Sumerian culture is an invaluable contribution to history - Art. Sumerian culture From pots to ornaments

The most characteristic sculptural image of the early Sumerian period is a deep relief. This is a special kind of sculpture in which the image is convex in relation to the flat surface of the background. Among the Sumerians, this is almost a high relief, in which the image protrudes high above the background surface.

The relief depicting the head of the goddess Inanna of Uruk is one of the earliest works of this kind. The details of the relief are clearly drawn - a large nose, thin lips, huge eye sockets. Particular emphasis is placed on the nasolabial lines, which gives the goddess an arrogant and rather gloomy expression. The inlaid eyes that used to be in the eye sockets, unfortunately, have not been preserved. The dimensions of the sculptural image almost coincide with the real ones, the back surface is flat. It is suggested that the figure of the goddess was depicted on the surface of the wall of the temple, and above it, in the direction of the worshiper, a convex image of the head of the goddess was attached. This created the effect of the goddess entering the world of people and served to intimidate mere mortals.

Later reliefs, dating back to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, were built in honor of some important event - the construction of a temple, victory on the battlefield. These were small boards with a relief image - palettes or plaquettes. They were carved from soft stone, which can be easily processed. The entire plane of the palette was horizontally divided into registers, sequentially telling about some important event. In the center of this peculiar story was the ruler or his entourage. Moreover, the size of the image of each particular character was determined by the degree of significance of his social position.

Another typical example of the Sumerian relief is the stele of King Eanatum, erected in Lagash in honor of the victory over the main enemy, the city of Umma. On one side is a story about the campaign of King Eanatum, consisting of four parts - registers. The first part is sad - grief for the dead, then two registers depict Eanatum at the head of the army, at first lightly, then heavily armed. The end of the story is an empty battlefield, the corpses of enemies and kites, above them are traditional symbols of the complete defeat of the enemy. By this time, the Sumerians had achieved considerable skill in the art of relief - all the figures occupy a certain place and are subordinate to the plane, the composition of the sculptural image is well sustained. Perhaps the Sumerians began to use stencils to grind the image, this is evidenced by almost identical triangles depicting the faces of warriors, horizontal rows of spears. The image of the god Ningirsu, the main deity of Lagash, occupies the entire second side of the stele. In his hands is a net with captured enemies.

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Art of Sumer (27-25 centuries BC)

At the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. the growth of class contradictions led to the formation in Mesopotamia of the first small slave-owning states, in which the remnants of the primitive communal system were still very strong. Initially, such states were separate cities (with adjacent rural settlements), usually located in the places of ancient temple centers. Between them there were incessant wars for the possession of the main irrigation canals, for the capture of the best land, slaves and livestock.

Earlier than others, the Sumerian city-states of Ur, Uruk, Lagash, etc. arose in the south of Mesopotamia. Later, economic reasons caused a tendency to unite into larger state formations, which was usually done with the help of military force. In the second half of the 3rd millennium, Akkad rose in the north, whose ruler, Sargon I, united most of Mesopotamia under his rule, creating a single and powerful Sumerian-Akkadian kingdom. The royal power, which represented the interests of the slave-owning elite, especially since the time of Akkad, became despotic. The priesthood, which was one of the pillars of the ancient Eastern despotism, developed a complex cult of the gods, deified the power of the king. An important role in the religion of the peoples of Mesopotamia was played by the worship of the forces of nature and the remnants of the cult of animals. The gods were depicted as people, animals and fantastic creatures of supernatural power: winged lions, bulls, etc.

During this period, the main features characteristic of the art of the Mesopotamia of the early slave era were consolidated. The leading role was played by the architecture of palace buildings and temples, decorated with works of sculpture and painting. Due to the military nature of the Sumerian states, the architecture was of a fortified nature, as evidenced by the remains of numerous urban structures and defensive walls, equipped with towers and well-fortified gates.

The main building material for the buildings of Mesopotamia was raw brick, much less often burnt brick. A constructive feature of monumental architecture was going from the 4th millennium BC. the use of artificially erected platforms, which is explained, perhaps, by the need to isolate the building from the dampness of the soil, moistened by spills, and at the same time, probably, by the desire to make the building visible from all sides. Another characteristic, based on an equally ancient tradition, was the broken line of the wall, formed by ledges. Windows, when they were made, were placed at the top of the wall and looked like narrow slits. Buildings were also illuminated through a doorway and a hole in the roof. The coverings were mostly flat, but the vault was also known. Residential buildings discovered by excavations in the south of Sumer had an open courtyard around which covered premises were grouped. This layout, which corresponded to the climatic conditions of the country, formed the basis for the palace buildings of the southern Mesopotamia. In the northern part of Sumer, houses were found that had a central room with a ceiling instead of an open courtyard. Residential buildings were sometimes two-story, with blank walls facing the street, as is often the case even today in eastern cities.

About the ancient temple architecture of the Sumerian cities of the 3rd millennium BC. give an idea of ​​the ruins of the temple at El Obeid (2600 BC); dedicated to the goddess of fertility Nin-Khursag. According to the reconstruction (however, not indisputable), the temple stood on a high platform (32 × 25 m in area), built of densely packed clay. The walls of the platform and the sanctuary, in accordance with the ancient Sumerian tradition, were divided by vertical ledges, but, in addition, the retaining walls of the platform were smeared with black bitumen at the bottom and whitewashed at the top, and thus also divided horizontally. A rhythm of vertical and horizontal sections was created, which was repeated on the walls of the sanctuary, but in a slightly different interpretation. Here, the vertical articulation of the wall was cut horizontally by ribbons of friezes.

For the first time, round sculpture and relief were used in the decoration of the building. The statues of lions on the sides of the entrance (the oldest gate sculpture) were made, like all other sculptural decorations of El Obeid, from wood covered with beaten copper sheets over a layer of bitumen. Inlaid eyes and protruding tongues made of colored stones gave these sculptures a bright colorful appearance.

Along the wall, in niches between ledges, there were very expressive brass figurines of walking bulls. Above, the surface of the wall was decorated with three friezes, located at some distance from one another: a high-relief one with images of lying gobies made of copper, and two with a flat mosaic relief, laid out of white mother-of-pearl on black slate plates. Thus, a color scheme was created that echoed the color of the platforms. On one of the friezes, scenes of economic life, possibly of cult significance, were quite clearly depicted, on the other, sacred birds and animals marching in a line.

The inlay technique was also applied to the columns on the façade. Some of them were

decorated with colored stones, mother-of-pearl and shells, others with metal plates attached to a wooden base with nails with colored hats.

With undoubted skill, a copper high relief placed above the entrance to the sanctuary was executed, turning in places into a round sculpture; it depicts a lion-headed eagle clawing deer. This composition, repeated with small variations on a number of monuments of the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. (on the silver vase of the ruler Entemena, votive plates made of stone and bitumen, etc.), was apparently the emblem of the god Nin-Girsu. A feature of the relief is a quite clear, symmetrical heraldic composition, which later became one of the characteristic features of the Near Asian relief.

The Sumerians created a ziggurat - a peculiar type of religious buildings, which for thousands of years occupied a prominent place in the architecture of the cities of Western Asia. The ziggurat was erected at the temple of the main local deity and represented a high stepped tower built of raw brick; on top of the ziggurat there was a small structure that crowned the building - the so-called "dwelling of the god."

