The term "Sumerian art" refers to the different genres of artistic expression that date back to Sumer's prehistoric era. Since 4000 BC, the Sumerian people have resided in a Mesopotamian area that is now a part of southern Iraq. In this society, artistic expression primarily explores and supports the relationship between deities and humanity and incorporates a variety of natural phenomena. (Anton). These relationships are complicated, and as a consequence, different representations of them exist. One of the earliest examples of antiquity in art can be attributed to the Sumerians, whose culture was among the first to emerge in Mesopotamia. The first settlers drained the swamps in this region and successfully developed methods for mass-producing pottery, evidence retrieved from archeological studies shows that bowls were mass-produced at Uruk in 4000 BCE. This Ancient Mesopotamian culture also produced other forms of art such as metalwork, leatherwork, and weaving. These characteristic expressions of Neolithic art were boosted by an increase in population that was a result of a dependable supply of food and the Sumerian way of life, which favored a settled life to a nomadic existence. At this time, the civilization of the Sumer surpassed all the other established cultures in the region including the Egyptian civilization. Archeological evidence shows that the culture enjoyed a period of great economic prosperity and cultural development during the third and fourth millennia BCE before they were conquered by the Semitic peoples of the Akkadian empire in 2270 BCE.
It is important to note that before 3500 BCE, Sumerian attempts at art were only successful in the discipline of pottery, which was of a notably higher quality than anything the Greeks had made up to that point. After the year 3500BCE, it is observed that there were attempts at elementary forms of personal jewelry, bronze statuettes, and freestanding sculptures. These new skills were developed over time and as a result, artisans created impressive pieces of art in bronze, clay, gold and other materials. Archeological evidence supporting the use of complex processes in the casting of copper and bronze dates back to the third millennium. The evidence discovered points to the fact that several bronze sculptures were made using the complicated cire-perdue method. Burial sites excavated at Ur have revealed ornately decorated tombs containing, silver, cylinder seals, decorated shell objects, and gold.
The Sumerian empire was a congregation of about twelve cities along the river Euphrates and near the Persian Gulf. Each of the cities was ruled by a king. However, it is now common knowledge that they were not the original settlers in the area where their civilization thrived. Rather, they took control of the area through forceful occupation. Despite the fact that their true origins remain unknown, their contribution to art and to the development of later civilizations has been significant. Historians from this culture made the first and most influential contribution to written language in the region of Mesopotamia; the Sumerian system of pictographic writing forms the basis of cuneiform characters that are currently used in most of the near Eastern region. Sumerians also developed advanced skill in metalwork before neighboring civilizations did; the first use of copper in Sumer is believed to have occurred around 5,000 BCE.
Figure : the ram in a thicket. A piece of Sumerian sculpture made of copper, gold, lapis lazuli and other materials. The sculpture dates back to the year 2600 BC
This ancient culture is also accredited with the invention of the potter’s wheel and the use of the wheel for transportation around 4500 BCE and 3200 BC respectively (Encyclopedia of Art Education).
There exists a remarkable degree of competence in the field of decorative art, particularly in the creations of figurines based on animal subjects. For instance, the figure of a donkey created in 3100 BCE which queen Shub had connected to the reigns of her chariot asses is a rather convincing sculpture. It reflects its maker's observational skill and artistic ability in the way it is used and placed. Depictions of bull's heads in copper and silver also reveal a respectable degree of artistic ability. The knowledge of queen Shub-ad's donkey and the bullheads comes from the findings of an excavation at UR and their preservation, a common tradition at the beginning of human civilization. According to the traditions of the first dynasty, which was in authority around 3100 BCE, the queen was buried together with her house cleaners in the royal cemetery, the tomb was also filled with earthly treasures such as chaplets, harps, and the queen's chariot.
Sumerians are also credited with the invention of cylindrical seals, which are another form of miniature art. Early forms of art such as pottery and writing made use of clay as a raw material due to its abundance. Writings were made on wet tablets of clay, which were then left to harden into permanent tablets, and the durability of these records is one of the reasons why the modern world knows about life in the Mesopotamian era (Noah). In order to sign the documents they created, people carried personal seals, and to make them, a small cylindrical form was fashioned as a negative from hard types of rock such as quartz, obsidian, or agate in order to create an impression in the clay. The negatives on the seals often depicted compositions with two figures and were usually a symbol of the owner's belief in a particular deity. Thousands of seals of this nature have been discovered along with numerous documents with their corresponding impressions. Though the earliest designs show basic geometric designs and images of celestial objects, seals began to show evidence of remarkable artisanship and uniqueness after the year 3500 BCE (Hansen).
Figure A Sumerian seal and its imprint
Sumerian art has also influenced modern artists. Various objects excavated from sites across the region of southern Iraq were displayed in museums and art galleries across the United States and Europe have had an undeniable impact various modern artists. One of the most remarkable examples of this is Willem De kooning's compositions in the year 1953 popularly referred to as the furiously painted women. The artist states that the inspiration for his controversial art pieces was derived in part from the sculpture of a heavily bearded man (Henri); this statement reveals his opinion that art from this culture was archaic and primitive. As opposed to the perspectives of modern artists such as De Konning, I believe that most aspects of Sumerian art and culture were quite sophisticated for their time. This opinion arises from the fact that the civilization thrived at a time that the rest of Europe was covered in the darkness of the Stone Age.
Figure sculpture of bearded man
Works cited
Kramer Samuel Noah. The Sumerians: Their history, culture, and character. University of Chicago Press, 1963.
Donald P. Hansen, "The fantastic world of Sumerian art: seal impressions from Ancient Lagash." Monsters and Demon in the Ancient and Medieval World. Papers presented in honor of Edith Porada. Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern (1987): 53-64.
Moortgat Anton. The art of ancient Mesopotamia: the classical art of the Near East. Phaidon Press, 1969.
Encyclopedia Of Art Education. Sumerian Art (n.d). Retrieved from: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/index.htm
