First Look - Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins at the newly reopened Getty Villa

 Today's featured "Antiquities Alive" virtual exhibit - The first batch of images from my friend Allan Gluck of the "Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins" exhibit at the newly reopened Getty Villa: 

Head of a God, Neo-Sumerian, 2150-2000 BCE, Terracotta, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Head of a Man, possibly a ruler, Sumerian, 2700-2600 BCE, Limestone, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Head of a ruler, Amorite, about 1840 BCE, Gabbro, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Bronze model of a chariot, Sumerian, 2900 - 2340 BCE, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

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

Relief fragment with royal chariot and officers, Neo-Assyrian, 668-627 BCE, Gypsum, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Statuette of a high-status woman, Neo-Sumerian, 2150-2000 BCE, Chlorite, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Statuette of a high-status woman, Neo-Sumerian, 2150-2000 BCE, Chlorite, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Statuette of a bull, Proto-urban, about 3000 BCE, black limestone, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Statuette of a dog dedicated to the goddess Ninisina, Amorite, 1894-1866 BCE, Steatite, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Statuette of a dog dedicated to the goddess Ninisina, Amorite, 1894-1866 BCE, Steatite, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Statuette of a dog dedicated to the goddess Ninisina, Amorite, 1894-1866 BCE, Steatite, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Statuette of a high-status woman, Akkadian or Neo-Sumerian, 2200-2000 BCE, Alabaster with traces of pigment, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Statuette of a human-headed bull, Neo-Sumerian, 2150-2000 BCE, Chlorite, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Statuette of a woman holding a branch, Sumerian, about 2450 BCE, alabaster, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Statuette of a woman holding a branch, Sumerian, about 2450 BCE, alabaster, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Statuette of the demon Pazuzu, Neo-Assyrian, 934-610 BCE, Bronze, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

Wall painting fragment with a man's head, Neo-Assyrian, 850-650 BCE, painted clay, now in the collections of the Louvre, courtesy of Allan Gluck

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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.

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Pre-Achaemenid art: Neo-Assyrian or Median?

The Medes were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BCE, they occupied the mountainous region of northwestern Iran and the eastern region of Mesopotamia located around Hamadan (Ecbatana). Herodotus reports the Medes played a determining role in the fall of the Assyrian Empire and "could" have  formed an empire at the beginning of the 7th century BCE that lasted until the 550s BCE. It was originally thought they competed with the kingsoms of Lydia and Babylonia for hegemony.  However, the Medes left no written account of their history.  Archaeologists have had to rely upon foreign sources such as the Assyrians, Babylonians and Greeks for Median history, instead, as well as a few Iranian archaeological sites, which are believed to have been occupied by Medes. Some scholars have gone so far as to suggest a Median kingdom as a political entity never existed at all, even though it was reported to have been conquered by Cyrus the Great in 549 BCE.

Materials  found at Tepe Nush-i Jan, Godin Tepe, and other archaeological sites located in the area known as Media, together with Assyrian reliefs, show the existence of urban settlements in Media in the first half of the 1st millennium BCE which had functioned as centers for the production of handicrafts and also of an agricultural and cattle-breeding economy.

From the 10th to the late 7th centuries BCE, the western parts of Media fell under the domination of the vast Neo-Assyrian Empire that imposed Vassal Treaties upon the Median rulers, and also protected them from predatory raids by marauding Scythians and Cimmerians.  During the reign of Sinsharishkun (622–612 BCE), the Assyrian empire, which had been in a state of constant civil war since 626 BCE, began to unravel and subject peoples, such as the Medes ceased to pay tribute.

Neo-Assyrian dominance over the Medians came to an end during the reign of Median King Cyaxares, who, in alliance with King Nabopolassar of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, attacked and destroyed the strife-riven Neo-Assyrian empire between 616 and 609 BCE. The newfound alliance helped the Medes to capture Nineveh in 612 BC, which resulted in the eventual collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire by 609 BCE. The Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median Kingdom (with Ecbatana as their royal capital) beyond their original homeland and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Kızılırmak River in Anatolia.