The ziggurat in Ur, rebuilt many times, erected in the 22nd - 21st centuries BC, has been preserved better than others. (reconstruction). It consisted of three massive towers, built one above the other and forming wide, possibly landscaped

terraces connected by stairs. The lower part had a rectangular base 65×43 m, the walls reached 13 m in height. The total height of the building at one time reached 21 m (which is equal to a five-story building of our days). Interior space in a ziggurat was usually non-existent or kept to a minimum, to one small room. The towers of the ziggurat of Ur were of different colors: the lower one was black, smeared with bitumen, the middle one was red (the natural color of burnt brick), the upper one was white. On the upper terrace, where the "dwelling of God" was located, religious mysteries took place; it, perhaps, also served as an observatory for the priests-stargazers. Monumentality, which was achieved by massiveness, simplicity of forms and volumes, as well as clarity of proportions, created an impression of grandeur and power and was a hallmark of the architecture of the ziggurat. With its monumentality, the ziggurat resembles the pyramids of Egypt.

Plastic art of the middle of the 3rd millennium BC characterized by the predominance of small sculpture, mainly for religious purposes; its execution is still quite primitive.

Despite the rather significant diversity that the monuments of sculpture of various local centers of Ancient Sumer represent, two main groups can be distinguished - one associated with the south, the other with the north of the country.

The extreme south of Mesopotamia (the cities of Ur, Lagash, etc.) is characterized by the almost complete indivisibility of the stone block and a very summary interpretation of details. Squat figures with an almost absent neck, with a beak-shaped nose and large eyes predominate. The proportions of the body are not respected. The sculptural monuments of the northern part of the southern Mesopotamia (the cities of Ashnunak, Khafaj, etc.) are distinguished by more elongated proportions, greater elaboration of details, the desire for a naturalistically accurate reproduction of the external features of the model, albeit with greatly exaggerated eye sockets and exorbitantly large noses.

Sumerian sculpture is expressive in its own way. Especially clearly she conveys the humiliated servility or tender piety, so characteristic mainly of the statues of worshipers, which the noble Sumerians dedicated to their gods. There were certain poses and gestures that had been established since ancient times, which can be constantly seen both in reliefs and in round sculpture.

Metal-plastic and other types of artistic crafts were distinguished by great perfection in Ancient Sumer. This is evidenced by the well-preserved grave goods of the so-called "royal tombs" of the 27th-26th centuries. BC, discovered in Ur. The finds in the tombs speak of class differentiation in Ur at that time and of a developed cult of the dead associated with the custom of human sacrifices, which were widespread here. Luxurious utensils of the tombs are skillfully made of precious metals (gold and silver) and various stones (alabaster, lapis lazuli, obsidian, etc.). Among the finds from the "royal tombs" stand out a gold helmet of the finest workmanship from the tomb of the ruler Meskalamdug, reproducing a wig with the smallest details of an intricate hairstyle. Very good is a golden dagger with a sheath of fine filigree work from the same tomb and other items that amaze with a variety of shapes and elegance of decoration. The art of goldsmiths in the depiction of animals reaches a special height, as can be judged by the beautifully executed head of a bull, which apparently adorned the soundboard of a harp. Generalized, but very true, the artist conveyed a powerful, complete

life of a bull's head; the swollen, as if fluttering nostrils of the animal are well emphasized. The head is inlaid: the eyes, beard and hair on the crown are made of lapis lazuli, the whites of the eyes are made of shells. The image is apparently associated with the cult of animals and with the image of the god Nannar, who, judging by the descriptions of cuneiform texts, was represented as a "strong bull with an azure beard."

Samples of mosaic art were also found in the tombs of Ur, among which the best is the so-called “standard” (as archaeologists called it): two oblong rectangular plates, fixed in an inclined position like a steep gable roof, made of wood covered with a layer of asphalt with pieces of lapis azure (background) and shells (figures). This mosaic of lapis lazuli, shells and carnelian forms a colorful ornament. Divided into tiers according to the already established by this time

traditions in Sumerian relief compositions, these plates convey pictures of battles and battles, tell about the triumph of the troops of the city of Ur, about captured slaves and tribute, about the triumph of the winners. The theme of this "standard", designed to glorify the military activities of the rulers, reflects the military nature of the state.

The best example of the sculptural relief of Sumer is the stele of Eannatum, called the "Kite Steles". The monument was made in honor of the victory of Eannatum, the ruler of the city of Lagash (25th century BC) over the neighboring city of Umma. The stele was preserved in fragments, but they make it possible to determine

basic principles of ancient Sumerian monumental relief. The image is divided by horizontal lines into belts, along which the composition is built. Separate, often different episodes unfold in these zones and create a visual narrative of events. Usually the heads of all those depicted are at the same level. An exception are the images of the king and god, whose figures were always made on a much larger scale. With this technique, the difference in the social status of the depicted was emphasized and the leading figure of the composition stood out. Human figures are all exactly the same, they are static, their turn on the plane is conditional: the head and legs are turned in profile, while the eyes and shoulders are given in front. It is possible that such an interpretation is explained (as in Egyptian images) by the desire to show the human figure in such a way that it is perceived especially clearly. On the front side of the Stele of the Kites there is a large figure of the supreme god of the city of Lagash, holding a net in which the enemies of Eannatum are caught. On the back of the stele, Eannatum is depicted at the head of his formidable army, marching over the corpses of defeated enemies. On one of the fragments of the stele, flying kites carry off the severed heads of enemy soldiers. The inscription on the stele reveals the content of the images, describing the victory of the Lagash army and reporting that the defeated inhabitants of Umma pledged to pay tribute to the gods of Lagash.

Of great value for the history of art of the peoples of Western Asia are monuments of glyptics, that is, carved stones - seals and amulets. They often fill in the gaps caused by the lack of monuments of monumental art, and allow a more complete picture of the artistic development of the art of Mesopotamia. Images on seals-cylinders of Western Asia (The usual form of seals of Western Asia is cylindrical, on the rounded surface of which artists easily placed multi-figured compositions.). often distinguished by great craftsmanship. Made from various types of stones, softer for the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. and more solid (chalcedony, carnelian, hematite, etc.) for the end of the 3rd, as well as 2nd and 1st millennia BC. extremely primitive instruments, these small works of art are sometimes genuine masterpieces.

Seal-cylinders dating back to the time of Sumer are very diverse. Favorite plots are mythological, most often associated with the very popular epic in Asia Minor about Gilgamesh, the hero of invincible strength and unsurpassed courage. There are seals with images on the themes of the myth of the flood, the flight of the hero Etana on an eagle to the sky for the “grass of birth”, etc. The seals-cylinders of Sumer are characterized by a conditional, schematic transfer of figures of people and animals, ornamental composition and the desire to fill the entire surface of the cylinder with an image . As in monumental reliefs, the artists adhere strictly to the arrangement of figures, in which all heads are placed on the same level, which is why animals are often represented standing on their hind legs. The motif of Gilgamesh's struggle with predatory animals that harmed livestock, often found on cylinders, reflects the vital interests of the ancient pastoralists of Mesopotamia. The theme of the hero's struggle with animals was very common in the glyptics of Asia Minor and in subsequent times.

Art of Akkad (24th - 23rd centuries BC)

In the 24th century BC. the Semitic city of Akkad rose up, uniting most of Mesopotamia under its rule. The struggle for the unification of the country stirred up the broad masses of the population and had historically progressive significance, allowing the organization of a common irrigation network necessary for the development of the economy of Mesopotamia.

