What can be learnt of personal and state religion from the religious and divine iconography and symbolism present on kudurru from European museum collections?
Following the collapse of the first Babylonian Dynasty and the so termed golden age of Hammurabi's reign, the Babylonian kingdom eventually stabilised under the influence of the new Kassite Dynasty. The Kassites promptly implemented the Babylonian language as well as Babylonian cultural values and traditions. They introduced the use of stone steles known as kudurrus. The evidence of the use of kudurrus dictates that later dynasties continued the practice until the 7th century BC.
Kudurrus are defined and identifiable by their form, imagery and inscriptions. The most common shape is
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I would like to include a brief explanation of the refocus of my initial question. Prior to my study tour, after several meetings with my study tour supervisor I was advised that I should broaden my question to investigate depictions and representations of religion within Mesopotamia, and simultaneously to keep an open mind regarding objects from European collections which could potentially help me narrow down my ideas if I was inspired to do so. During the study tour it became apparent that many of the objects which I had initially expected to be able to assist me in answering my question were not usable in my report. One of the major obstacles was the design of some exhibitions and displays. Although I found these exhibitions to be innovative and extremely accessible to the public, an unfortunate consequence was that various objects became difficult to properly represent through photography, obscured by magnifying glasses, mirrors and specialised lighting. These factors ultimately led to a minor refocus and a narrowing down of my question to focus on
Questions How did Babylonian law try to reconcile the needs of the state with the fact that it could not afford a large professional bureaucracy? How did the state use “volunteers”? How did it arrange for public works? Babylonian law try to reconcile the needs of the state with the fact that it could not afford a large professional bureaucracy by making it a problem between the accused and the accuser. They put set laws and whoever is wrong is the one who receives the punishment.
According to History.org, the stele of Naram-Sin is a monument composed of a single column or shaft typically erected to commemorate an important event or person. The Akkadians under Sargon dominated the Sumerians about 2300 BC. Naram-Sin was Sargon's grandson. The god-like Akkadian kings ruled with absolute authority. Naram-Sin's title was "King of the Four Quarters" meaning "Ruler of the World."
The Akkadian empire is known for its imperialism. The art in their culture is profoundly influenced by their militant characteristic and they utilize their visual arts to showcase their power and strength. Moreover, the Akkadian empire built a stele that commemorated one of their achievements and it is called the Victory Stele of Naram-sin. The stele is 6 ft high and the relief and cuneiform was carved on a limestone. The stele’s visual narrative clearly illustrated king Naram-sin’s victory over Lullubi. In the relief, it showed the Akkadian army , in a composite view, going up to the mountains and also their foes can be seen on the ground dead and the defeated begging for their lives. Above them in the center is Naram-sin on a hierarchical scale, this clearly emphasizes that his identity is a king. He can be seen wearing a horned crown in which it indicates that he is also a deity. In addition, his stance
The art history of Kush starts with the Kingdom of Kerma. The greatest art production activities occurred in the Napatan and Meroitic periods (9th century BC to 5th AD). Unlike in other civilizations, most of art productions in Kush were not controlled by governing authorities. Although stylistic differences exist, Kushite arts maintain cultural solidity and unique identity. Unlike other ancient civilizations, Kushite Kings did not practice absolute power. Political authority involved the priests and militants, who traditionally nominated and determined royal succession.
The Assyrian and Babylonian military were great in older times.They were experts at the usage of the military during wars by using tactics and strategies to come out on top.Things as simple as chariots were critical and used in their unique way of war.Babylonia used creative ideas like damming out city-states water sources.
