APAH G2 Q&A
Historical Introduction - Ancient Near East - (correct answer)-Mesopotamia = land
between 2 rivers (Tigris & Euphrates)
-9000 BCE in the Neolithic/New Stone Age period
-Ancient Near East = area includes Mesopotamia, modern Turkey, Jordan, Syria,
Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, and Iran
-Sumerians = united by common language/religious culture
-Sargon ruled independent/competitive/political entities = city-states
-developed the first writing system (cuneiform)
-distinct forms of art and architecture (ziggurat) emphasizing the power of the king.
-art = little statues w/ ugly cat-looking cross-eyed eyes
-eventually fell under the power of the Akkadians
-Akkadians were conquered by the Gutians
-art = Bronze statue head "man w/ beard" (Akkadian)
-art = Gudea; little statue of him seated (diorite, Neo-Sumerian)
-Sumerian return to power (known as the Neo-Sumerian period) was short lived
-Taken over by Amorites
-ruler = Hammurabi, Capital = Babylon
-new powers = Babylonians
-art = Stele with law code of Hammurabi (basalt) one guy seated on throne, one guy
wearing hat standing opposite him
The Power of Writing - (correct answer)-Sumerian writing = mid-fourth millennium BCE,
used for keeping track of goods traded between city-states
-consisted of pictographic symbols that represented objects -- -Sumerian scribes
developed cuneiform = used a reed stylus to create wedge-shaped marks in wet clay
tablets/scratched marks into stone.
-Sumerians developed complex system of symbols that allowed them to write about
more abstract concepts or to compose literary works such as the Epic of Gilgamesh.
,-Few mastered this system, but those who did employed a powerful tool for memory,
representation, and conceptual thinking.
Sumerian Temples - (correct answer)-each Sumerian city-state was under the protection
of a deity to whom the main temple of the city was dedicated
-temple was located at the center of the city-state and was placed on ziggurat (= a large
trapezoidal platform that could sometimes have many levels)
-Ziggurats were used by most civilizations of Mesopotamia
-not well preserved, due to the fragility of the mud-brick material used
-art = temple of Uruk (Iraq) or "White Temple"
The Ziggurat of Ur - (correct answer)-constructed using mud-brick
-terraces on top of each of the three platforms & buttress on either side of the central
staircase = additional structural support for the ziggurat
-temple on the top platform was dedicated to moon god Nanna
-patron = Ur-Nammu = ruler during the Neo-Sumerian period
-Gate = 3 staircases meet
-Stairs = had to climb them to be closer to the celestial realm
-Temple = on top of the 3rd platform. May have been statue (may have been broken
down for precious reusable metals)
-Terraces = platforms/roofs that could be walked on
-Buttresses = press up against the exterior wall for additional support
The Standard of Ur - (correct answer)-King Meskalamdug (c. 2550-2400 BCE) and
Queen Pu-Abi (c. 2600-2500 BCE) were buried with servants and precious objects
called grave goods.
-Standard of Ur = depicts a ruler engaged in a battle
-war side and the peace side; story is read as a comic strip; images are read left to
right, begins in the lower left-hand corner and ends in the upper right-hand corner
-Register = division of space in a composition
, -Ground Line = artificial line, represents where the base of where elements are
positioned
-Composite view = Frontal and side views are both seen in a single figure
-Hierarchical Scale = size of one element is larger than those elements surrounding it
Sumerian Temples - (correct answer)-Musical instruments = lyres = placed in the burial
chambers --art = bull-headed lyre (made of wood, gold & lapis lazuli); read from bottom
to top. man between the two bulls is shown in the center
-depicts a banquet, just as the peace side of the standard; half-human/half-animal
figures bring food and wine for the celebration; a lyre player entertains the guests.
-The man at the top of the composition is clearly an important figure (reflects the power
and position of the king)
-art = Ram in a Thicket, served as an offering stand (2600 BCE, Ur, Iraq. Wood, gold
leaf, bitumen, copper, lapis lazuli, shell, gold, silver, red limestone)
-Represents fertility of plant and animal life, appropriate to use for an offering stand
&token of thanks for the provision of resources
-flowers on the tree are also used as motifs in the headdress of Pu-Abi, the queen who
was buried in the tomb
-cylinder seal = Queen Pu-Abi was recovered from the royal tombs; (Cylinder seal with
animals overpowered by gods and impression on clay, ca. 2500-2400 BCE, Mari.
Limestone.)
Sumerian Votive Statues - (correct answer)-ca. 2700 BCE, Square Temple at
Eshnunna, Iraq. Gypsum, shell, black limestone
-Votive figures = offered in thanks to the divine for favors or blessing; take the place of
men and women who paid to have themselves represented; they symbolically stand
&offer prayers in their place night and day in the temple.
-art = composed of cone and cylinder shapes (typical Sumerian); base is circular;
sculptor probably began with tall cylindrical shape & subtracted mass from block of
stone w/ hammer and chisel.
-skirt of the man is a conical shape with a belt and fringes at the base (compare the
dress of the king on the "peace" side of the Standard).