Realist tendencies developed in the art of the Akkadian kingdom (24th-23rd centuries BC). One of the best works of this time is the victory stele of King Naramsin. The stele of Naramsin, 2 m high, is made of red sandstone. It tells of Naramsin's victory over the mountain tribes. A new quality and an important stylistic difference between this stele and earlier monuments is the unity and clarity of composition, which is especially strongly felt when comparing this monument with the Eannatum stele considered above, similar in theme. There are no more "belts" dividing the image. Successfully using the technique of diagonal construction, the artist shows the ascent of troops to the mountain. The skillful arrangement of the figures throughout the field of relief creates the impression of movement and space. A landscape appeared, which is a unifying motif of the composition. Rocks are shown with wavy lines, several trees give an idea of ​​the wooded area.

Realistic tendencies also affected the interpretation of human figures, and this primarily applies to Naramsin. The short tunic (which is a new type of clothing) leaves a freely rendered strong muscular body naked.

Hands, legs, shoulders, body proportions are well modeled - much more correct than in ancient Sumerian images. The composition skillfully contrasts the broken enemy army descending from the mountain, begging for mercy, and the warriors of Naramsin, full of energy, climbing the mountain. The pose of a mortally wounded warrior, who overturned on his back from a blow of a spear, is very accurately conveyed.

pierced through his neck. The art of Mesopotamia had never known anything like this before. A new feature is the transfer of the volume of figures in relief. However, the turn of the shoulders with the profile image of the head and legs, as well as the conditional different scale of the figures of the king and warriors, remain canonical.

Round sculpture also acquires new features, an example of which is a sculptural head made of copper found in Nineveh, conventionally called the head of Sargon I, the founder of the Akkadian dynasty. Sharp, severe realistic power in the transfer of the face, which is given lively, expressive features, carefully executed

a rich helmet, reminiscent of the “wig” of Meskalamdug, courage and at the same time the subtlety of execution bring this work closer to the work of the Akkadian masters who created the Naramsin stele.

In the seals of the time of Akkad, Gilgamesh and his deeds remain one of the main subjects. The same features that stand out clearly in the monumental relief determine the character of these miniature reliefs. Without abandoning the symmetrical arrangement of the figures, the masters of Akkad bring greater clarity and clarity to the composition, striving to convey movement more naturally. The bodies of people and animals are modeled in volume, the muscles are emphasized. Landscape elements are included in the composition.

Art of Sumer (23rd - 21st centuries BC)

In the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. (23 - 22 centuries) there was an invasion in Mesopotamia of the mountain tribe of the Gutians, who conquered the Akkadian state. The power of the Gutian kings continued in Mesopotamia for about a century. The southern cities of Sumer suffered less than others from the conquest. A new flourishing, based on the expansion of foreign trade, is experienced by some ancient centers, especially Lagash, whose ruler, Gudea, apparently retained some independence. Communication with other peoples, acquaintance with their culture was of great importance for the development of the art of this time. This is evidenced by the monuments of art and monuments of writing - cuneiform texts, which are the best examples of the literary style of the ancient Sumerians. Gudea was especially famous for his construction activities and concern for the restoration of ancient structures. However, there are very few architectural monuments from that time that have survived to this day. The monumental

sculpture. Statues of Gudea have been preserved, remarkable for their technique. Most of them were dedicated to the deity and stood in temples. This largely explains the traditional static character and features of canonical conventionality. At the same time, in the statues of Gudea, great changes in Sumerian art are clearly visible, which adopted many progressive features of the art of the Akkadian period.

The best statue of Gudea that has come down to us depicts him seated. In this sculpture, the combination of the undividedness of the stone block, which is usual for Sumero-Akkadian art, with a new feature - a fine modeling of a naked body and the first, albeit timid, attempt to outline the folds of clothing, is very clearly manifested. The lower part of the figure forms a single stone block with the seat, and the clothes, resembling a smooth case, under which the body is not felt at all, is only a good field for inscriptions. Absolutely excellent interpretation of the upper part of the statue. Well modeled strong

shoulders, chest and arms of Gudea. A soft fabric, thrown over the shoulder, lies in slightly outlined folds at the elbow and at the hand, which is felt under the fabric. The transfer of a naked body and folds of clothing testifies to a much more developed plastic feeling than it was before, and to the significant skill of the sculptors.

Particularly remarkable are the heads of the statues of Gudea. In the interpretation of the face, there is a desire to convey portrait features. Prominent cheekbones, thick eyebrows, a square chin with a dimple in the middle are emphasized. However, in general, the appearance of the strong and strong-willed face of the young Gudea is conveyed in a generalized way.

After the expulsion of the Gutians in 2132 BC. dominion over Mesopotamia passes to the city. hooray where at it

time ruled by the III dynasty of Ur. Ur acts as a new, after Akkad, unifier of the country, forming a powerful Sumero-Akkadian state, claiming world domination.

Probably, at the turn of the reign of Gudea and the reign of the III dynasty of Ur, such a beautiful work of art was created as a female head made of white marble with eyes inlaid with lapis lazuli, where the sculptor's desire for grace, for plastic and soft transfer of forms, and also there are also undoubted features of realism in the interpretation of eyes and hair. A face full of tender charm with an expressive look of blue eyes is a first-class example of Sumerian art. The most numerous monuments of the time of the III dynasty of Ur - cylinder seals - show how, in connection with the strengthening of despotism, the development of a hierarchy and the establishment of a strictly defined pantheon of deities, obligatory canons were developed in art that glorified the divine power of the king. In the future (which will find its most vivid expression in the Babylonian glyptics) there is a narrowing of the subject and handicraft adherence to ready-made samples. In standard compositions, the same motif is repeated - the worship of a deity.

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39. Stele of Naram-Suen from Susa. Victory of the king over the Lullubeys. Naram-Suen is the king of Akkad, Akkad and Sumer, "the king of the four countries of the world." (2237-2200 BC) at the top are the patron gods, Naram-Sin, who defeated the enemy and the second enemy prays for mercy, below is an army climbing the mountains. Unlike the Sumerian reliefs, elements of the landscape (a tree, a mountain) are present here, the figures are not lined up, but are arranged taking into account the terrain.

Temple Dairy - Decorative frieze of the Temple of Ninhursag at al-Ubayd with Imdugud and deer (London, British Museum)

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Sumerians and Akkadians - two ancient peoples who created a unique historical and cultural image of Mesopotamia IV-III millennia BC. e. There is no exact information about the origin of the Sumerians. It is only known that they appeared in southern Mesopotamia no later than the 4th millennium BC. e. Having laid a network of canals from the Euphrates River, they irrigated the barren lands and built the cities of Ur, Uruk, Nippur, Lagash, etc. on them. Each Sumerian city was a separate state with its own ruler and army.

The Sumerians also created a unique form of writing - cuneiform.

Wedge-shaped signs were pressed out with sharp sticks on wet clay tablets, which were then dried or burned on fire, Sumerian writing captured laws, knowledge, religious ideas and myths.

Very few architectural monuments of the Sumerian era have been preserved., since in Mesopotamia there was neither wood nor stone suitable for construction; most buildings were built from a less durable material - unbaked bricks. The most significant of the buildings that have survived to this day (in small fragments) are White Temple and Red Building in Uruk(3200-3000 BC). A Sumerian temple was usually built on a rammed mud platform that protected the building from floods. Long stairs or ramps (sloping sloping platforms) led to it. The walls of the platform, as well as the walls of the temple, were painted, trimmed with mosaics, decorated with niches and vertical rectangular ledges - shoulder blades. Raised above the residential part of the city, the temple reminded people of the inseparable connection between Heaven and Earth. The temple, a low thick-walled rectangular building with a courtyard, had no windows. On one side of the courtyard was placed a statue of a deity, on the other - a table for sacrifices. Light penetrated the premises through openings under flat roofs and high arched entrances. The ceilings were usually supported by beams, but vaults and domes were also used. Palaces and ordinary houses were built on the same principle.

