Mesopotamian art and architecture | Characteristics, Facts, & History

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border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Mesopotamian-art">Mesopotamian art and architecture</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/art/Mesopotamian-art">Introduction</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref37857"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/Mesopotamian-art/Sumerian-period">Sumerian period</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref37858"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/Mesopotamian-art/Sumerian-period#ref37858">Architecture</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref37859"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/Mesopotamian-art/Sumerian-period#ref37859">Sculpture</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref37860"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/Mesopotamian-art/Akkadian-period">Akkadian period</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref37861"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/Mesopotamian-art/Akkadian-period#ref37861">Architecture</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref37862"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/Mesopotamian-art/Akkadian-period#ref37862">Sculpture</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref37863"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/Mesopotamian-art/Sumerian-revival">Sumerian revival</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref37864"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/Mesopotamian-art/Sumerian-revival#ref37864">Assyrian period</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref37865"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/Mesopotamian-art/Sumerian-revival#ref37865">Architecture</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref37866"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/Mesopotamian-art/Sculpture">Sculpture</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref37867"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/Mesopotamian-art/Sculpture#ref37867">Painting and decorative arts</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref37868"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/art/Mesopotamian-art/Sculpture#ref37868">Neo-Babylonian period</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Mesopotamian-art/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Mesopotamian-art">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Mesopotamian-art/images-videos">Images</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100 "> <div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex overflow-hidden text-nowrap ml-15"> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/08/150008-050-D5A45539/Ziggurat-Ur.jpg" data-href="/media/1/376897/157749" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/08/150008-004-50A6330F/Ziggurat-Ur.jpg" alt="ziggurat at Ur" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/84/1984-050-2AB8B9D5/inscription-Sumerian-detail-diorite-statue-Gudea-of.jpg" data-href="/media/1/376897/148691" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/84/1984-004-0CABA3AD/inscription-Sumerian-detail-diorite-statue-Gudea-of.jpg" alt="Sumerian inscription, detail of a diorite statue of Gudea of Lagash, 22nd century bce; in the Louvre, Paris." height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/87/121087-050-B57CD968/Ur-Nanshe-kaunakes-limestone-relief-Lagash-Sumeria-Louvre-c-2500-bce.jpg" data-href="/media/1/376897/148694" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" 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of Ur" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/55/455-004-8BF1070F/Ea-deities-cylinder-seal-Sumerian-Pierpont-Morgan.jpg" data-href="/media/1/376897/5315" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/55/455-004-8BF1070F/Ea-deities-cylinder-seal-Sumerian-Pierpont-Morgan.jpg" alt="Ea (seated) and attendant deities" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/63/181963-050-41112548/head-king-Sargon-of-Akkad-Nineveh-Akkadian-c-2300-bce.jpg" data-href="/media/1/376897/196646" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/63/181963-004-5F17D71B/head-king-Sargon-of-Akkad-Nineveh-Akkadian-c-2300-bce.jpg" alt="bronze head of a king from Nineveh" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/10/59410-050-EE63EABD/Cylinder-seal-impression-hero-combat-scene-bull-man.jpg" data-href="/media/1/376897/35736" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> 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Lloyd</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Professor of Western Asiatic Archaeology, University of London, 1962–69. Author of <i>Early Highland Peoples of Anatolia; Ancient Turkey.</i></div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Seton H.F. Lloyd</span></div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Mesopotamian-art/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Related Topics: </dt> <dd><a href="/place/Mesopotamia-historical-region-Asia" topicid="376828">history of Mesopotamia</a></dd> <dd><a href="/art/visual-arts" topicid="630806">art</a></dd> <dd><a href="/art/Mesopotamian-literature" topicid="376916">Mesopotamian literature</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/Mesopotamian-art"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref1090702"></span>Mesopotamian art and architecture</strong>, the art and <span id="ref753131"></span>architecture of the ancient Mesopotamian civilizations.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The name <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mesopotamia-historical-region-Asia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Mesopotamia</a> has been used with varying <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="connotations" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/connotations" data-type="MW">connotations</a> by ancient writers. If, for convenience, it is to be considered synonymous with the modern state of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Iraq" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Iraq</a>, it can be seen in terms of two fairly well-defined provinces: a flat <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/floodplain" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">alluvial plain</a> in the south and, in the north, the uplands through which the country’s twin rivers flow in their middle courses. This geographic division of the area is reflected in the history of its cultural development from the earliest times.