Mesopotamia Art History
A major and crucial component of artifacts left behind from cultures all over the world is art. Art allows us to see how a specific society perceived the world at that point in time, as well as a way to have a visual representation of the life, and culture of past civilizations. One major group with remarkable art is the Mesopotamian people of the fertile crescent. Two major artifacts of ancient Mesopotamia, that were more than just a work of art, but a precious historical document were the Stele of Hammurabi and the Stele of Naram-Sin. Mesopotamia was an ancient region east of the Mediterranean, bordered in the southeast by the Arabian Peninsula and northeast by the Zagros mountains. Which is now modern day Iraq, as well as parts
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Agricultural villages evolved into cities simultaneously and independently in both northern and southern Mesopotamia. These cities joined with their surrounding territories to create what is known as city-states. Ruler and workers emerged with this, development of specialized skills beyond those of agricultural work. Writing has allowed scholars to trace the gradual evolution of writing and arithmetic, another tool of commerce as well as an organized system of justice. The ancient Mesopotamians used Cuneiform as a writing system and is made up of wedge shaped symbols. An artifact found to make this writing is a stylus, which is a pointed writing instrument to keep business records. Another famous artifact found also in the city of Susa was the Stele of Hammurabi. The Babylonian ruler Hammurabi precise codification of his people’s rights, obligations, and punishments for offenses were engraved on the stele. This grandiose artifact, is both a work of art that illustrates a legendary event and a major historical document that inscribes a conversation about justice between God and man. At the top of the Stele, Hammurabi is standing beside Shamash, the god of the sun and justice. Shamash gives the law of the king and the codes of justice are underneath them in horizontal bands of exquisitely engraved cuneiform signs. The idea of god given laws engraved on stone tablets will have a long tradition in the
Agricultural villages evolved into cities simultaneously and independently in both northern and southern Mesopotamia. These cities joined with their surrounding territories to create what is known as city-states. Ruler and workers emerged with this, development of specialized skills beyond those of agricultural work. Writing has allowed scholars to trace the gradual evolution of writing and arithmetic, another tool of commerce as well as an organized system of justice. The ancient Mesopotamians used Cuneiform as a writing system and is made up of wedge shaped symbols. An artifact found to make this writing is a stylus, which is a pointed writing instrument to keep business records. Another famous artifact found also in the city of Susa was the Stele of Hammurabi. The Babylonian ruler Hammurabi precise codification of his people’s rights, obligations, and punishments for offenses were engraved on the stele. This grandiose artifact, is both a work of art that illustrates a legendary event and a major historical document that inscribes a conversation about justice between God and man. At the top of the Stele, Hammurabi is standing beside Shamash, the god of the sun and justice. Shamash gives the law of the king and the codes of justice are underneath them in horizontal bands of exquisitely engraved cuneiform signs. The idea of god given laws engraved on stone tablets will have a long tradition in the