ART HIS 20 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Eshnunna, Girsu, Nimrud
28 Oct 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Mesopotamia (fertile crescent: greek meaning: mesos - middle and potomos river. It is situated between the tigris and euphrates rivers. Southern sector: sumeria, eshnunna, ur, uruk, girsu/lagash. Sumerian art: 4th millennium to 3rd millennium (3200-2300 bce: occupies lower river valley, city states, eshnunna, ur, uruk, girsu and lagash. Important developments and innovations: agriculture needed to irrigate (digging and maintaining by extending rivers into the valley. Invention of the wheel: understanding the environment enough to plan and dig canals, written language called cuneiform translates into wedge-shaped writing. this was used to record administrative contracts, etc. This helped develop literature (epic of gilemesh: government structure by city-states. This required a strong hierarchy: white temple of uruk 3500- 3000 bce iraq , ruins served religious purposes, walls were originally white for a reflective property to be seen far and wide. Approach a very controlled way to lead important persons to the entrance (must change direction several times)
