The Ancient Near East Mesopotamia n WhenBetween 3500

The Ancient Near East: Mesopotamia n. When-Between 3500 -3000 BCE n. Where-Modern day Iraq n. Who-Sumerians n. What-First written language, temples, and sculpted figures

The ancient culture of Mesopotamia flourished because they lives between two rivers…the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. n The rivers caused rich soil=lots of food n Their art was stylized. No details, very simple. n Sculptures-Human figures has big eyes which were “windows to the souls”. n Sculptures have praying hands and pray to many gods-polytheistic n

Whoo Hoo-first system of writing!!! n Created a system of wedge shaped marks in clay that was the earliest form of written language known as cuneiform.

Temples The Sumerians constructed huge mountains of earth faced with mud-brick and some fired brick. n ziggurats- the high temple platform, usually built in the form of a truncated stepped pyramid with ramp like stairways leading to the sanctuary at the top. Cella-the main rectangular room of a temple containing the image of a god or goddess. Sacrifices were often made here. n

Most famous Ziggurat n The most famous of all Ziggurats was the Biblical Tower of Babel, which was completely destroyed. n The mud-brick deteriorated and left only the foundations of most ziggurats.

The Last Ziggurat The Ziggurat at Ur 2100 -2000 BC Present day Iraq Includes stepped levels, dramatic staircases, and subtle curves n Used to bridge the gap between the earthly and the divine-therefore the structure is as high as possible. n n