. The head of Mari was the ruler Zimrilim. Archaeological excavations have uncovered the ruins of the Zimri Lim Palace. which was a vast architectural ensemble. This palace was built from mud brick during the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. e. Decorative ornamental stripes were applied to the lower plinth parts of the walls. The alabaster statue of the goddess Ishtar from her temple in the Zimrilim palace is also distinguished by its high artistic qualities. Being a little over one meter in height, it is very monumental. This quality is imparted to the statue by a calm frontal setting, as well as a very slight dissection of the overall cylindrical volume of the figure and each of its parts, highlighted only by a large mass. The goddess's dress gently falls to the ground like a heavy bell. Light folds encircling the robe enliven this columnar shape. The fingers and feet of the goddess protrude slightly from under the raised edge of the skirt in front. The upper part of the sculpture - the torso and head in a spherical cap - a tiara, which is crowned with two massive large horns, smoothly curved above the forehead - completes this sculpture like a capital. The goddess is represented by a beautiful woman with a broad face, breathing inner strength. Large strands of hair lie on her sloping shoulders in two twisted braids. Massive round earrings with six rows of round necklace beads. She supports a massive jug at her waist with both hands. This is the goddess in whose power the origins of life. She carries pure spring water - the “water of life” - to people in this vessel. From a hole drilled through the statue, from the neck of a jug, a stream of water once poured out, of course, with the help of the priests, in response to prayers. The city-state of Mari was an ally of Babylon for almost four decades. But at the end of this period, its existence was stopped by the aggressive campaign of King Hammurabi. Hammurabi's warriors, having besieged and captured the city and the palace, plundered and destroyed everything.

Neo-Babylonian art. (7-6 centuries BC) From the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e., after the fall of the Kassite dynasty, Babylonia was in a state of complete economic and political helplessness. The new short-term rise of Babylon began at the end of the 7th century. BC, when (in 626 BC) the military leader Nabopolassar seized supreme power in Babylon. He managed to include the former possessions of Assyria, as well as most of Mesopotamia, Elam, all of Syria, Phenicia and Palestine into Babylonia. The development of the culture of the time of New Babylon occurred under the strong influence of the culture of Assyria, which it destroyed.

Architecture. Architecture was the main type of Neo-Babylonian art. A clear indication of this is the city of Babylon, transformed over the decades of its last heyday into an architectural ensemble that was integral in layout and style. Located on both banks of the Euphrates, Babylon had the shape of an elongated rectangle in plan and was divided by the river into two parts. More ancient areas, the so-called Old City, were located on the eastern bank. The defense of Babylon was served by four complexes of battlements with towers - buttresses made of mud and baked bricks with the addition of stone masonry, as well as a deep ditch. The length of the inner wall was over 3 km, and the outer ones - 18 km. It was possible to enter the city through eight bastion gates dedicated to different gods. From each gate began straight, wide streets, precessional roads, which clearly divided the city into large sections. Inside these quarters there were streets, unlike the Sumerian ones, quite regularly planned, but not wide: the distance between the blank walls of residential buildings on their sides was no more than 4 m. The typical layout of dwellings built from mud brick, the estates of Babylon, is a grouping of rooms around the central courtyard Sanctuary god Marduk-Esagil. In the city that was the center religious life power, there were 53 significant large temples and several hundred small sanctuaries and altars. The most important of them was the sanctuary of the supreme god Marduk-Esagil, which was a sacred site with an area of ​​16 hectares. Its vast territory was distinguished among the residential areas of the city by the fact that it was surrounded by a double wall, whose massiveness created the impression of a fortress stronghold: the wall had 12 entrances and gates. The main “sacred” gate was entered into the territory of the sanctuary of Marduk-Esagila from the most important processional road, laid from the Ishtar gate. Opposite this gate, on the other side of the sacred precinct, was the enormous mass of the famous ziggurat, the so-called Tower of Babel.