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The first traces of settled <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="communities" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communities" data-type="MW">communities</a> are found in the northern region and date from the mid-6th millennium <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>, a period that archaeologists associate with the transition from a <span id="ref419925"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Neolithic" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Neolithic</a> to a <span id="ref419926"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chalcolithic-Age" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Chalcolithic age</a>. It is of some importance that this period also corresponds to the earliest use of painted ornament on <span id="ref419927"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/pottery" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">pottery</a> vessels, since the designs used for this purpose are the most reliable <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="criteria" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criteria" data-type="MW">criteria</a> by which ethnological groupings and migratory movements can be distinguished. Archaeologically, such groupings are, for the most part, arbitrarily named after the site at which traces of them were first found, and the same names are sometimes attributed to the prehistoric periods during which they were predominant. Hence, <span id="ref419928"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hassuna-Period" class="md-crosslink ">Hassuna</a>, <span id="ref419929"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hassuna-Samarra-Period" class="md-crosslink ">Hassuna-Sāmarrāʾ</a>, and <span id="ref419930"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Halaf-Period" class="md-crosslink ">Halaf</a> in northern Iraq are the names given to the first three periods during which known early settlements were successively occupied by peoples whose relations were apparently with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Syria" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Syria</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Anatolia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Anatolia</a>. The designs on their pottery, sometimes in more than one colour, usually consist of zones filled with “geometric” ornament in patterns reminiscent of woven fabrics. These designs are often adapted to the shape of the vessels with creditable <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="artifice" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/artifice" data-type="MW">artifice</a>. Only in Hassuna-Sāmarrāʾ pottery do devices occasionally appear that consist of animal, bird, or even human figures, ingeniously stylized and aesthetically attractive. Such motifs, however, appear to be adopted from contemporary Iranian ceramics. The only other notable art form popular at this time is that of hominoid figurines of stone or clay, associated with primitive religious cults; however, their formal idiosyncrasies vary greatly from group to group, and the meaning of their symbolism is unknown. Nor can they—or the pottery designs—be considered as ancestral to Mesopotamian art of historical times, the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="antecedents" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antecedents" data-type="MW">antecedents</a> of which must be sought in southern Iraq.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="148691" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/84/1984-050-2AB8B9D5/inscription-Sumerian-detail-diorite-statue-Gudea-of.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/376897/148691"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/84/1984-050-2AB8B9D5/inscription-Sumerian-detail-diorite-statue-Gudea-of.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/84/1984-050-2AB8B9D5/inscription-Sumerian-detail-diorite-statue-Gudea-of.jpg?w=300" alt="Sumerian inscription, detail of a diorite statue of Gudea of Lagash, 22nd century bce; in the Louvre, Paris." data-width="1069" data-height="1021" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/84/1984-050-2AB8B9D5/inscription-Sumerian-detail-diorite-statue-Gudea-of.jpg" data-href="/media/1/376897/148691">Sumerian inscription, detail of a diorite statue of Gudea of Lagash, 22nd century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>; in the Louvre, Paris. </a><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">Here, in the delta, the earliest phase of prehistory is associated with the name <span id="ref419931"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ubaid-Period" class="md-crosslink ">Ubaid</a> I, and, since this phase has a parallel in <span id="ref419932"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Elam" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Susiana</a>, north of the Iranian frontier, the first settlers in both areas may have a common origin. Among these settlers, according to some scholars, was the germ of Sumerian genius, but this is not indisputably authenticated until the end of the 4th millennium. By 3100 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>, however, the presence of the Sumerians is finally proved by the invention of writing as a vehicle for their own language. From then onward, successive phases in the evolution of Sumerian art can satisfactorily be studied.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Three factors may be recognized as contributing to the character of Mesopotamian art and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="architecture" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/architecture" data-type="EB">architecture</a>. One is the sociopolitical organization of the Sumerian <span id="ref419933"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/city-state" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">city-states</a> and of the kingdoms and empires that succeeded them. From the earliest times, cities were fortified by and adorned with public buildings; irrigation systems were organized and jealously protected; armies were efficiently equipped and troops trained in concerted action; victories were celebrated and treaties ratified. Because interstate warfare or foreign conquests were primary preoccupations of Mesopotamian rulers, it is understandable that in most periods a certain class of artworks was dedicated simply to the glorification of their military prowess.