Art Throughout the Ages: Mesopotamian (4500 BC - 539 BC)

The art of Mesopotamia spans from early hunter-gatherer societies to the Bronze Age - particularly the Sumerian, Assyrian, Akkadian and Babylonian cultures which were thriving empires that existed in modern-day Iraq, Kuwait and parts of Syria and Turkey.The main pieces were of various, very durable forms of sculpture in stone and clay which were usually painted and also stone/clay narrative reliefs became popular as writing was invented at this time by the Sumerians. The lack of diversity in artwork is perhaps because little painting has survived from the era (the painting which has has been suggested to have been for design schemes).

Sumerian era (4500 BC to 2270 BC) 

The Sumerians lived in, where is now, the south of Iraq. Their art is mainly about exploring the relationship between people and the gods, plants and animals. Clay was common in West Asia instead of metals n stuff hence the vast amount of sculptures made of clay. There were also many cylinder seals which do also classify as art as they were used as a signature (which is traditionally quite a non arty kind of boring documentey officey type thing) and thus had to be really complicated so others couldn't steal their identity so there are many which are really quite intricate and pretty. As mentioned before, writing was also invented in this time woop woop! Go Sumarians!

Standard of Ur

This is a particularly famous Sumerian artefact and it was found in the Golden Cemetery of Ur (south of Baghdad in Iraq) and is approximately 4500 years old. It was probably in the form of a hollow wooden box with images of peace and conflict on each side. The exact purpose of the Standard is unknown though it has been suggested to be a music box or a chest for bearing religious documents or holding chicken poop as snacks (I'm kidding I'm sure no-one ate chicken poop ever). The one we have now is actually a replica of what we found in Ura all that time ago and you can see it at the British Museum in London (I have actually seen it and it was a long while ago when I was ignorant and just thought it was some old voodoo stuff and it is massive and quite nice). 

Akkadian Era (2900 BC to 2350 BC)

The Akkadians made advances to realism and created more detailed pictures of humans which thus differentiates them from the earlier work of the Sumerians. There was a new emphasis on Naturalism expressed by sensitive modelling of sculptures and cylinder seals. These present the iconography of the interactions between man and the divine world.

Victory Stele of Naram Sin 

Naram Sin was a powerful ruler of the time and this famed victory stele depicts him as a god/king figure. Rulers those days... so vain. You can find this cheeky sculpture at the Louvre Museum in Paris!

Assyrian Era (1500 BC to Fall of Nineveh 612 BC)

After the Dark Ages, the Assyrians became the dominant power of West Asia. Their art mainly consisted of polychrome carved stone reliefs which decorated imperial documents to convey royal affairs, chief hunting and war making. These scared other people when they visited the palaces and royal dwellings. 

The subjects were commonly animals, in particular horses and lions, and were very detailed. Human figures were also detailed and were commonly depicted in triumphant scenes of combat (just to show how badass they were and how much power these mighty Assyrians had). There were also these really odd figures that had wings, hooves and all kinds of weird shit with the weirdest being a human face with a beard (?!)... scarecrows maybe? for plebs? Nearly there. They were guardian spirits that guarded the doorway to the King's palace. They had 5 feet to symbolise that they could "turn" in any direction and were also massive (like twice the size of the average man, massive). Damn...

Ashurnipal II Hunting Lions 
This is a famous relief found in British Museum of a famous King and was one of the things engraved on his palace walls to scare visitors

Babylonian Era (1792 BC to 1225 BC and then 660 to 515 BC)

So basically the Babylonians were in power at the same time as the Assyrians but they were focused in the South of West Asia. Under Hammurabi (the first Babylonian King), Babylon became the most powerful and also largest city in the world. He established firm laws called Hammurabi's Code and this was the first time that the law had ever been written down in solid form. It's made out of stone and clay and contains 282 laws that govern things from criminal behaviour to wages to even adoption. Many more great documents were made on clay tablets and the production of cylinder seals was at an all time high. Stone reliefs were also still popular as ever and depicted cute little stories of death and conquest. Then the guy died and nobody else was as good as ruling as him so the Babylonians died out for 400 years until a renewal in 660 BC and this time, "Neo-Babylonian" people came into power. Nebuchadnezzar, the contemporary ruler, built his famous palaces at this time, especially known for their beautifully clever arches and domes (I think for the first time?) painted in lush colours.

Hammurabi's Code

Clay tablets etc.

 This one actually depicts Babylonian astrology stuff!

Neo-Babylon with Nebuchadnezzar's luxurious vision 

These are the Hanging Gardens of Babylon which were one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world (it's probably in modern day Iraq but no1 knows for sure)

This is the Ishtar Gate which was one of the 8 gates of the Babylon Wall which protected the city. A reconstruction of this and the Procressional Way into the city is in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. The Ishtar Gate is another one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world (jheeez yes nebby man like).

So yup, that's pretty much it for the Medopotamiams! I probably messed up the order somewhere around here or if you're a bit confused here's a link to a timeline of these interesting times http://www.ducksters.com/history/mesopotamia/timeline.php

Thanks for reading and hopefully this was as interesting for you to read as it was for me to make! (as cheesy as it sounds it's the truth lol)