Beautiful examples of Sumerian sculpture, created at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, have survived to our time. e. The most common type of sculpture was adora "nt (from lat."adore" - "worship"), which was a statue of a praying - a figure of a person sitting or standing with arms folded on his chest, given to the temple. The huge eyes of the adorants were especially carefully executed; they were often inlaid. Sumerian sculpture, unlike, for example, ancient Egyptian, was never given a portrait resemblance; its main feature is the convention of the image.

The walls of Sumerian temples were decorated with reliefs that told both about historical events in the life of the city (military campaign, laying the foundation of a temple) and about everyday affairs (milking cows, churning butter from milk, etc.). The relief consisted of several tiers. Events unfolded in front of the viewer sequentially from tier to tier. All the characters were the same height - only the king was always depicted as larger than others. An example of a Sumerian relief is the stele (vertical plate) of the ruler of the city of Lagash, Eannatum (circa 2470 BC), which is dedicated to his victory over the city of Umma.

A special place in the Sumerian pictorial heritage belongs to glyptic - carving on precious or semi-precious stone. Many Sumerian cylinder-shaped carved seals have survived to our time. The seals were rolled over a clay surface and received an impression - a miniature relief with a large number of characters and a clear, carefully built composition. Most of the plots depicted on the seals are dedicated to the confrontation of various animals or fantastic creatures. For the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, the seal was not just a sign of property, but an object with magical powers. The seals were kept as talismans, given to temples, and placed in burial places.

At the end of the XXIV century. BC. conquered southern Mesopotamia Akkadians. Their ancestors are Semitic tribes that settled in Central and Northern Mesopotamia in ancient times. The Akkadian king Sargon the Ancient, who was later called the Great, easily subjugated the Sumerian cities weakened by internecine wars and created the first unified state in this region - the kingdom of Sumer and Akkad, which existed until the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. Sargon and his fellow tribesmen treated the Sumerian culture with care. They mastered and adapted Sumerian cuneiform for their language, preserved ancient texts and works of art. Even the religion of the Sumerians was adopted by the Akkadians, only the gods received new names.

Sumer is the first written civilization that existed in southeastern Mesopotamia. 5-4 thousand years BC

Geography: From the ancient Greek language, the word “Mesopotamia” is translated as “(country) between the rivers”. Mesopotamia extends between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in their middle and lower reaches. These rivers originate in the mountains of Armenia and on the territory of modern Turkey. It was in the southern part of Mesopotamia that the country that we call Sumer was located. And it is there that one should look for the origins of the Sumero-Akkadian civilization.

Stone construction is being developed. Cuneiform appeared - this is a kind of writing system on clay, in which a system of three-dimensional symbols was used, from the combination of which meaning was born. Similar clay tablets are characterized by a lenticular shape. The book in the Sumerian tradition is a basket with stone tablets. Cuneiform is developing into a single system. LIBRARY OF ASHUR-BONEPAL.

Temples of the Two Rivers.

The center of each city-state was a temple with a large temple economy allocated to it by the community, in which dependent free people and slaves worked, and later exclusively slaves. The oldest example of a Sumerian temple dates back to the late Neolithic period. Although this building, excavated in the city of Eridu (modern Abu Shahrain), was poorly preserved, but, judging by the layout, all the main features that were also characteristic of the later temples of the southern Mesopotamia were already there. The temple stands on a high platform, to which stairs (or ramps) lead from two sides; the sanctuary itself is somewhat shifted to the edge of the platform and has an inner courtyard open at the top; the only, in essence, decoration of the temple is the division of the walls with narrow rectangular niches from the outside and inside. No less characteristic is the absence of windows, which were not needed in the very hot climate of the Southern Mesopotamia. Rectangular doorways and small openings - vents under the ceiling served for the influx of air and upper-side lighting. Temples dedicated to the gods were built. They were named after the color of the walls. Example: "White" and "Red" temples in Uruk (dedicated to Anu - the god of the sky; decorated with glazed tiles). Tel-ukair - a temple on a high pillow, frescoes, a frieze with lions, leopards have been preserved; many stairs. Built from raw brick. The Uruk and Jemdet-Nasr periods also include the only discovered example of a public building - the house of public meetings, the so-called Red Building in the city of Uruk at the end of the 4th millennium BC. Its plan is characteristic: a large closed courtyard with a tribune at one of the walls is surrounded by powerful semi-columns and columns made of raw brick. Half-columns and columns are decorated with a geometric ornament, which was obtained as a result of a peculiar technique - with the help of fired stone or clay cones hammered into the mud brickwork, the flat ends of which are painted in red, black and white. Obviously, this original decoration is an imitation of wicker mats. Such a system of surface decoration disappears in the art of the Mesopotamia of later periods.

Architecture in the 2nd millennium.

From the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, rulers began to build palaces for themselves. The palace is an overgrown house with a number of courtyards, sometimes with a fortress-type outer wall. The palace of King Zimrilim in Mari dates back to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, where ceremonial rooms with wall paintings of a cult nature were opened. The depicted scenes are static, which is usual for religious scenes in the art of Mesopotamia, but very colorful. The content of the images is ornamentally framed processions of the gods and cult scenes; Obviously, the interesting scene of picking dates also has a cult character, which, however, occupies a subordinate place in the overall composition. Of course, there is no need to talk about fresco painting at this time - we have before us a simple painting of the walls on dry land.

Ziggurat- a stepped rectangular tower made of bricks, on the first platform the temple of St. to any god - an integral part of the temple complex. Example: The ziggurat in Nipur consisted of three steps of different colors, total height 21 m, width 60x40 m. It was also the oldest observatory. The priests watched the stars, gave names to the planets and gods. This tradition was adopted by the Romans.

Royal Tombs at Ur- a large number of highly artistic works of art: weapons, helmets, items made of precious metals, stones; found a harp decorated with gold, decorated with a bull's head.

Tomb of Meskalamdug found a ceremonial helmet of gold.

The architecture of the Akkadian period developed in the mainstream of Mesopotamian architecture, retaining its traditional techniques, such as the horizontal division of walls by alternating ledges (pilasters) and niches, the construction of temples on artificial elevations, etc.

art

The art of early Sumer differs from the monuments of art of the late Neolithic, primarily in the rejection of the conventionality of figures and geometrism (with rare exceptions). On the contrary, there is a clear desire, but the ability to more accurately convey the depicted nature, especially when it comes to reproducing representatives of the animal world. Small figurines of domestic animals - calves, bulls, rams, goats - are made of soft stone (serpentine, sandstone); various scenes related to the life of domestic and wild animals are presented on reliefs, cult vessels, and seals. Many of these images are so accurate that the species and breed of the animal can be easily identified; their characteristic postures and movements are vividly transmitted. However, no matter how vitally sometimes the artist reproduced nature, all these images were subordinated to magical purposes, although, unfortunately, it is not always possible to guess what requirements and tasks magic imposed on the image in each individual case.

An excellent example of the plastic art of the ancient Mesopotamia, which makes it possible to judge the characteristic features of the art of this time, is a vessel found in Uruk. The vessel was intended for sacrificial libations and had two necks. On the sides of the plum, as if guarding it, there are two figures of a lion. On the body of the vessel are two lions, rising on their hind legs, attacking two bulls. All figures are given in very high relief, and the heads of animals protrude from the surface, so we can talk about the plastic, sculptural design of the vessel. The bodies of the bulls are given somewhat shortened, which creates the appearance of a perspective reduction. On the cult vessel from Uruk, which shows us a festive procession with gifts, we clearly see these image features characteristic of ancient Eastern art: figures with a torso turned to the front, a face in profile, with an eye in the front, legs in profile; the animals are presented entirely in profile, the river conveyed in undulating lines.

