The simultaneous emergence of civilisation between 3500 and 3000 B.C. in several locations is astounding. Egypt was unified at that time under the pharaoh's leadership. (Horst and others, 70) Southern Iraq today was the home of the ancient Sumerians. According to legend, the first urban culture in southern Mesopotamia was Sumerian. These folks created many works of art at the same time to showcase their civilizations. These many works of art cover a wide range of subjects, including politics, ecology, architecture, and even agriculture. Different decisions made when creating their art resulted in varying themes and representations to the public. This paper takes to look at different works of art: Lady Uruk, Ram and Tree and Standard of Ur, their description, interpretation and the link they have to ancient Sumerian.
1). Lady Uruk, 3100BC, 20cm (8 inches) tall, National Museum of Iraq.
The image above, also known as the Mask of Warka is a unique sham of the human face. It is carved from limestone and hair, eyes and eyebrows are inlaid from colored materials (Horst et al., 76). The rest of the figure is life-sized and probably made of wood. The head is at par with finest work of Egyptian old kingdom sculpture. It has soft swelling cheeks and delicately curved lips. On the ears are perforations, perhaps an indication that it once used jewelry. Historically, there are no explanations of why they stopped using the expensive minerals. In designing the pieces, Egyptians had minerals to make such sculptures using gold as learned from different biblical contexts. However, several historical records exist, like the bible when the En The head is flat on the back with drill holes for attachment. Sumerians believed that their god was presented in their images; the image is highly simplified with the eyes made vague so as not to draw distractions to the soul. The Sumerians however did not seek likeness of their god.
2). Ram and tree, offering stand from Ur. C. 2600B.C, wood, gold and Lapis Lazuli, height 20’’ (50.7 cm), university of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia.
This piece of art is an assembled sculpture made by a carver whose work is to create art from blocks of solid wood. It is made by molding smooth materials added to bronze or putting together substances such as wood, leaves, gold items and more. The ram and tree is the recreation from the stories in the bible to sacrifice a ram. It illustrates a Markhor goat while it eats tree leaves. Association of animals to divinities is a carryover since ancient eras (Horst et al. 39)
3). Standard of Ur, Front and back sides, c. 2600BC, wood inlaid with shell, limestone and lapis Lazuli, height 8’’ (20.3) the British museum London.
It is created in terms of hollow box with inlaid mosaics representing war and peace laid side by side. It was found in the royal tomb in Iraq in the 1920s. The royal standard or Ur celebrates an important military victory. This piece of art shows Sumerians artist skills of inlay work. One interesting thing about the piece of work is the combination of several images in one picture, with perfect display of their features. Apparently, the sides depict war, represented by fascinating detail, including costume element and a row of chariots. The series of mosaic are in three displays, upper middle and bottom. Each of the plates at each end originally exhibited fantastical animals but they suffered noteworthy damage while concealed, and as at now brought back.The three artists designed the different works by employing realism. It is easy for the audience to identify the images in the objects, bringing the subject matter in all the pieces out in an easy way. In the standard of Ur art, we can see the costumes and identify them with war, in the ram and tree piece, the audience can see the ram and identify it will religious story.
Some of the two pieces, the “Lady Uruk” and “Ram and Tree” have religious connections, most of them telling a story of some historical mystery. Lastly, the “Standard of Ur’ maintains its theme on the social state of a community by depicting war and peace. It is an illusion of an aftermath-achieved victory. The “Lady of Uruk”, the “Ram and Tree” and the “Standard of Ur” works of art all tell more of Ancient Sumerian culture. Religious culture is noticeable from the three pieces of work, with the symbols signifying all that someone has. Places where these sculptures worked had so much dependence on godly beliefs and myths like fertility, natural world and war (Ake 213). In most occasions, people believed that these different concepts of power had influences on the success and failure of human works. The “Ram and Tree” shows the importance that Sumerians attached to their religion. (Leonard 72). The ram’s genitals are made of gold while its belly is made of silver plate. Spending such expensive minerals in body parts had different significances like the value these works had in the society. An example is Standard of Ur showing the state of living within Semarian. People were divided across different livelihood. (Samuel, 68).
Finally, the “Lady of Uruk”, the “Ram and the Tree” and the “Standard of Ur” have taking the same form of art. All the artists had a high taste of art and employed it to make the best work as the society desired. Sculpture is derived from the Latin word sculptura which means to curve or cut out of stone. (Henry, 121). This involves cutting already existing objects. One can always add objects onto an already existing object, but majorly curving is involved. The woman Uruk face shows the carvers work when he tries and bring out defined curves.
Conclusion
In conclusion, different works of art take different form but may end up passing the same message. At times the artisan behind a piece of work may mean a different thing from what the audience perceives. However, the cultures of most people and the concept they are speaking about shifts the meanings of these pieces of art. As a result, observers must understand the different representations, significances of materials before judgment. One important thing to note is that works of art always end up showing aspects of culture of the immediate environment they originated from.
Work Cited
Ake W. Sjoberg Sumerian Dictionary of the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania ,University of Pennsylvania. (2013)
Horst Woldemar Janson, Anthony F. Jason, , history of art, New Jersey, Prentice hall Professional. (2004)
Samuel Noah Kramer , The Sumerians, Their History, Culture and Character University of Chicago Press. (2013)
Leonard Woolley, Ur: the First Phases, Penguin Books, London and New York (1946)
Henri Frankfort The Art and Architecture of the Ancient Orient, The standard for college art history classes.(2011)
