arts

• SUMERIAN: Ziggurat

  • built of sun-dried mud bricks from the center outward with no internal chambers.
  • The structure was then faced with kiln-baked brick, decorated, and painted.
  • This artificial mountain was established solely for religious purposes; elevate priests toward heaven through worshiping the gods
• SUMERIAN: Standing Male Worshiper

  • well known as Votive Statues ; used for religion which to worship the gods.
  • These votive statues were created from gypsum which is a very soft stone, hence these were not really meant to last for eternity.
• Sumerian: Cuneiform

  • "wedge-shaped" is a writing system they developed, where they would write on clay tablets.
  • used to record a variety of information such as temple activities, business, and trade, write stories, myths, and personal letters like the epic of Gilgamesh
• BABYLONIAN: Hanging Gardens

  • one of the seven wonders of the ancient world; Iraq
  • Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had the gardens built as a gift to his wife Semiramis, a Persian princess, to ease her homesickness; been built around 600 B.C..
  • popularized by the writings of British archaeologist Leonard Woolley, suggested that the gardens were built within the walls of the royal palace at Babylon, the capital of Babylonia, and did not actually “hang” but were instead “up in the air”;
  • likely made of clay bricks.
• Babylonian: Code of Hammurabi

  • one of the earliest and most complete written legal codes and was proclaimed by the Babylonian king Hammurabi, who reigned from 1792 to 1750 B.C.
  • code of laws, a collection of 282 rules, established standards for commercial interactions and set fines and punishments to meet the requirements of justice.
  • carved onto a massive, finger-shaped black stone stele (pillar) that was looted by invaders and finally rediscovered in 1901
• Babylonian: Epic of Gilgamesh

  • epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia and among the earliest known literary writings in the world, written in cuneiform on clay tablets.
  • eponymous hero, Gilgamesh, the king of the city of Uruk, goes on Hanging Gardens of Babylon Code of Hammurabi Epic of Gilgamesh in Cuneiform a quest to find immortality after he and Enkidu, his companion, perform deeds that anger the gods, resulting in Enkidu's death. Despite going through many trials, Gilgamesh loses his opportunity for physical immortality; however, he becomes immortal in the memory of Uruk and its walls
• EGYPTIAN: The Great Pyramid of Giza

  • the only Wonder that still exists, world’s tallest human- made structure for nearly 4,000 years.
  • 2560 B.C.E. on west bank of the Nile River, the Great Pyramid served as the tomb of the fourth-century pharaoh Khufu (Cheops). It is the largest of the three Pyramids at Giza.
  • originally stood 482 feet (147 metres) tall, but erosion and the removal of most of the limestone lowered height to 449 feet (137 metres).
  • core - yellowish limestone blocks; inner passages - finer light-coloured limestone; interior burial chamber - huge blocks of granite.
• Egyptian: Siege of Dapur

  • part of Pharaoh Ramesses II's campaign to suppress Galilee and conquer Syria in 1269 BC.
  • his campaign on the wall of his mortuary temple, the Ramesseum in Thebes, Egypt. The inscriptions say that Dapur was "in the land of Hatti". Egyptian reliefs depict Dapur as a heavily fortified settlement with both inner and outer walls and situated on a rocky hill, which was usual for Bronze Age settlements in Syria and abroad, Egypt was also Fortified.
  • The reliefs were carved in limestone , showing the pharaoh in a heroic pose, leading his troops to victory over his  enemies
• Egyptian: Statue of Rameses

  • one of the largest sculptures in the British Museum, but it is only the top part of a much bigger seated statue of the king. The bottom part is still in the Ramesseum, Ramesses’ memorial temple on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes (modern Luxor).
  • granite from the royal quarries at Aswan, in the far south of Egypt, and had to be taken by river to the temple site. Only the king was allowed to use this stone; extremely hard, heavy and durable.
• Egyptian: Hieroglyphics

  • character used in a system of pictorial writing, particularly that form used on ancient Egyptian monuments.
  • may represent the objects that they depict but usually stand for particular sounds or groups of sounds.
  • “sacred carving,” is a Greek translation of the Egyptian phrase “the god’s words,” which was used at the time of the early Greek contacts with Egypt
• GREEK : VENUS DE MILO (SCULPTURE)

  • or Aphrodite of Melos is an ancient Greek marble sculpture that was created during the  period by Alexandros of Antioch.
  • rediscovered in 1820 on the island of Milos, Greece, and has been displayed at the Louvre Museum since 1821.
  • one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture in the world. 
  • believed to depict Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, whose Roman counterpart was Venus. Made of Parian marble, the statue is larger than life size, standing over 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) high
• Greek: ACHILLES AND AJAX ENGAGED IN A GAME

  • Exekias was an ancient Greek vase painter and potter who was active in Athens between roughly 545 BC and 530 BC.
  • The Visual adaptation of the mythological past can be seen on the Vatican amphora 344, which is regarded by some art historians as Exekias’ masterpiece.
• Greek: Parthenon

  • former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC.
  • decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of classical Greek art, an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece, democracy, and Western civilization.
  • built in thanksgiving for the Hellenic victory over Persian Empire invaders during the Greco-Persian Wars; served as the city treasury
• Greek: THE ILIAD AND THE ODYSSEY

  • a poem about Ilium (Troy)
  • one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer
  • one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences.
  • divided into 24 books and was written in dactylic hexameter. It contains 15,693 lines in its most widely accepted version.
  • depicts significant events in the siege’s final weeks. In particular, it depicts a fierce quarrel between King Agamemnon and a celebrated warrior, Achilles. It is a central part of the Epic Cycle
• Greek: Contaposto

  • Italian term that means "counterpoise” or an artistic technique where the weight of the body is shifted to one leg, creating a more dynamic and naturalistic pose. This pose allows for a more relaxed, realistic depiction of the human form, as seen in sculptures like the *Doryphoros* (Spear Bearer) by Polykleitos
• ROMAN: COLOSSUS OF CONSTANTINE (SCULPTURE) 

  • early 4th-century monumental statue depicting emperor Constantine the Great.
  • pagan statue was repurposed to celebrate Constantine’s reign and the recognition of Christianity as a legal religion within the empire.
  • later broken and pillaged for bronze, before its re-discovery in the 15th century following an excavation at the Basilica of Maxentius.
  • Michelangelo arranged the remaining marble fragments of the Colossus on display inside the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori
• Roman: Colosseum

  • built in the Ancient Roman Architectural style; seven to eight years, making it one of the largest and most complex structures.
  • The columns were built using three different styles. The doric - ground floor columns where the wealthiest Romans used to sit. The second-tier columns- Ionic style. The third-tier columns, made for the common people - Corinthian style.
  • It has 80 gates in total, each with an arch.
  • was built using different stones held together by iron clamps
• Roman: PERSEUS AND ANDROMEDA IN LANDSCAPE PAINTING

  • This fresco from the Imperial villa at Boscotrecase depicts two consecutive events from the myth of Perseus and Andromeda.
  • The translucent blue-green background of both frescoes also unifies the disparate episodes combined in each painting and must have brought a sense of coolness to the room.