The main monuments of fine art of the ancient Sumerian civilization:

Round or cylinder seals, necessary for "signing", and sometimes appearing as amulets.

Heraldic compositions - copper reliefs of temples (coats of arms).

Palettes - natural stone plates with carved images.

Steles - stone, marble, granite or wooden slabs with images carved on it, but more often texts. Most often they were installed as a burial stone.

Dorants are initiatory figurines of a person in a praying pose.

A sculptural head from Uruk, somewhat smaller than the natural size, in which the goddess Inanna is supposedly seen (the sculpture was in the temple of Inanna in Uruk), reveals a combination of subtly noticed, perhaps even individual facial features, with features interpreted definitely canonically and conventionally (eyebrows, huge inlaid eyes). This gives a special expressiveness to the monument, one of the best in the history of the fine arts of Mesopotamia.

Head of a goddess from the White Temple in Uruk (fertility goddess Ishtar) – flat, 2 meters high. Wavy wig made of gold leaf + inlaid with expensive stones, shells. Monumental plastic. The binding material is bitumen (of local origin).

Standard of "war and peace" from Ur - inlay technique + gold figurines + mother-of-pearl + ornament = 3 registers. In fig. In art, the role of the protagonist is emphasized by size (if the king, then the largest in the image), just as the more frills on the skirt, the more magnificent it is, the more important the character.

Epigraphy is the science that studies ancient inscriptions.

Stele of kites, Embedded slabs, Sumero-Akkadian culture.

Some rulers: Sargon 1, Naram Suen

Capital: Akkad.

Around the beginning of the III millennium BC. e. Eastern Semites, the ancestors of the Akkadians, migrated to the lands of Upper Mesopotamia, presumably from the Arabian Peninsula. Over time, they borrow writing from the Sumerians, adapting it to their language, as well as mythology and way of life.

Monuments of art:

Bronze head of a statue of the king of Akkad, Sargon the Ancient. Perfectly conveyed traits: majesty and authority. Sargon the Ancient created a dynasty that ruled for 150 years. He united all Mesopotamia, created a centralized state with elements of the East. dyspotism.

Narm-Suen - the grandson of Sargon - considered himself the god of Akkad, ordered to depict himself in a headdress with horns.

Despite the fact that the Akkadian kingdom fell under the blow of the Gutian tribes, the cities flourished in the south. In the culture and art of the Akkadian period, the main motive was the idea of ​​a hero. This is either a deified king of humble origin, who managed to gain power, gather and lead a huge army, unite the lands of Mesopotamia and go on a campaign to distant lands. Or it was a man from the lower classes of society, who, thanks to his strength and abilities, distinguished himself in military campaigns and was exalted by the king. Thus, in art, the Akkadians attached more importance to the person of a person than the Sumerians in the previous period.

Akkadian craftsmen achieved significant success in the manufacture of reliefs. The most striking monuments are the stone steles of the kings Rimush and Naram-Suen.

The glyptic of ancient Mesopotamia was traditionally almost always represented by cylinder seals. They were made from colored semi-precious stones, and their prints conveyed various mythological scenes. Unlike monuments of architecture and sculpture, quite a few seals of the Akkadian period have been preserved.

Sculpture. Sculptural images from different types of stone (limestone, local alabaster sandstone), bronze, and possibly from wood were performed mainly for temples. Their size is mostly small - up to 35-40 cm.

Frontally located figures are static. They are reported standing, very rarely with one leg extended forward, or seated. Arms bent at the elbows are closed palm to palm at the chest with a pleading gesture. In wide-open, straight-looking eyes and lips touched by a smile - a prayer. Prayer posture and facial expressions of the petitioner - that's the main thing that needed to be expressed in the execution of this sculpture. There was no religious, magical requirement to embody the specific, individual characteristics of the original. In the guise of a man, his characteristic ethnic features as a Sumerian were conveyed: a large nose, thin lips, a small chin, a large sloping forehead. Through them, only the features of a particular person are visible. It is no coincidence that on the back or shoulder of many figures, the name of the person whom the sculpture depicted, as well as the name of the deity to whom it was dedicated, was carved in a rectangular frame.

Master artists of the early dynastic period created typified human figures-symbols. However, in that era, despite the common ideology, there were still no well-established and legalized by the official tradition and the unified supreme secular and religious authorities, the norms and methods of performance. Each of the sculptures was made without literally repeating, without copying others. The modeling of hairstyles, beards, large strands of wool on clothes is very different. The lines and curls of these strands are deeply cut across the surface of statues and reliefs, sometimes smoothly and easily, sometimes angularly and dryly. These details, along with the eyes inlaid with black and white stone, enliven the images, making them decorative and elegant.

The statue of Ebih-Il, made of blue and white stone, his pleadingly raised eyes give the look of this bearded man an expression of naivety. Ebih-Il sits on a round "stool" in a fluffy skirt with strands of thick wool adorning it. His whole figure is realistic, proportional. Torso and arms are bare.

Relief images of the early dynastic period, due to the lack of still unified canonized norms of execution, are marked by a peculiar expressiveness and decorative effect. This affects, first of all, in a variety of compositions in various modeling of forms. The sequence of pictorial narration about this or that event dominates. In order to convey everything as clearly as possible, individual scenes are distributed by belts, the figure of the main character - the ruler or god - is highlighted in a larger size than the others, as if in a close-up.

The reliefs are carved on a neutral background, not occupied by other images, with clear, more or less flat silhouettes. Faces, as well as figures in general, are typified.

The most common plots are: the laying of temples, victory over enemies, a feast after the laying or victory.

The Eanatum Stele was created to commemorate the victory of the city-state of Lagash over one of the neighboring cities of Umma. The stele of Eanatum is undoubtedly carved by a creatively gifted author. The victory is personified by the large figure of the god Ningirsu, which occupies the entire front side of the plate. However, the god quite realistically finishes off with a mace the captured warriors of Umma, floundering in a mesh bag. The embossed lines on the other side of the stela are even more concrete. Eanatum on a chariot, carrying a spear, enters the battle. Warriors behind him. Above, Eanatum leads the Lagashites on foot. A total of nine warrior heads are visible above the large shields covering their bodies. There is a feeling of a very large, steadily moving mass of people. Such a result was obtained with the help of the image of numerous hands protruding from behind the shields, clutching spears.

Strictness, restraint of silhouettes, clarity of forms, fine elaboration of details characterize the gold ceremonial helmet of Meskalamdug. golden vessels - bowls, goblets.

As in round plastics and reliefs, large articulations that monumentalize them predominate in all these products. Their color structure is based on deep, rich color combinations of the natural color of semi-precious stones - dark blue lapis lazuli, orange-pink carnelian, gold and silver (that is, on the natural decorativeness of these materials).

Numerous figures, statues made of dionite are known. Good knowledge of anatomy, portrait is presented.

11. Art of Babylonia. Chronology. Geographic limits. General characteristics of the phenomenon. Bibliography of the question: M. V. Dobroklonsky. History of the Arts of Foreign Countries, Volume I, Academy of Arts of the USSR, Gnedich.