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">A second and even more important factor, however, is the major role played by organized religion in <span id="ref419934"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mesopotamian-religion" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Mesopotamian</a> affairs of state. Particularly in Sumerian times, the municipal and economic organization of a city was the responsibility of the temple, with its hierarchical priesthood in which was vested an authority almost equal to that of the ruler and his advisory council of elders. Accordingly, in the early days of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Sumer" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sumer</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Babylonia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Babylonia</a>, architectural attention was paid primarily to religious <span id="ref419936"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/religious-architecture" class="md-crosslink ">buildings</a>, and all <span id="ref419935"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/religious-art" class="md-crosslink ">sculpture</a> served religious purposes. The elaboration and adornment of palaces was an <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="innovation" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/innovation" data-type="MW">innovation</a> of Assyrian times (<em>see below</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Mesopotamian-art/Sumerian-revival#ref37864" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Assyrian period</a>).</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The third factor that contributed to the character of Mesopotamian art is the influence of the natural <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="environment" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/environment" data-type="MW">environment</a>. The practical limitations imposed upon both artist and architect by the geology and climate of southern Iraq are immediately apparent. Since no stone or wood was available in the alluvial plain, sculptors were dependent on scarce imported material or compelled to use such substitutes as <span id="ref419937"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/terra-cotta" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">terra-cotta</a> (baked clay). Architecture also was profoundly affected, first, by the restriction of building material to <span id="ref419938"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/brickwork" class="md-crosslink ">brickwork</a> and, second, by problems of roof construction, only partially solved by the contrivance of brick vaulting, in the 2nd millennium <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>. For the Assyrians, in the north, good-quality <span id="ref419939"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/stone-material" class="md-crosslink ">stone</a> was plentiful, but the cost of quarrying and transport, combined with an obstinate <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="conservatism" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservatism" data-type="MW">conservatism</a>, caused it to be regarded as a luxury material and its use to be confined to sculptured ornament and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="conspicuous" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conspicuous" data-type="MW">conspicuous</a> architectural features.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; min-width: 80px" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp" /> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-text-wrapper ml-0 mb-10 text-center text-white"> <div class="h2 mb-10">Get Unlimited Access</div> <div class="h4 font-weight-semi-bold">Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.</div> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-button-wrapper d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center ml-auto mr-auto"> <a class="btn btn-m btn-orange" href="https://premium.britannica.com/premium-membership/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=inline-cta&utm_campaign=black-friday-2024">Subscribe</a> </div> </div> </div> </DIV></div><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD8 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">An equally apparent, if more abstract, association between Mesopotamian art and environment can be detected when the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="intellectual" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual" data-type="MW">intellectual</a> climate engendered by the latter is understood. In a country where summer and winter temperatures reach thermometric extremes, where agriculture depends exclusively on the artificial distribution of river water and contends precariously with the timing of seasonal floods, where the herdsman is afflicted by the depredations of wild beasts and the cultivator by the menace of poisonous insects—in such a country, the inhabitants must have felt themselves in perpetual conflict with hostile and potentially destructive elements in nature. All this confrontation and frustration is reflected in the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="melancholy" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/melancholy" data-type="MW">melancholy</a> undertones of their religious beliefs, particularly those of the Sumerians, for whom success and prosperity came to be identified with the principle of fertility and thus could only be attained by the appeasement of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="capricious" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capricious" data-type="MW">capricious</a> deities. Such <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="convictions" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/convictions" data-type="MW">convictions</a> are <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="inherent" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inherent" data-type="MW">inherent</a> in the fabric of their complicated mythology, which lends itself easily to expression in pictorial form and provides the predominant subject of almost all Sumerian art. Furthermore, since their mythical traditions and religious beliefs persisted for many centuries after the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="demise" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demise" data-type="MW">demise</a> of the Sumerians themselves, they provided the basic imagery of almost all Mesopotamian art.</p><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":5,"pageId":376897,"pageLength":1084,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"B","adLeg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"PAGINATED","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Mesopotamian art and architecture | Characteristics, Facts, & History | Britannica