Flashcards
Study guide
1) Learn the basics about the Sumerians and their environment. Who were they? Where and when did they live? What sort of language did they use? Why did cities develop in their region?
2) What is the importance of Uruk during the Protoliterate period? Describe the city’s architectural features from this period, especially its religious architecture: the “high temple” (the White Temple) and the “ground-level temples” (found in the Eanna Precinct).
3) How does pictorial imagery give evidence about religious beliefs and practices in the Sumerian cities? Illustrate your answer by referring to the Uruk Vase, the Stele of the Vultures, and the stone figurines of worshippers from Tell Asmar.
4) Where was Habuba Kabira located? Who built it, and why? When was it inhabited? Describe its architecture: the city layout and streets, fortifications, and houses.
5) What evidence do the Royal Tombs at Ur give about Early Dynastic burial practices?
6) Describe the architecture of the Royal Tombs at Ur. What kind of roofing was used? Do you clearly understand the differences between a corbelled arch and a true arch, between a barrel vault and a groin vault? What is a dome? What is the pitched brick technique of roofing?
Useful websites
- ETANA. Electronic tools and Ancient Near Eastern Archives. http://www.etana.org (includes ABZU and other resources)
- Excavations at Uruk (work halted for now): http://www.dainst.org/index_2895_en.html
Images
Figure 2.1
Mesopotamia: Bronze Age cities
Figure 2.2
Overall site plan, Uruk
Figure 2.3
Plan, White Temple, Uruk
Figure 2.4
White Temple (reconstruction), Uruk
Figure 2.5
Plan, Eanna Precinct, Uruk
Figure 2.6
Uruk Vase, alabaster, from the Eanna Precinct, Uruk. Iraq Museum, Baghdad
Figure 2.7
Uppermost register, Uruk Vase
Figure 2.8
Head of a woman, limestone, from the Eanna Precinct, Uruk. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.
Figure 2.9
Rolling out a cylinder seal
Figure 2.10
City plan, Habuba Kabira
Figure 2.11a
Obverse, Stele of the Vultures, ED III. from Telloh (Girsu). Louvre Museum, Paris.
Figure 2.11b
Reverse, Stele of the Vultures
Figure 2.12
The Temple Oval (reconstruction), Khafajeh
Figure 2.13
Bronze Lintel with Imdugud (Anzu) and stags, from Ubaid. British Museum, London
Figure 2.14
Worshippers, stone figurines, from Tell Asmar. Iraq Museum, Baghdad; and Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
Figure 2.15
City plan, Ur
Figure 2.16
Lyre (reconstructed), from Ur. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia
Figure 2.17
“Peace,” the obverse of the “Royal Standard,” inlaid panel, from Ur. British Museum, London
Figure 2.18
Diagram: (a) true arch; (b) barrel vault; (c) groin vault; and (d) corbelled arch
Figure 2.19
Diagram: The pitched brick vault: (a) view from below; and (b) in cross section