Chapter 15

From Earliest Art to the Bronze Age

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Mid-Term Grades

• Quiz #1= ____100

• Mid-Term Exam= _____200

Mid-Term Grade = # ÷ 300 = Mid-Term Grade

Example: 90 + 145 = 235 ÷ 300 = 78.3333% = 78% = C

425 on report = 235+425=660 ÷700=94.29% = 92 = A

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Prehistoric Sites and Early Centers of Civilization.[Fig. 15-1]

1. The origins of humankind can be traced to Africa.

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2. The Paleolithic Period (30,000–9,000 B.C.E.) Paleolithic: from the Greek word old and lithoswhich means stone. (Old Stone Age)

The Paleolithic people, the Cro-Magnons: earliest known ancestor of the human, recognized humans and animals in their world and then abstracted them or represented them through their artwork. This great intellectual achievement cannot be underestimated (Kleiner, 2009).

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The Mother Goddess: Woman of Willendorf

3. The abstracted Woman of Willendorf has its detail focused on the mid-section of the body: large breasts, abdomen, pelvis, and hips, but the face lacks detail. Because of this, images of this type may refer to the Great Mother Goddess or Creator (Frank, 2014). They may also be images of fertility to increase the population and the survival of a people (Kleiner, 2009).

Enlarged midsection: pelvis, hips, and stomach

Pubic triangle

Woman of Willendorf. c.25,000–20,000 BCE.Limestone. Height 4-1⁄2".

akg-image/Erich Lessing. [Fig. 15-4 Page 242]Kern/ARH1000

Wall painting of animals, Chauvet Cave, Pont

d’Arc, France. c.28,000 BCE. [Fig. 15-5]

4. The Chauvet Cave wall painting is the earliest datable painting in history—dated by radiocarbon (the rate of degeneration of Carbon 14. It was discovered by Jean-Marie Chauvet (explorer) and his team in December 1994. The animal forms are shown in profile and some are incomplete and overlap. The animal forms were either painted in silhouette or in outline. These styles along with the profile view constituted the basic technique of painting. The profile view is important to note because it is descriptive of the animal’s form—not realistic or optically correct. In optically correct profile view, you could not see two horns (Kleiner, 2009). They wanted to describe their world.Kern/ARH1000

Figure 1-12 Aurochs, horses, and rhinoceroses, wall painting in Chauvet Cave, Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, France, ca. 30,000–28,000 or ca. 15,000–13,000 BCE. Kern/ARH1000

Purposes of the Animal Paintings:

5. Perhaps the animals had spiritual and magical powers that increased the population of animals and thus increased the opportunity for hunted food and directly supported the nourishment and sustenance of the people.

The imagery also could be used in creative visualization rituals in order to control the animal and thus control their environment (Kleiner, 2009).

Some scholars believe that the animal paintings in remote caves relate to sacred ceremonies where young hunters would be initiated into animal related ceremonies (Frank, 2014)

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Narrative Painting in Prehistoric Art?

Rhinoceros, wounded man, and disemboweled bison, painting in the well, Lascaux, Dordogne, France, ca. 15,000–13,000 BCE. Bison approx. 3’ 8” long. Page 477

•Look at the bird-faced human: is it a man? Is he wearing a mask?

•Is he dead?

•Did the rhino attack him?

•Did the man disembowel the bison or did the rhino?

•Since there is no written document to tell us, we have to guess (Kleiner, 2009).Kern/ARH1000

The Neolithic Periodc. 6,000 B.C.–2,000 B.C.

6. Neolithic people controlled their world by settling down and creating permanenthomes, developing crops, and herding animals. They organized communities intovillages. Land, especially the grassy uplands, were important for growing crops likewild wheat and barley. Grains became a part of the diet. Populations grew andpeople moved to the river valleys and the deltas for the rich soil (Kleiner, 2009).

Paleolithic (30,000–9,000 B.C.E.)

Hunter/Gather

Permanent Homes and Villages

TownspeopleLanguage, Laws, and Civilization

Neolithic (8,000–2,300 B.C.E.)

Farmer/Herder

The Neolithic Revolution

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Humans from the beginning of history have created shelter and dwellings for themselves.

Materials: stone

Technology: stacking

Purpose: dolmen, a tomb

Dolmen, north of Carnac, FranceThis is an “enclosed tomb” (Frank, 2014, Page 221).

