| Ancient Near East Art entwines an extensive | | | | fine-textured potteries. Their most sophisticated |
| chronological span with a huge geographical area, | | | | 'devised' artistry was the "Cylinder Seal," a minute |
| beginning from Turkey right up to the Indus Valley. The | | | | engraved cylinder of stone or metal that, while rolling |
| Ancient near East, Tigris-Euphrates River Valley, also | | | | over the seals of damp clay, leaves the reverse copy |
| known as the 'Fertile Crescent' or 'Mesopotamia (Land | | | | of its carving in relief. Used to highlight documents and |
| between the Rivers),' mothered several of these | | | | property, or as an identifying mark or moniker, the |
| civilizations. The Sumerians, with their earliest written | | | | "Cylinder Seals" were worn as wristbands or |
| and recorded past, seem one of the earliest | | | | necklaces by the owners and were even buried with |
| civilizations to rule this region. | | | | them. |
| The Sumerians (4000BC) are recognized for devising | | | | The "Ziggurat Temple" was the most conspicuous |
| several firsts, such as inventing the wagon wheel and | | | | architecture of the Sumerians. Marked for their artistic |
| the plough casting objects in copper & bronze. | | | | excellence, the Sumerian artisanship garnered |
| Excavations at Ur, Babylon, Uruk (Erech), Mari, Kish, | | | | appreciation through the ages. The peak of their artistic |
| and Lagash, reveal that the colossal, powerful and the | | | | achievement can be seen in the white marble female |
| unique art of Sumer influenced nearly all the key | | | | head, "Lady of Warka" (Erech 3200 B.C), intricately |
| cultures of the prehistoric West Asia. This civilization of | | | | carved in marble with great subtlety & simplicity. |
| the Ancient near East, recorded their culture in a | | | | The enormous regal cemetery at Ur, houses several |
| competent, pictographic form of 3000 BC, called | | | | Sumerian artworks, including the exceptional "wood |
| 'Cuneiform Writings.' This record enabled Sumerian art, | | | | harp," completed with gold & mosaic inlay, with a |
| techniques, and motifs, to historians & researchers. | | | | black-bearded golden head of a bull surmounting |
| Sumerians excelled in their fine works on marble, | | | | mythological scenes; a ritual "offering stand" in the |
| diorite, hammered gold, and lapis lazuli. Many of their | | | | shape of a ram, made of silver, lapis lazuli, & |
| metal creations were highlighted in the shape of | | | | mussel shells, rearing on its hind legs to eat from a tree |
| animal-human-birds creatures. Ornate and complex in | | | | of gold; a "gaming board" of wood inlaid with bone, |
| their structure, Sumerian Art & architecture | | | | lapis lazuli, shell, & stone, mounted in bitumen; and a |
| served important purposes in the religious rituals & | | | | grand gold "helmet," shaped from a single sheet of |
| ceremonies of the Ancient near East Civilization. | | | | metal & compressed into the form of a head of |
| Deprived of raw art materials, the Sumerians sold | | | | wavy hair, with a chignon at the back. Rich, prolific, and |
| crops for metal, stone, and wood, they required. Clay, a | | | | intellectual in their way of living and expression, the |
| copious native material, highly determined their fashion | | | | Sumerian Art stands apart from the ones of the other |
| of baked-mud buildings and the nature of their | | | | Mesopotamian Civilizations. |