The history of the Ancient East, the art of V. is divided into 2 periods: the Old Babylonian period (20-17 centuries BC) and Neo-Babylonian art (7-6 centuries BC). In the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. the most significant in Mesopotamia was the so-called Old Babylonian culture. It took shape as a result of an important political transformation. King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC), who ruled on the middle reaches of the Euphrates, united the regions of Sumer and Akkad into one state under the rule of the city of Babylon, (translated as “Gate of God”). Pore ​​testifies to the vitality of the traditions of the Sumerian-Akkaan art at that time.

Sculpture. The diorite stele of King Hammurabi, with a code of laws and a relief in its upper part, is the most characteristic monument of the era. The relief composition on the stele is symbolic. This is an investiture - the scene of King Hammurabi receiving signs of power from the sun god Shamash. Seated on a schematically transmitted ziggurat, Shamash hands out to the king a ring-shaped coiled rope and a rod, and perhaps also measures of length, that is, the attributes of a builder. The deity, as it were, transfers to the ruler of the country, his main servant, the authority to act on his, deity, name and for his glorification. The composition of two figures of a god and a king, placed opposite each other, is balanced. On the uneven, strongly protruding, almost triangular face of the stone, this was not easy to achieve. The folds of clothes and strands of hair of the characters are worked out, cut through with picturesque indentations, with the expectation of the play of light and shadow. The king's face is thin, with strongly sunken cheeks and prominent high cheekbones, portrait. The latter circumstance especially clearly confirms the high artistic level of the monument. The perception of the realistic achievements of Akkadian art by the Neo-Babylonian artists becomes undeniable. The plasticity of the Old Babylonian period is just as vividly represented by a diorite male head from a statue, possibly of King Hammurabi. With the monumental compactness of the total volume of the head, all parts of it are transferred plastically, softly and picturesquely. Undoubtedly, the portraiture of sharp, strong-willed, even severe features of a narrow face with sunken cheeks. Monuments of the 18th century BC. from the city-state of Mari, on the middle Euphrates, from the western outskirts of Babylonia, are the most valuable evidence of the style of Old Babylonian art. The head of Mari was the ruler of Zimrilim. Archaeological excavations revealed the ruins of the Zimri-lima palace. which was an extensive architectural ensemble. This palace was built of raw brick during the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. e. Decorative ornamental stripes were applied on the lower socle parts of the walls. The alabaster statue of the goddess Ishtar from her temple in the palace of Zimrilim is also distinguished by high artistic qualities. Being a little over one meter in height, it is very monumental. This quality is imparted to the statue by a calm frontal setting, as well as a very slight dissection of the overall cylindrical volume of the figure and each of its parts, highlighted only by a large mass. The dress of the goddess falls softly to the ground like a heavy bell. Light folds encircling the garment enliven this columnar form. The fingers and feet of the goddess protrude slightly from under the edge of the skirt raised in front. The upper part of the sculpture - a torso and a head in a spherical cap - a tiara, which is crowned with two massive large horns, smoothly curved over the forehead - completes this statue like a capital. The goddess is represented by a beautiful woman with a broad face, breathing inner strength. Large strands of hair lie on her sloping shoulders in two twisted braids. Massive rounded earrings in six rows of round beads necklaces. She supports a massive jug at the waist with both hands. This is the goddess in whose power the origins of life. She carries pure spring water - “water of life” to people in this vessel. From a hole drilled through the statue, from the throat of a jug, once, in response to prayers, a stream of water poured out, of course, with the help of priests. The city-state of Mari was an ally of Babylon for nearly four decades. But at the end of this period, its existence was stopped by the aggressive campaign of King Hammurabi. The soldiers of Hammurabi, besieging and taking the city and the palace, plundered and destroyed everything.

Neo-Babylonian art. (7-6 centuries BC) From the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e., after the fall of the Kassite dynasty, Babylonia was in a state of complete economic and political helplessness. A new short-term rise of Babylon began at the end of the 7th century. BC, when (in 626 BC) the military leader Nabopolassar seized the supreme power in Babylon. He managed to include in Babylonia the former possessions of Assyria, as well as most of Mesopotamia, Elam, all of Syria, Phoenicia and Palestine. The development of the culture of the time of New Babylon took place under the strong influence of the culture of Assyria, which was defeated by it.

Architecture. Architecture was the main type of neo-Babylonian art. A vivid evidence of this is the city of Babylon, which, over the decades of its last heyday, was transformed into an architectural ensemble that was integral in terms of planning and style. Located on both banks of the Euphrates, Babylon had the appearance of an elongated rectangle and was divided into two parts by the river. More ancient areas, the so-called Old City, were located on the eastern shore. The defense of Babylon was served by four complexes of battlements with towers - buttresses made of raw and baked bricks with the addition of masonry, as well as a deep ditch. The length of the inner wall was over 3 km, and the outer wall was 18 km. It was possible to get into the city through eight bastion gates dedicated to different gods. From each gate began straight broad streets, precessional roads that clearly divided the city into large sections. Streets ran inside these quarters, unlike the Sumerian ones, they were quite regularly planned, but not wide: the distance between the blank walls of residential buildings on their sides was no more than 4 m. god Marduk-Esagil. In the city, which was the center of the religious life of the state, there were 53 significant large temples and several hundred small sanctuaries and altars. The most important of them was the sanctuary of the supreme god Marduk-Esagil, which was a sacred area of ​​16 hectares. Its vast territory was singled out among the residential quarters of the city by the fact that it was surrounded by a double wall, which, with its massiveness, created the impression of a fortress stronghold: there were 12 entrances-gates in the wall. The main - "sacred" gates were introduced into the territory of the sanctuary of Marduk-Esagila from the most important processional road laid from the Ishtar gate. Opposite this gate, on the other side of the sacred precinct, was the vast array of the famous ziggurat, the so-called Tower of Babel.

Did you know,

1. 1. What do these words mean? - Chavin, Sant Augustine, Paracas, Tiahuanaco, Huari, Tayrone, Mochica, Chibcha, Chimu.

2. 2. What is "ethnopsychology"?

3. 3. Who are the Canaanites?

If you see this, boldly exclaim: "Sumer!". These are cylindrical stone seals (on the left), and on the right are modern clay "ribbons" on which an imprint was left. Admire the exquisite craftsmanship of the carver!

Horror-horror! Another problem - where to start?! How to highlight the art of almost 2000 years of civilization, so that you can say the most important thing, and not get caught up in a bunch of details (and there are many interesting ones), and not fall asleep yourself, and so that you do not run away ?!

We have already agreed that in the era of the early Bronze Age, the most significant civilizations of Eurasia were Sumerian, Harappan and Egyptian. We dismantled Harappa, now we move on.

On the left - a skull with decorations found in Ur - the burial of the "QueenPa-Abi", c. 2600 BC. On the right - restored jewelry

Although the Sumerian civilization is almost the same age as the Harappan one, there are more artifacts left, they are stored in the most decent museums in the world, and even in some indecent ones (such as Boston, on whose website you can’t steal pictures). The creations of ancient masters (mainly potters and sculptors) can be seen in the Louvre, in Berlin museums, in the British, in many American ones, and, of course, in Baghdad (if you get there). Quite a lot of figurines, seals, fragments, beads, pots and bottles - without a hundred grams you can’t figure it out, as usual: “Oh, let’s go and look at the pictures!” (See poll in previous post).

This is not a restoration, but a photograph. This is how the "marsh Arabs" in Iraq still live. This is what the first settlements looked like. Sumerians in the swampy area of ​​Mesopotamia.

Is that what you, personally, imagine when you hear the word “Sumer”? Before, of course, I did this modest study, something like: “S-s-s-s ... Something ancient. Very, very old. Something in warm countries. And again: “Yes-ah-ah!!! They were cool! Everything seems to have come from them. Or not from them? And then: "Well, God bless them!".