“Among the world’s oldest surviving structures…”

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7. Post and Lintel Construction Consists of

• Vertical Posts

• Horizontal Lintels

• Forces push and pull a building’s structure. The forces or stresses pull which creates tension and lengthens and stretches building materials.

• Forces or stresses that push create compression which crush and shorten building materials. (DeWitte, Larmann, and Shields, 2012).

• Basic but Limits space

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Aerial view of Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, England, ca. 2550–1600 BCE. Circle is 97' in diameter; trilithons 24' high

The purpose Stonehenge seemed to serve was to be an observatory of astronomy and a solar and lunar calendar (Kleiner, 2010). The road is in line with most northern moon rise. This is believed by archaeologists to be critical to funereal rituals. Read Page 246 What did this culture value?

8. The best example of post and lintel is Stonehenge.

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Restored view of a section of Level VI, Çatal Höyük, Turkey, ca. 6000–5900 BCE (John Swogger).

The houses were connected and had no doors. The roofs had openings below them to serve as doorways and ventilation. Much like today’s homes, the kitchen was the heart of the living space. The mud, brick, and timber spaces were adorned on inside walls with bull horns and plaster sculptures of breasts. These could serve as possible masculine and feminine symbols (Kleiner, 2009). Kern/ARH1000

The Neolithic Periodc. 6,000 B.C.–2,000 B.C.

9. While the Paleolithic people abstracted their world through their

drawings, paintings, and sculptures, they took their world andinterpreted it through representational art. The art of Neolithic peoplecentered around useful items like pottery and baskets to hold water,seeds, and food. The designs on the pottery became geometricdesigns from nature: plant and animal themes (Frank, 2014).

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Earthenware beaker with ibexes. c.4000 BCE. Painted terra cotta. Height 11-1⁄4".

Susa, Iran. Musée du Louvre. RMN-Grand Palais. [Fig. 15-8, P. 245]Kern/ARH1000

Burial urn, Kansu type. Neolithic period, c.2200 BCE. Pottery with painted decoration. Height 14-1⁄8".

China. The Seattle Art Museum. Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection (51.194). Photograph: Paul Macapia. [Fig. 15-9, P. 245]

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The Ancient Near East

IRAQ

IRAN

TURKEY

SYRIA

Mesopotamia (approximation)

Mesopotamia: “land between two rivers”—the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. 10. Mesopotamians are credited with inventing the wheel, the plow, and the first type of early writing (Frank, 2014). Kern/ARH1000

Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu. c.2100 BCE.Iraq. Photograph: SuperStock, Inc. [Fig. 15-11, Page 247]

Ziggurat is a large platform for a temple.

11. The Sumerians of Mesopotamia believed that their gods lived above the earth, and therefore, the gods would come down from heaven to appear to them. That is why the temple is elevated on a ziggurat or a monumental platform upon which sits a temple (Kleiner, 2009). Ziggurats connected the earth to heaven and were made out of sunbaked clay bricks that were glazed with color and kiln fired. The priests and priestess had their sanctuaries on top of the ziggurats where they would rule with high authority (Frank, 2014)

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The Royal Tombs of Ur

• 3000 B.C.E., well-to-do and powerful Sumerian rulers and families were buried in vaulted chambers below the earth. Uncovered by English archaeologist, Sir Leonard Woolley (1880–1960), many beautiful and luxurious items were found:

• http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/tombs/explore/exp_set.html

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12. Among the treasures found at the Royal Tombs of Ur, where Sumerian royalty was buried, is the Bull Lyre—a musical instrument. The bull has a beard which symbolizes royalty. The animals on the front plaque are acting as humans and shown descriptively like the animals of the Paleolithic peoples: heads are in profile, yet the eyes are frontal, and both arms and legs are visible. The two-bearded bulls being embraced by the man in the top panel is heraldic (coat of arms of a family or ruler) themed design which could represent bravery and honor (Frank, 2014.

Bull-headed lyre (restored) from Tomb 789 (“King’s Grave”), Royal Cemetery, Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar), Iraq, ca. 2600 BCE. Lyre: Gold leaf and lapis

lazuli over a wooden core, 5’ 5” high. Page 248

Sound box (right): Wood with inlaid gold, lapis lazuli, and shell, 1’ 7” high.