Artwork from this period was heavily influenced by the Neo-Assyrians but scholars hesitate to associate it specifically to the Medians due to the swiftly changing alliances of various tribes, clans, and regional groupings of western Iran at the time.  Winged creatures or deities with human heads reflected Assyrian influence as well as sculptures depicting bulls or lions. Scholars believe Assyrian graphically detailed works of violence were meant to advertise the power of the empire and its rulers and to intimidate their enemies.  Often precisely rendered animal carvings and statues were viewed as protective forces containing religious significance. 

Lions regularly appear in Assyrian art. In ancient days, the Asiatic lion (slightly smaller than the African) roamed the Near East. To hunt the lions was a kingly activity of great importance. Famous carved reliefs of lion hunts show King Ashurbanipal hunting lions in an arena, sometimes from a chariot. The lion was also important as a symbol of the goddess Ishtar, the Queen of Heaven, one of the two most important deities in the Assyrian pantheon. - Metropolitan Museum of Art

A lion was thought to be a symbol of the Neo-Assyrian King Sargon II during the Neo-Assyrian period as well.

Bulls are another common motif in Assyrian art. The bull was more than just an important food source. Sumerian and Akkadian traditions describe the Bull of Heaven, which features in a conflict between Ishtar and Gilgamesh in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The bull remained an important symbol in Assyrian and other Mesopotamian cultures. It also was combined with human, lion, and avian traits to form mythical creatures. - Metropolitan Museum of Art

Triangular compositions featuring two rampant wild animals over a third creature, often a domesticated one, occur on Mesopotamian cylinder seals of the thirteenth century B.C.E., one of which shows two rampant lions sparring over a bull. But the motif is uncommon in later Mesopotamian art until it reappears again in the art of western Iran between the ninth and the seventh centuries B.C.E.  The motif of a single lion attacking a bull is visible on the remains of Persepolis but its use appears to end there. 

Pre-Achaemenid Silver and Gold Vessel in the Form of a Lion Attacking a Bull, Silver and gold, 8th-6th century B.C.E. at the Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan

Pre-Achaemenid Silver Compound Zoomorphic Vessel of two rampant lions over a prostrate bull, Silver, 8th-6th century B.C.E., at the Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan. This unusual vessel features a pair of rampant lions, interlocked forelegs on each other's shoulders, standing on a prone bull. The lions are identical, not mirror images, each with its head turned to the right and its right hind leg up on the bull. The lion that treads on the bull's head has a round opening in the back of its snarling mouth that serves as a spout. The gaping mouth of the second lion is solid, but a small, carefully finished circular hole in its head provides the opening through which the vessel can be filled. A narrow depressed rim around this hole suggests that a stopper once sealed it. Each lion's body is formed in two pieces, upper and lower cylinders whose joining is marked by a narrow rib. The two pieces of each cylinder fit together; no solder is visible. The hollow forelegs of the lions are formed of open tubes that fit one into the other, allowing fluid to run from the filling hole to the spout. The bull, whose cylindrical body is also hollow, serves as a base. There is no internal connection between the lions and the bull. Reputed to be part of a silver treasure found in a cave in western Iran some years ago, this remarkable piece presents a puzzle not easily solved. The orthography of Akkadian inscriptions found on some pieces of the supposed hoard show Elamite influence suggestive of a date in the second quarter of the first millennium B.C.E. If this vessel was part of that so-called Cave Treasure, it should have a similar date and place of origin. While this association cannot be documented, the imagery of the piece supports a date in the second quarter of the millennium. But the motif reappears in the art of western Iran between the 9th and 7th centuries BCE.

Pre-Achaemenid Silver and Gold Vessel in the Form of a Hero and a Winged Bull Ibex, Silver and gold, 8th-6th century B.C.E. at the Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan

Pre-Achaemenid Silver Rhyton with Ibex Protome and Appliques, Silver and electrum, 8th-6th century B.C.E., at the Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan

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