The Middle East

 Email This Page  Print This Page

When the civilization of Egypt developed and prospered, there was another civilization developing its own civilization about 500 miles to the north and east of Egypt. This was the first of a long sequence of Middle Eastern civilizations that had a big influence to the future of art.

Mesopotamia

If you are wondering, where was the beginning of human civilization? The evidence would suggest Egypt, although there were equally strong cases for the Mesopotamia, located in the plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern day Iraq. Both Egypt and Mesopotamia required agriculture in fertile river valleys for their survival. Around 3000 B.C., both civilizations created rich and highly sophisticated cultures. However, that was the only resemblance between these great ancient civilizations.

The desert that surrounded Egypt was its greatest defense, except Mesopotamia had no natural defenses. Its lavish plain was open to attack on all corners. Because of that reason, many different nomadic tribes came and controlled Mesopotamia for many centuries. The history of this region indicated a never-ending tale of turmoil, invasions, fighting and wars.

For many years of wars, the Mesopotamians people were a mix of conquering and conquered tribes who came, then established themselves in this prosperous land. One of the earliest tribes was the Sumerians. The Sumerians settled in the northern part of Mesopotamia prior to 3000 B.C.

The Sumerians invented the potter’s wheel and invented one of the first forms of writing known to man (left). The writing was called cuneiform, which was a language written by making small wedge-shaped marks on a soft clay tablet. Clay was the only material accessible to the Sumerians in large quantity. Nothing like Egypt, but Mesopotamia had no stone or timber, the population had to used sun-dried mud bricks to build their homes and temples.

The great temple structures that were ruled by ziggurats, the enormous brick “stairways to heaven,” were the trait of the Sumerian architecture. It raised a number of stories, and reached by steep flights of steps. These enormous temple buildings were the crown of religious shrines. These religious shrines were the Mesopotamian equivalent of the pyramids of Egypt. However, these once great buildings collapsed back into piles of earth. The mud bricks are less long-lasting than stone.

The Sumerians were a deeply religious people, and the success of their civilization required them to spend great amounts of time praying to their gods. But they were also businessmen whose schedules would not permit their constant attendance at temple. The solution to this rather sticky problem was “worship by proxy.” That is, the Sumerians deposited small statues in the temples to substitute for the absent person. The effect was the same as if the businessman were there himself. These little figures were often inscribed with short prayers, and they communicated with the gods through their enormous staring eyes.

By 2360 B.C., the Sumerians had united with the Akkadians to establish an illustrious and powerful empire. But within a few hundred years, it was destroyed by the Amorite Semites who, in turn, were overcome by new waves of invaders. After centuries of turmoil, the great city of Babylon came into being. It introduced a magnificence previously unknown to Mesopotamia. Babylon was founded by Hammurabi, author of the world’s first written code of laws, circa 1780 B.C. Civilized, powerful, and spectacular, Babylon became the cultural center of Mesopotamia.

Within a few short centuries, however, this brilliant civilization was devastated by the ruthless Hittites. Subsequent invasions brought the ferocious Kassites and later, the most terrifying of all, the dreaded Assyrians. The Assyrians also built enormous fortresses in order to consolidate their widespread conquests. Strangely, the Assyrians produced some very great artists who brought the art of carving to unprecedented heights.

The favorite themes of the Assyrians were military campaigns and animal hunts, which show noble beasts collapsing under Assyrian attack. Exquisitely carved wild horses attempt escape and caged lions are mercilessly slaughtered. The Assyrians delighted in showing pain, and they used their unparalleled skills of observation to portray agonized animals, bleeding and weak, their energies exhausted from the chase. Assyrian art was cruel, but it was more realistic and more vividly rendered than any other in the ancient world; it introduced emotion into art.

Ont of the art was a dying lioness, pierced by arrows and bleeding heavily, attempts to stand. But her back legs are paralyzed and they drag heavily behind her. Powerful forepaws bulge with exertion. She lets out a final roar; in a moment she will die.

After roughly three centuries of unthinkable atrocities, the Assyrians were defeated in the sixth century B.C. by the combined forces of their abused subjects and neighbors. Babylon rose again, more fabulous than ever. Under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar, the city enjoyed great prosperity as an international trade center, and it became the greatest metropolis of the East. The king created the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. This spectacular structure was built of mud bricks, and like all Mesopotamian architecture, almost nothing of it remains.

One of the very few extant structures is the Ishtar Gate, the major entrance to Babylon. It, too, was made of mud bricks, but it was protected by a covering of brightly colored glazed bricks, boldly ornamented with lions, bulls, and dragons.

In the sixth century B.C., the Persians became the dominant Eastern power, and essentially ended the complicated, but brilliant, history of ancient Mesopotamia.

The Persians had been a seminomadic tribe with no great interest in art. However, gradually, an authentic imperial art evolved, combining Mesopotamian traditions, the native Persian love of ornament, and inspiration from Greek artists. The effects of this marriage can be best appreciated at Persepolis, the site of the most ambitious Persian palace.

The palace is an enormous structure, more than a quarter-mile long and nearly 1000 feet wide. It is approached by a broad staircase, the walls of which are carved with an endless procession of figures paying tribute to the king. Inside, the palace’s gold and silver ceilings rest on gigantic animal figures that are carved atop lofty columns.

Persian power and wealth were world renowned. In less than 50 years, the Persians were transformed from a nomadic tribe into the most powerful people on Earth. In 525 B.C. they conquered Egypt; they might have taken possession of Europe as well had it not been for the heroic resistance of the Greeks. The Persians were finally humbled in the fourth century B.C. by Alexander the Great.