Tell Asmar Hoard Analysis

located on the first floor of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, in the Ancient Near East

Fig. 1 Statue of Yuny and Renenutet, ca. 1290–1270 BCE.; Fig. 2 Akhenaten and his Family,18

The Pair Statue of Ikhui and HIs Wife, Bebi is a statuette fairly small compared to life-size and is from the fifth and sixth dynasty of the Egyptian Old Kingdom around 2465-2323 B.C. It was excavated from a tomb in in Giza. The statuette displays a male and female standing side by side. It measures about less than two feet high. It appears as a relief because of the space between the arms and waists of the figures and sculpted from a block and chiseled away. They stood against a small wall no taller than the male figure but slightly taller than the female figure only to cover a portion of their backs. They had somewhat of a symmetric value. Each side mostly mirroring each other.

The Colossal Statue of King Aspelta appears to be especially influenced by the statue design of Old Kingdom Egypt, despite being a Kushite work from the Nubian region produced between the years of 593 and 568 BC. Due to the larger than life size of Aspelta, the eye is initially drawn to the pectoral and abdominal region of the body. This portion of the statue is especially idealized as the pectorals are toned and the abdomen is similarly muscular. Furthermore, there is no indication of any weakness or fat, which would be typical of the average human being. Even in the absence of the work's title, this makes it evident that subject was in a position of power and wish to be seen as an ideal and powerful portion.The arms are large, yet not well

The sculpture of Menkaura and queen Khamerernebty 2nd, is a free standing, full body statue that was discovered in Menkaura Valley Temple at Giza, Egypt and dates back to the 4 Dynasty (2490-2472 BCE). Standing 1.39 metre tall and made from diorite ( an extremely hard stone closely related to granite). Both Menkaura and Queen Khamerernebty 2nd standing along a vertical axis side by side. Menkaura is represent in the familiar Egyption posture standing looking like his left leg is extended forward, his arms held stiff at his sides and his first clenched like holding some cylindrical objects.

Figure 1 is an image of the sculpture the Seated Couple produced by the Dogon peoples, dated between 18th to the early19th century

An encounter with a shark is not something that many people really want to experience. The movie Jaws definitely put the fear of the ocean into many people. Sharks have been all over the media lately; Shark Week on the Discovery Channel just ended, and several attacks have been reported over the last few months. However, on a happier note, a beached Great White was saved this weekend in Cape Cod by beachgoers who sympathized with the struggling animal.

The relief, consisted of five panels, functions both as a religious representation as well as imposing the king’s power. Stone Panel in Bas-relief was once lined the inner walls of the Northwest Palace of King Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud. Nimrud, located on the Tigris River in northern Iraq, was the capital of Assyria during Ashurnasirpal II’s reign. The bas relief visually communicates its viewer by possessing “a more peaceful but equally imposing iconography, depicting Ashurnasirpal’s ritual activities in the company of human attendants and supernatural figures.”

The dimensions of the sculpture are not known from the research as the Saudi government has the polytheistic sculptures and work censored. Saudi Arabia only lends the sculptures to the Non-Muslim country museum with strict censorship deal with the loaned country. Most of the polytheistic sculptures were destroyed in Muhammad’s time when Islam started to grow. The relief is stone carved with written language which might say “Blessings to the tribe”. The line structures are both thick and thin.The contours are flat with rounded faces and triangular noses. The texture would have been smooth and detailed. There is no color in the sculpture; it would be left as natural white color of the limestone. This sculpture would have become

This is proof of the Sumerian architectural abilities. The architecture in Mesopotamia are considered to have been contemporary with the founding of the Sumerian cities, but there was some complexity in the architectural design during this Protoliterate period (c. 3400-c. 2900 BC). This is shown in the design of many religious buildings. Typical temples of the Protoliterate period--both the platform type and the type built at ground level--are, however, much more elaborate both in planning and ornament. The interior was decorated with cones sunk into the wall, covered in bronze. Most cities were simple in structure, but the ziggurat was one of the world's first complex architectural structures.

The sculpture King Menkure and His Chief Queen is located in the museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It was created in 2525 BCE by an unknown artist. I first viewed this sculpture in my textbook Experience Humanities on page 23. This slate made sculpture shows the 4th Dynasty ruler Menkure and His chief queen standing side by side as equals. Menkure is in an Egyptian stance with his fists closed together and his queen standing to the left of him with her arm wrapped around his waist. This sculpture was discovered under the king’s pyramid at Giza by George Reisner on January 19th, 1910.

Egypt is also known for its statues depicting various gods and tombs for its numerous pharaohs. Their architectural prowess is a feat marveled at even today. The ability to design and build such grand monuments such as the iconic pyramids of Giza, rivalling even the Mayan and Aztec temples of South and Central America, reveals the true nature of innovation in Egypt. In fact, even without modern tools of measurement, the Great Pyramid, the largest tomb in Egypt, is almost geometrically perfect. For such a large structure, the length of all four sides at its base differ by less than a foot (McKenty 1).

The two sculptures presented for this assignment are the Statue of Gudea, which dates back to 2090 B.C. (“Statue of Gudea,” 2000) and The Royal Acquaintances Memi and Sabu, which dates back to 2575–2465 B.C. (“The Royal Acquaintances Memi and Sabu,” 2000). Both statues represent people; however, they depict different types of people from completely different time periods and cultural backgrounds. The Statue of Gudea shows the ruler of southern Mesopotamian, Gudea, whose reign was from 2144-2124 B.C. (“The votive statue of Gudea: A formal analysis,” 2011) sitting in a praying position with his hands locked and his eyes forward. He is dressed in what appears to be a lavish robe with an inscription that clearly depicts what Gudea thought of himself and his successes during his time as ruler. The Royal Acquaintances Memi and Sabu represent what is thought to be a married ancient Egyptian couple who are lovingly embracing each other. Aside from looking at

It was constructed sometime in my king’s fifth year. He had decided to move the chief royal residence from Assur to Kalhu, and in doing so needed to build a new place to live. The palace was the largest structure that was built in my home town. It stood on a mound that was at least 50 feet high. This represented the king’s elevated status above the rest of society. “The palace itself was made up of about 30 courtyards and 200 rooms” (Davies, p. 36). At the gateway stood huge guardian figures, also known as lamassu. They were in the shape of winged, human-headed bulls. The Assyrians believed that these structures had the power to ward off evil spirits. Once you walked inside the palace, you would be greeted with the sight of upright gypsum slabs, also called orthostats. They were lined against the lower walls and were all over the palace. “The slabs protected the mud brick from moisture and wear, but they also served a communicative purpose as well” (Janson’s p. 36). I am one slab of those reliefs on the wall. Together, we told many stories of our king and his victories as well as his

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