Historical Introduction - Ancient Near East - (correct answer)-Mesopotamia = land
between 2 rivers (Tigris & Euphrates)
-9000 BCE in the Neolithic/New Stone Age period
-Ancient Near East = area includes Mesopotamia, modern Turkey, Jordan, Syria,
Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, and Iran
-Sumerians = united by common language/religious culture
-Sargon ruled independent/competitive/political entities = city-states
-developed the first writing system (cuneiform)
-distinct forms of art and architecture (ziggurat) emphasizing the power of the king.
-art = little statues w/ ugly cat-looking cross-eyed eyes
-eventually fell under the power of the Akkadians
-Akkadians were conquered by the Gutians
-art = Bronze statue head "man w/ beard" (Akkadian)
-art = Gudea; little statue of him seated (diorite, Neo-Sumerian)
-Sumerian return to power (known as the Neo-Sumerian period) was short lived
-Taken over by Amorites
-ruler = Hammurabi, Capital = Babylon
-new powers = Babylonians
-art = Stele with law code of Hammurabi (basalt) one guy seated on throne, one guy
wearing hat standing opposite him
The Power of Writing - (correct answer)-Sumerian writing = mid-fourth millennium BCE,
used for keeping track of goods traded between city-states
-consisted of pictographic symbols that represented objects -- -Sumerian scribes
developed cuneiform = used a reed stylus to create wedge-shaped marks in wet clay
tablets/scratched marks into stone.
-Sumerians developed complex system of symbols that allowed them to write about
more abstract concepts or to compose literary works such as the Epic of Gilgamesh.
,-Few mastered this system, but those who did employed a powerful tool for memory,
representation, and conceptual thinking.
Sumerian Temples - (correct answer)-each Sumerian city-state was under the protection
of a deity to whom the main temple of the city was dedicated
-temple was located at the center of the city-state and was placed on ziggurat (= a large
trapezoidal platform that could sometimes have many levels)
-Ziggurats were used by most civilizations of Mesopotamia
-not well preserved, due to the fragility of the mud-brick material used
-art = temple of Uruk (Iraq) or "White Temple"
The Ziggurat of Ur - (correct answer)-constructed using mud-brick
-terraces on top of each of the three platforms & buttress on either side of the central
staircase = additional structural support for the ziggurat
-temple on the top platform was dedicated to moon god Nanna
-patron = Ur-Nammu = ruler during the Neo-Sumerian period
-Gate = 3 staircases meet
-Stairs = had to climb them to be closer to the celestial realm
-Temple = on top of the 3rd platform. May have been statue (may have been broken
down for precious reusable metals)
-Terraces = platforms/roofs that could be walked on
-Buttresses = press up against the exterior wall for additional support
The Standard of Ur - (correct answer)-King Meskalamdug (c. 2550-2400 BCE) and
Queen Pu-Abi (c. 2600-2500 BCE) were buried with servants and precious objects
called grave goods.
-Standard of Ur = depicts a ruler engaged in a battle
-war side and the peace side; story is read as a comic strip; images are read left to
right, begins in the lower left-hand corner and ends in the upper right-hand corner
-Register = division of space in a composition
, -Ground Line = artificial line, represents where the base of where elements are
positioned
-Composite view = Frontal and side views are both seen in a single figure
-Hierarchical Scale = size of one element is larger than those elements surrounding it
Sumerian Temples - (correct answer)-Musical instruments = lyres = placed in the burial
chambers --art = bull-headed lyre (made of wood, gold & lapis lazuli); read from bottom
to top. man between the two bulls is shown in the center
-depicts a banquet, just as the peace side of the standard; half-human/half-animal
figures bring food and wine for the celebration; a lyre player entertains the guests.
-The man at the top of the composition is clearly an important figure (reflects the power
and position of the king)
-art = Ram in a Thicket, served as an offering stand (2600 BCE, Ur, Iraq. Wood, gold
leaf, bitumen, copper, lapis lazuli, shell, gold, silver, red limestone)
-Represents fertility of plant and animal life, appropriate to use for an offering stand
&token of thanks for the provision of resources
-flowers on the tree are also used as motifs in the headdress of Pu-Abi, the queen who
was buried in the tomb
-cylinder seal = Queen Pu-Abi was recovered from the royal tombs; (Cylinder seal with
animals overpowered by gods and impression on clay, ca. 2500-2400 BCE, Mari.
Limestone.)
Sumerian Votive Statues - (correct answer)-ca. 2700 BCE, Square Temple at
Eshnunna, Iraq. Gypsum, shell, black limestone
-Votive figures = offered in thanks to the divine for favors or blessing; take the place of
men and women who paid to have themselves represented; they symbolically stand
&offer prayers in their place night and day in the temple.
-art = composed of cone and cylinder shapes (typical Sumerian); base is circular;
sculptor probably began with tall cylindrical shape & subtracted mass from block of
stone w/ hammer and chisel.
-skirt of the man is a conical shape with a belt and fringes at the base (compare the
dress of the king on the "peace" side of the Standard).
