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Ziggurat to moon goddess Nanna 
Ur (Neo-Sumerian), about 2100 BCE |
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Sumerian society was not secular and city-states were "owned" by the deity that town served. At least originally these city-states were theocracies, that is, governed by a priest-bureaucracy. The towns were dominated by shrines or temples. Often the temple is on a man-made mountain (called a ziggurat) with stairs leading up to the temple area on the top. The geographical conditions of Mesopotamia did not favor the development of architecture since it lacked stone and timber, which are essential building materials for monumental architecture. Most buildings were probably made of tall marsh reeds -- highly perishable materials. The zigguarats and temples, however, were made of mud brick (oblong bricks dried in the sun). The temple was at the top of the ziggurat; its name means literally "the waiting room" for the god. These structures were an early attempt to bridge the gap between human beings and divinity. The mountain is an important symbol in Mesopotamian religion, representing the mysterious forces of life which bring rain and fertility.
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Votive statues from Abu Temple
marble with shell and black limestone inlay
Sumerian, about 2700-2600 BCE, tallest figure about 30" tall |
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Many of the artifacts that survive from early Mesopotamian cultures are religious in nature; a number of carved stone vases, for example, have been excavated which probably had a ritual function. The statues from the Abu Temple, unlike early Egyptian works which memorialized important pharoahs, were ritual furniture for the temple. The two largest figures are a god and goddess (designs on the base have symbols relating to their divinity). The large eyes also identify them as divine; the eye in many cultures has a mysterious force ("the evil eye," for example). The other figures in the grouping are thought to be worshippers -- or stand-ins for worshippers, believed to be offering prayers on behalf of human beings.
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Stele with law code of Hammurabi
Babylonian, about 1780 BCE
basalt, 7' 4" high |
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Another important development in Mesopotamian art is the stele, a carved stone slab which commemorates historical events -- such as the winning of a military victory or the building of a ziggurat. Although a number of these survive, perhaps the most famous is this example from Babylonian art. It depicts the ruler Hammurabi (on the left) receiving the law code from the god Shamash. It predates Moses’ receiving of the tablets at Sinai by about 500 years. Shamash, the sun god, has flames at his shoulders, wears a horned crown (the bull is a symbol of power in Mesopotamian religion), and holds a ring and staff, which were also symbols of his divinity. Hammurabi stand with his hand raised in obedience or prayer. The scene takes place on a mountain top, represented by the triangles under the god's feet. |
The history of Near Eastern cultures is complex, since various city-states rose and fell from power and dominance over a long period of time. The earliest peoples in recorded history to occupy the fertile Mesopotamian valley of the lower Tigris and Eupharates rivers were the Sumerians who established the first urban city-states. Notable among their achievements was the development of the earliest script--a system of wedge-shaped ("cuneiform") signs or marks pressed into clay tablets with the sharpened end of a reed. While writing was developed to organize commercial and social life, the Sumerians also produced a significant literature, the most important being the Epic of Gilgamesh.
