Mesopotamia and Persia

Puneeth Sharma

Chapter two deals with Mesopotamia and Persia, two places that were considered advanced for its age. This is where the Neolithic Revolution came into place. Organized structure, fertile land, and a system of religion and government were all things that made these areas the starting point for modern civilization as we know it. Mesopotamia is one of the first place you would see temples being built in history. The White Temple at Uruk is a prime example of one of Mesopotamia’s main places of worship. With a giant trapezoid-like shape serving as a base with a main rectangular hall on top, many citizens would gather at the White Temple to pray to Anu, the sky god. While these are not the actual pieces of art the book focuses on, I do appreciate the architecture in these buildings, especially when they are standing to this day. Although many years have passed, it still shows that even in 3000 B.C, people had the sense to make serviceable buildings.

I practice in Hinduism so I see different interpretations of different Gods and Goddesses in both paintings and sculptures. I see a similarity on how religious and prominent figures are depicted in Mesopotamian art. In figure 2-12 in the textbook, you see the head of Akkadian Ruler made out of copper. I really adore the amount of detail that went into this piece because you see that whoever worked on this, did not want to sully the ruler’s image. Everything from the crown-like object on his head to his luscious beard shows the utmost care when sculpting this.

You see the same care taken in the Royal Tombs of Ur documentary. When people made the statues of bulls, they used thin sheets of gold over wood and fine fabric. While wood wasn’t necessarily a rare commodity in any period of time, the illusion with the gold sheet gave onlookers the false sense that the art is priceless, wherein reality, artists tried to use as little expensive material as possible. I find that level deceitfulness and conservation very interesting, considering that gold held a lot of value. I can see people in that time praising the value of the object that’s actually not worth much.

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