Pottery of the Ubeid culture (4500-5500 BC). These indigenous inhabitants of Mesopotamia were pushed aside by the Sumerians, who came from somewhere in the mountains.

Maybe let's get to know each other better? Why do we need this? And in this way we will trace how this civilization of the Bronze Age influenced the further cultures of Mesopotamia, and how they, in turn, influenced Greece, which is closer to us.

I decided to start with pictures. I'll pull them, I think, from the Web, and then we'll figure it out. It turned out that many of the pictures were signed something like this: “Statue of a priest. Sumer." Or even “better”: “Ancient figurine. Mesopotamia". Very informative! Mesopotamia is relatively small, but it's a cauldron of ancient civilizations! Just a layered pie of archaeological cultures! And what does Mesopotamia mean, you know? What does “What kind of idiotic question?” Means, I didn’t know that Mesopotamia, Mesopotamia and Mesopotamia are one and the same. Just "Meso-potamia" - this is the "mesopotamia" in Greek and Latin. Even I know the rivers - the Tigris and the Euphrates.

Map of ancient Mesopotamia (3500-2500 BC). I have highlighted the main cities of Sumer and Akkad and plotted images of the most striking finds . The deeper into antiquity, the more isolated and independent from each other the Sumerian cities existed.

To give you an idea of ​​what I'm talking about when I'm arguing about "streamlined" photo captions, take a look at the sign I made up. These are the main civilizations and cultures that inhabited Mesopotamia in antiquity. It's easier for me to figure out who is who, and you understand better.

But that's not all! There were also Neolithic cultures. Ubeid, for example. Previously, Ubeid settlements in Mesopotamia were not found - maybe there were none, some scientists suggest that the waters of the Persian Gulf splashed here at all, or maybe they were simply covered with multi-meter layers of silt from frequent floods. The fourth, and maybe the fifth millennium BC, can you imagine it?! There is still no Chinese wall, no Moscow Kremlin, no Egyptian pyramids! Mysterious aboriginal tribes created amazing pottery for such antiquity! Moreover, skill was manifested both in paintings and in the form of products. The Ubeid culture is the first civilization of Mesopotamia. Only then the Sumerians fell on their heads from somewhere and forced them out of their homes. Or mixed with them?

Another tablet - the main cities of Sumer. The intensity of the color means flourishing. The boundaries of the emergence and extinction of the city are actually blurred, one has to focus on the last mentions, etc. That's it, I don't torture you with signs anymore!

In general, at the turn of the 4th-3rd millennium, three ethnic groups coexisted quite peacefully in Mesopotamia: the Sumerians, who came from somewhere in the Northeast and lived in Lower Mesopotamia, representatives of the Ubeid culture and Semitic tribes who settled somewhere in the middle. Then the Sumerians drove out the Ubeids, and later they themselves were conquered by the Semites, who by that time were beautifully called the kingdom of Akkad, so they became Sumero-Akkad.

Finds made at Ur (ca. mid 3000 BC). Gold, stone, silver vessels, a gold helmet, a plate with goats from a shell, a half-figure of a goddess, a stone head of a woman, a golden weapon.

The Sumerians themselves did not belong to the Semitic family, they were Indo-Europeans, and, presumably, of the Mediterranean type (they say that such people are now sometimes found in Iraq) - this was confirmed by anthropological studies of human remains. Short, swarthy, with straight noses, black-haired, with dense vegetation on the body, which was carefully removed - so as not to feed the lice. Even the face was shaved, but some social groups also wore beards. Many articles I found say that they had large eyes and ears; the authors, apparently, are guided by sculptural images. However, this is just styling. Imagine that our descendants in two thousand years will dig up the temple and find the icon. And scientists of that time will write: “The inhabitants of Eastern Europe had oblong faces, large eyes and very thin long noses. And a sad expression all the time.

Iraqi children. Maybe the Sumerians looked like this.
It's monstrous, but I could hardly find photos of ordinary children from Iraq on the Web - in most of the pictures they are mutilated, with torn off limbs, covered in blood, with burnt faces, etc. People, what are you doing?!

Of course, the artists and sculptors of that time were more artisans than creators. They made their works to order: to decorate the premises, to glorify the gods, to perpetuate the memory of the rulers and their exploits. Technical skill was polished over time, but the expressiveness and "temperament" of images in the more developed Sumerian art was lost compared to more ancient forms. The figures have become more static.

Sumerian figurines

What inspired the artist of that time? The same as modern: the surrounding nature, religion, other social ideas, fears, reverence for authority, disrespect for enemies. The materials used were those that were the most accessible: mostly clay, there was a lot of it. There is little stone in Mesopotamia, there is almost no tree at all. Metals were brought from other countries, as was ivory. In general, it was a harsh land - between the mountains and the salty sea, the desert alternates with swamps, drought replaces floods. Conditions for life, and even more so for prosperity, are not the best.

Early Sumerian pottery

Apparently, the Sumerians were a truly unique people who showed extraordinary ingenuity and imagination in a constant struggle with unfriendly nature. Even in the pre-dynastic period, they mastered the system of drainage and irrigation, learned how to build canals. They built houses from brick: at first - from dried in the sun, later - from burnt. Rich people had 2-3 floors, up to 12 rooms. Like the Harappans, there was a sewage system, toilet rooms. They ate at the tables, not on the floor! Despite the acute shortage of wood, the carpenters seemed to be very skilled! Furniture and musical instruments were made from wood in rich houses.

Late Sumerian pottery

If you take a closer look at the Sumerian antiquities, you will not only "sweep the eye", but also get considerable pleasure. Looking at all these tablets and figurines, I understand why lovers of the revival of mythology attribute alien and even almost divine origin to the Sumerians, try to connect them with the origin of all the peoples of the world, etc. In all these figurines of leaders, deities and priests, one can see some (I'm not afraid to use a paradox!) primal freshness, uncomplicated curiosity and a thirst for life!

Finds from Uruk. And they treated bulls with respect, right?

Very unusual in our traditional ideas about antiquity! In the end, it's just beautiful! When you consider an art object to understand how beautiful it is (well, it causes conflicting feelings in your initial perception!), Imagine that THIS will always stand on your chest of drawers or hang on the wall and “an eyesore” for many months. There is nothing to hang on the wall of Sumerian gizmos - if there was painting, then you know its unpleasant property - under layers of sand and silt it quickly becomes unusable, but figurines - please! Any - welcome to my computer shelf! We will wink and even quietly talk furtively from relatives.

Prince Gudea of ​​Lagash (22nd century BC). Apparently, this ruler was very energetic and enjoyed considerable respect - so many of his images have been preserved! Or a cult of personality?

The pop-eyed group of figurines from Eshnuna is probably the most typical and most appropriate for understanding Sumerian art. The figurines are undoubtedly iconic. But in them there is no threat, no grandeur, no lifeless static, although all the characters are depicted in the same strictly symmetrical poses. All of them are different, all have a separate character and status. I want to childishly drop everything, grab them, hide behind a copy machine in a copy room and play “daughters-mothers” or “soldiers” (what gender you are, I don’t know!). Why such childish recognition? Why does a hand reach out to them involuntarily?