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Banquet scene, cylinder seal (left) and its modern impression (right), from the tomb of Pu-abi (tomb 800), Royal Cemetery, Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar), Iraq, ca. 2600 BCE. Lapis lazuli,

2” high. British Museum, London.

Early Writing

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Head of an Akkadian Ruler, from Nineveh (modern Kuyunjik), Iraq, ca. 2250–2200 BCE. Copper, 1’ 2 3/8” high. Iraq Museum, Baghdad. Page 249

13. North of Sumeria was Akkadia. The Head of the Akkadian Ruler shows absolute monarchy that ruled Akkadia and the spread out Sumerian city-states. His confident manner exudes power and control. The stylized hair and beard are hallmarks of later Mesopotamian

and Egyptian artworks. (Frank, 2014).

This head was originally attached to a body that no longer exists. The eyes, once decorated with precious and semi-precious gems/stones, have been plucked clean leaving empty ravaged sockets (Kleiner, 2010).

•Most exciting is the hollow casting of the metal (Kleiner, 2009).Kern/ARH1000

Pyramid of Khafre

Pyramid of Menkaure

The Pyramids of GizaThe Old Kingdom 2649 B.C.–2150 B.C.

14. “The most monumental expression of the Egyptian pharaoh’s power was the pyramid, his burial place and zone of passage into the afterlife”

(Schneider Adams, 2005, p. 51).The king’s burial place and passageway from the mortal life to the afterlife.

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Load-Bearing Construction: pile materials on top of each

other.

Great Pyramids, Gizeh, Egypt, Fourth Dynasty. From bottom: Pyramids of Menkaure, ca. 2490–2472 BCE; Khafre, ca. 2520–2494 BCE; and Khufu, ca. 2551–2528 BCE. Page 277

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King and Queen

King Menkaure and Queen Khameremebty from Giza, 2490–2472 Page 252

The King Menkaure is viewed frontally as he poses formally with his fists clenched and his left leg protruding forward. This signifies that he is in power. Queen Khamerernebty is depicted smaller and dressed less formally and depicted more naturalistically as she is below the rank of king.

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15. The function of the Menkaure and Queen Khameremebty sculpture was to hold the life force or ka of the royal couple as a permanent home. Worshipers would bring food and beverages. It was believed that priests had the magic power to change the stone into the real king and queen who could then eat and drink (Schneider Adams, 2005).

Mummification for the Afterlife

• http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/mummies/story/main.html

Tutankhamun's canopic chest and lids in the form of human heads.

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Death mask of Tutankhamen, from the innermost coffin in his tomb at Thebes, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, ca.

1323 BCE. Gold with inlay of semiprecious stones, 1’ 9 1/4” high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Page 253

Much of King Tut’s burial artifacts are preserved because his tomb, fortunately, was undiscovered until 1922. The Death mask of Tutankhamen is an idealized portrait of the young King Tut comprised expertly of precious materials: gold, turquoise, lapis lazuli (Kleiner, 2009).

Essential for royal burial: an image the soul could inhabit if his body was destroyed or taken

Vulture and Cobra on his brow are protective goddesses

On shoulders and back of the mask are magical spells that connect to gods and goddesses who will protect him in the afterlife.

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Figure 3-34 Innermost coffin of Tutankhamen, from his tomb at Thebes, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1323 BCE. Gold with inlay of enamel and semiprecious stones, 6’ 1” long.

Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

•This piece shows the excellent craftsmanship of the artist as well as the power and magnificence of King Tut.

•This is approximately one-quarter ton of hammered gold decorated with lapis lazuli, turquoise, and carnelian (Kleiner, 2009).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Jjb94G5ls

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http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections?ft=Egyptian&noqs=true

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Fowling scene, from the tomb of Nebamun, Thebes, Egypt, 18th

Dynasty, ca. 1400–1350 BCE. Fresco on dry plaster,. 2’ 8” high. British

Museum, London. Page 253

The hieroglyphic words speak of Nebamun enjoying his hunting recreation in the afterlife with his wife and daughter. The king is larger to show his rank (Kleiner, 2010).

16. The Egyptians depicted their figures in the most readily recognizable way:

both shoulders, chest, and the one eye are depicted frontally. The head, arms,

and legs are in profile (Schneider Adams, 2005). This is best shown in the wall

painting from the Tomb of Nebamun. In the painting, here is great detail about

the fish, fowl, and plants. Also seen in this painting is the use of hieratic scale

(Frank, 2014).

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