Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins exhibit now open at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California

The Getty Villa has reopened and is now hosting the special exhibit "Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins."  Some of the objects are from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.  Others are on loan from The Louvre and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Ancient Mesopotamia, centered in present-day Iraq, occupies a unique place in the history of human culture. It is there, around 3400–3000 BC, that all the key elements of urban civilization first appear in one place: cities with monumental infrastructure and official bureaucracies overseeing agricultural, economic, and religious activities; the earliest known system of writing; and sophisticated architecture, arts, and technologies. For some three thousand years, Mesopotamia remained the preeminent force in the Near East. In 539 BC, however, Cyrus the Great captured Babylon and incorporated Mesopotamia into the Persian Empire. Periods of Greek and Parthian rule followed, and by about AD 100 Mesopotamian culture had effectively come to an end. 

Closeup of a Head of Prince Gudea, Ruler of Lagash, Neo-Sumerian 2120 BCE, Diorite, that I photographed at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in Santa Barbara, California. The sculpture of this prince at the Getty exhibit is from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Elamite Head of a Ruler Iran (?) 2300-2000 BCE Arsenical copper that I photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The headdress seems related to Elamite works of southwestern Iran and resembles another bronze head of the late third millennium BCE found at Nineveh.

Although you will see a statuette of a Neo-Sumerian human-headed bull dated 2150-2000 BCE from The Louvre at the exhibit, this is an image I took of a very similar sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It is identified as Kursarikku associated with the sun god Shamash Reign of Ur-Ningirsu of Lagash 2150-2100 BCE, crafted of Serpentine. This serptentine (lizardite) sculpture is from southern Mesopotamia, probably Tello (ancient Girsu). The inscription proclaims the sculpture is dedicated to the goddess Nanshe for the life of the Sumerian ruler Ur-Ningirsu.

Statuette of the Demon Panzuzu, Neo-Assyrian, 934-610 BCE Bronze now in the collections of The Louvre, image courtesy of the museum

Plaque with King Gilgamesh killing the monster Humbaba, Amorite, 2000 - 1600 BCE, terracotta, now in the collections of the Louvre, image courtesy of the museum

Statuette of a dog dedicated to the goddess Ninisina, Amorite, 1894-1866 BCE, steatite, now in the collections of The Louvre, image courtesy of the museum.

Wall fragment with a man's head, Neo-Assyrian 850-650 BCE now in the collections of The Louvre, image courtesy of the museum.

If you enjoyed this post, never miss out on future posts by following me by email!

Elamite-era artifacts languishing in vermin-infested Shush Castle

How terrible! This is a prime example of a cache of ancient art that needs to be at least photographed and indexed before these priceless items are lost to the world forever!

"About 90,000 archaeological artifacts are being stored in appalling conditions in the underground storerooms of Shush Castle which is located in Shush, near the ancient sites of Susa in Khuzestan Province.

“The storerooms are not only humid but are inhabited by snakes, scorpions, and insects such as termites,” an informed source, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the Persian service of IRNA on Tuesday. “The artifacts belong to various periods of Iran’s history,” the informer added. According to the report, many of the items have never been on public display.

Artifacts which were discovered by the French archaeologist Roman Ghirshman in the 1940s are among the relics languishing in the gloomy cellars. A large number of the secreted objects had been carefully salvaged from the Elamite-era sites of Khuzestan over the past decades. The only action that has been taken for the protection of the relics was carried out by ancient inscriptions expert Abdolmajid Arfaei, who sprayed the storerooms with insecticide last year. "

Image: Kneeling Bull Figure, Proto-Elamite, 3000-2800 BCE, southwest Iran (Courtesy Bostonia, Summer 2004, Boston University) If you enjoyed this post, never miss out on future posts by following me by email!