Most societies that developed in ancient civilizations were centered around their belief systems. The Egyptians and the Mesopotamians were no different in this sense. Both civilizations were polytheistic and built elaborate temples to praise their gods. Additionally, the leaders in both regions were believed to be related to the gods because of the great power they held and the wealth under their control. However, the Mesopotamians had a pessimistic outlook on life because of the unpredictability of their environment. The Egyptians, on the other hand, had an optimistic outlook because the Nile River inundated their region regularly, which could be predicted by the stars. The similarities and differences in the religions of these two
Many pieces in Mesopotamia represent the status of the kings as being a greater figure than the common people and even an alike or greater figure than the gods. One piece that depicts the high status of the ruler is the “Fragment of the victory stele of Eannatum”, from Girsu, Iraq. ca. 2600-2500 BCE. On the stele, is Eannatum, who is the ruler who leads the battle, and obtained the city of Umma. He is depicted larger than the army, except Ningirsu, who chose him as the ruler. The audience of the stele is the people of Sumer, but more importantly, his enemies. The second piece that depicts propaganda in Mesopotamia is the “Head of the Akkadian ruler”, from Nineveh, Iraq, ca. 2250-2200 BCE. The hollow-cast sculpture made with Cooper is believed to be an Akkadian king. The sculpture demonstrates propaganda in Mesopotamian art because it reflects the idea of absolute monarchy, and focuses on the kings, instead of the city-state. However, the head was vandalized as its eyes were gouged, and its beard and nose were slashed by the Medes because they were opposers of the absolute monarchy. In addition, another example of propaganda in Mesopotamia is the “Votive disk of Enheduanna”, from Ur, Iraq, ca. 2300-2275, in which the Alabaster disks represents the daughter of King Sargon, Enheduanna in which the cuneiform inscriptions which mentions that she is the daughter of Sargon, who is the king of the world. Moreover, the disk also mentions that she is the
The artworks of Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt are both strikingly different and similar at the same time. Consistent is the theme of serving the different gods the two cultures believed in. In Mesopotamia the various city-states each had their own protective deity, and in Egypt they sometimes differed from one dynasty to the next. Whatever the case, with the beginning of kingdoms and rulership came the need to justify a position of power and establish a hierarchy. And as more time passed came also the human need to leave an impression on their world. Looking at the example of the statues of Gudea from the Neo-Sumerian period and the Temple of Ramses II from the New Kingdom of Egypt in the 19th dynasty, will show how both rulers of
Hammurabi expanded his empire greatly before focusing his energies toward wealth and justice for his people. He created a code protecting all classes of Babylonian society, including women and slaves (Sasson 46). He sought protection of the weak from the powerful and the poor from the rich. The carving on the stone on which the code is
When discussing Assyrians and my culture in general, people often times are not even aware that we are still around, some even go as far as actually believing that we are a dead culture. Those who know somewhat of who the Assyrian people are, do not truly understand the struggle the Assyrian culture and Assyrians have gone through and continue to go through to this day. That is why I picked the Assyrian flag as the symbol to represent not only my culture, but who I am as a person, too. The Assyrian flag is something very important to me because it is a symbol of strength and prosperity, a sign for me at least, to never back down and give up. I have kept going
When studying patterns in ancient civilizations’ literature, artwork and customs, it is not uncommon to view how indigenous individuals recurrently orchestrated society to reflect their beliefs. Though these ideals are conveyed in simplicity in contemporary society, these ancient civilizations’ ideologies on the understanding of the world were often veiled under the cloak of archetypical representations. Such archetypical representations utilized animals and inanimate objects to address the prevalent beliefs occurring in their societies. Although many civilizations were recognized to have emulated that basic ideology of archetypical representation in their literature, Sumerians and Egyptians, though vastly diverse in the meanings constituting their choices of utilizing various archetypes, proved to have the most exemplary archetypes. While many of the archetypes existing in these societies were similar, the symbols differed on the basis of the ideologies they stemmed from.
Ancient Mesopotamia was home to many artistic and mechanical developments. This was due to the emerging civilizations in the fourth millennium BCE. Among these creations, archaeologists discovered musical instruments, which were carefully crafted by Sumerian artists. One of the most acclaimed artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia is the Bull-Headed Lyre. The discovery of the lyre has reinvented the way that history professionals evaluate early human civilization. The Bull-Headed Lyre has impacted history by creating a foundation for an expression of beliefs about wealth in the Sumerian culture. This will be examined through a visual analysis of the Bull-Headed Lyre, evaluating its discovery, and analyzing its representation of wealth.
Forming a cultural entity that lasted for more than 3,000 years. Mesopotamia was the birthplace of the worlds earliest known cities. The mesopotamians developed one of the earliest writing systems. Sophisticated mathematics and astronomy, the sail, and the wheel. They also Divided time units into 60 parts ~ a concept that led to our 60 minute hour.)The exhibit not only focused on the historical events that took place in the fourth millennium but it also gave incite to the people that made these accomplishments possible . Which leads me back to humanities and understanding the meaning, purpose, and goals that furthers the appreciation of singular historical and social phenomena—its just / an interpretive method of finding “truth”—rather than explaining the causality of events or uncovering the truth of the natural world.
Gematria originated as an Assyro-Babylonian-Greek system of alphanumeric code/cipher later adopted into Jewish culture that assigns numerical value to a word/name/phrase in the belief that words or phrases with identical numerical values bear some relation to each other or bear some relation to the number itself as it may apply to Nature, a person's age, the calendar year, or the
Babylonian civilization is considered as one of the most important civilizations in the ancient world. The Babylonians took and developed everything after the Sumerians civilization especially in the spiritual realm and in the field of building an integrated civilization. The earlier civilizations had big role in the Babylonians civilization period when Babylonians took all the cuneiform writing, mathematical and astronomical knowledge, in addition to that the method of building cities, dams and etc. they improved all of them. The development of knowledge continued by Babylonian where the Sumerians stop, and the Babylonian built an empire for themselves on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the southern part of Sumer (Iraq). "The first Amuriyahian family has ruled over Babylon in the period (1830- 1530 BC), when Babylon was a mini-states at the time." Then the greatest king of Babylonian Hammurabi appeared in the seventeenth century BC. He established a famous group of laws known by (Hammurabi code).Also he was the king who united this petty States and achieved an important architectural movement in the city of Babylon.