Figurines from Eshnuna (2900-2600 BC)

Maybe just the skill of the ancient sculptor was naive and imperfect, and therefore "to his own board"? Perhaps he wanted to do something significant and spiritual, but the result was a company of bug-eyed weirdos. Or maybe this friendly simplicity and naive charm mirror the life philosophy and worldview of the ancient Sumerians. Reliable dwellings, high, as for antiquity, technologies, huge temples, a flourishing civilization between swamps and desert, "non-militaristic" fine art, a lot of poetic samples imprinted on clay tablets, and these charming figures - a very pretty trace in history left the mysterious Sumerians.

Stele of Naramsin (Sumero-Akkad, 2300). After the conquest of Sumer by Akkad, there was a tendency towards militarization in art.

It is not for nothing that some researchers (much deeper and more thoughtful than I) compare the supposed philosophy of the Sumerians with the ideas of Plato!

And the decorations! This is something!!! A particularly rich "harvest" of finds was discovered at Ur by Leonard Woolley in 1927-28. He unearthed 16 unplundered royal burials of 2700-2600 BC, in which they found perfectly preserved art objects - jewelry, richly inlaid musical instruments, a golden helmet and much more.

Jewels found in Ur during excavations of royal burials

After research, it was found that after the death of the queen, for example, her close associates followed her, taking poison. The famous bull-headed harp was discovered in the hands of a harpist who seems to have played music until the last moment of his life. This find is in no way inferior in value to the famous "Trojan" treasure of Schliemann or the discovery of the burial of Tutankhamun, but, for some reason, is much less known.

More jewels

I just lost my feet (or fingers), pounding on the keyboard and scouring the sites, looking for Sumerian ceramic dishes - I found just a couple of images! I think they are, there are plenty of descriptions of ceramics on the Internet, but for some reason there are no images. But a lot of ceramics of the Ubeid period, pre-Sumerian. They write that the early Sumerian ceramics were very similar to it - on a light background, simple ornaments of red, orange and brown colors. Those were the colors back then. Blue and green came up much later. Over time, when the Sumerian civilization developed and moved forward, ceramics changed - it became embossed. Vessels were decorated with convex ornaments and animal heads. But there are a lot of clay tablets and figurines - after all, clay from the river banks was just heaps here!

Other finds of Ur are the standard "War and Peace" (above), the figurine "Goat in the garden in the bushes", the Royal harp, a board game, a silver harp. And they also found something like a sleigh there!

Stone was rare, as I have already said, but the most beautiful and virtuoso sculptural images of Sumer that have come down to us are made of stone. Quite a lot - from steatite or "soapstone". A characteristic feature of Sumerian sculpture is "big-eyedness". All the cult figurines from Eshnuna stand in the same pose and their eyes are literally popped out of amazement! Long skirts, often with scalloped edges, are worn by both men and women. Hands are almost always folded in a special manner in front of the chest. Striking hairstyles and beards on some male statues are striking - as if wound with red-hot tongs. We will see the same later on the Babylonian images.

Thor Heyerdahl's boat "Tigris". On such inhabitants of Mesopotamia crossed the Persian Gulf and reached the Red Sea

A particularly recognizable attribute of the Sumerians is the huge buildings for religious purposes - ziggurats. The tradition of erecting such buildings was later adopted by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. Scientists believe that the legendary Tower of Babel was just a ziggurat. It was something like stepped pyramids, piled one on top of the other. They had such an unusual appearance that today's fantasists attribute to them an extraterrestrial origin. It is believed that the Sumerians erected ziggurats, longing for their ancient homeland - they are believed to have descended somewhere from the mountains, on the tops of which they prayed to the god of Heaven. Several ziggurats have been excavated over the past hundred years. Unfortunately, they all lie in conflict zones, far from tourist routes. The famous ziggurat in Ur, famously renovated by order of Hussein, is located near the American military base. The ziggurat not far from Suz (Shush in Iran) is the best preserved without any reconstructions.

Eridu port and reed boat (reconstruction)

The main states of the ancient world in the third and second millennium BC were not separated by such distances as the present world. And although transport in those days was simpler, but still the inhabitants of the main states of that time - the Harappan civilization, Sumer and Egypt - managed to maintain relations. In Egypt, in the archaeological layers of 3200-3500 BC, during excavations, luxury items brought from Sumer were discovered. In Egyptian and Sumerian finds of the same period - the 3rd millennium BC - the same motif is often present - mythological animals with long intertwined necks. Etc.

Sumerian city (it seems to be a reconstruction from the magazine "Around the World")

The Sumerians also communicated with the Harappans, most likely. And in general they were alien to xenophobia. They actively contacted with the surrounding peoples, traveled and traded with distant countries. Perhaps that is why their art is so diverse and polymorphic - Sumerian artists readily absorbed the culture of other peoples, giving birth to new, original and original forms. Remember, there was such a cool Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl? A friend of our Yuri Senkevich. Once I read books about his travels "On the "Ra" across the Atlantic" and "Expedition" Tigris "". So Tigris - it was a reed boat on which Heyerdahl sailed from Iraq, crossed the Persian Gulf, reached Pakistan (Harappan civilization) and then into the Red Sea (Egypt).

The ziggurat at Ur, rebuilt by order of Saddam Hussein

By this he proved that the inhabitants of Mesopotamia could well travel on such boats to very remote regions. Clay seals, found in large numbers in Pakistan and in the territories of Sumer, are very similar. Only the Harappans used flat ones more often, while among the Sumerians they find more cylindrical ones. Apparently, the Sumerians were also in contact with the Elamites (present-day Iran), some “rehashings” are observed in the works of art of the two states. Some warlike, aggressive motive was introduced by the Akkadian culture - after the unification of the two kingdoms, a merger of cultures, albeit partial, was clearly observed. We undoubtedly observe Sumero-Akkadian motifs in later artifacts of Babylonia and Assyria.

Ziggurat. Reconstruction

Pieter Brueghel "Tower of Babel"

Where did Sumer go? And apparently nowhere. It was conquered and absorbed by the Babylonian Empire in the middle of the second millennium BC, and then simply dissolved into it.

And the Sumerians came up with four seasons, a minute out of 60 seconds, the signs of the zodiac. It seems that it was they who had the first writing - cuneiform, in which they wrote a lot, not only barn-trade records, but also poems. And they had healing (it seems that they were even the first to speak water), and the first schools.

Almost all European and half of Asian cultures are associated with them. The influence of their mythology is present in the bible. They are studied by representatives of almost all sciences, and ufologists are especially diligent. And if it's true that we all came from the same mother Eve, some mutated ape from central Africa, then each of us has a couple of genes from the ancient Sumerians. Listen to yourself - don't you want to look at the sky, think, and then mold something wonderful out of clay?

Well, the correct answers of the "self-quiz".

1. I suggest, adding two more - the Incas and the Aztecs. I have listed the ancient cultures of the American continent. The oldest of them originate in the second millennium BC. Imagine - and there, too, life was in full swing! We won’t study them yet, I don’t even have a good idea where it is. Is it even on Earth?

2. Science is like that, of course. He studies the psychology of peoples, ethnic groups. A young science that arose at the junction of others. Thus, according to this science, people living on the plains are more prone to cohesion, to overcoming difficulties by joint efforts, but at the same time they are not well affected by the monotonous “flat” landscape, and they are especially vulnerable to sadness and depression.

3. So the peoples of Palestine in biblical times called the Phoenicians. It was a trading people of seafarers who settled on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea (Levant), founded such cities as Tire and Carthage. Recently, the British geneticist Spencer Wells took DNA material from the teeth in ancient burials and compared it with the DNA of the inhabitants of modern Lebanon. After that, it can be said with certainty that modern Lebanese are the direct descendants of the Canaanites (Phoenicians).

Who read - well done!
See you soon!