Art History For Dummies. Jesse Bryant Wilder

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      After the Persians and their allies sacked the Assyrian capital Nineveh, Babylon reemerged as the center of Mesopotamian culture. Nabopolassar, a Babylonian general who had sided with the Persians, became the first king of New Babylon. Although the kingdom lasted for only 70 years, its beauty and culture have become legendary, especially as they flowered under the reign of Nabopolassar’s famous son, Nebuchadnezzar.

      Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Babylon into the most beautiful city on earth with these artistic marvels:

       The Hanging Gardens of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar is best known for these magnificent gardens, a present he supposedly gave his wife. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are one of the original Wonders of the World, but the Hanging Gardens didn’t hang. They were terraced, rooftop gardens, irrigated by water pumped from the Euphrates. To visitors, it must’ve seemed as though an oasis had blossomed on the rooftops of Babylon.

       The Ishtar Gate: As a gorgeous entrance to the city of Babylon, this gate is one of Nebuchadnezzar’s greatest architectural achievements. The animals in the Ishtar Gate look like ornaments. On the front, against a background of glazed blue bricks, stand decorative horses, blue-horned bulls, and dragons made of gold-colored, turquoise, and blue bricks. The top of the gate is crenellated (notched) like a medieval castle. But instead of squares (like in a medieval castle), the crenellations rise like mini-ziggurats.

      

What’s the difference between the Ishtar Gate and Assyrian art? In the Ishtar Gate, all the animals strike the same pose; there is no movement. But the Ishtar Gate wasn’t intended to tell a story. It was meant to be beautiful and imposing, a reflection of Nebuchadnezzar’s cultivated tastes. The stiffness of the animals adds to this impression. Action would take away from the solemn majesty of the goddess’s gate.

      One Foot in the Tomb: Ancient Egyptian Art

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      

Reading one of the oldest historical documents in the world

      

Sizing up the pyramids

      

Exploring the art of Egyptian tombs

      

Reading a Book of the Dead

      

Understanding why Egyptian statues are so colossal

      The mountain-high pyramids and stony stare of the Great Sphinx have awed humankind for thousands of years. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote, “There is no country that possesses so many wonders, nor any that has such a number of works which defy description.” The Roman leaders Julius Caesar and Marc Antony were so impressed by Egyptian culture and wealth that they had to first marry Egypt (in the form of Cleopatra) and then rule it. The mystique of Ancient Egypt still captivates the modern world. But today Egypt’s biggest draw isn’t the pyramids or Cleopatra, but Egyptian mummies, magic, and tomb art.

      Mummies and the magical resurrection rituals painted on the walls of tombs and coffins have inspired witches’ spells, short stories, movies, documentaries, art historians, archeologists, and even the fashion industry. The film companies of the world have unreeled more than 90 mummy movies since the dawn of cinema, from a French short in 1899 about Cleopatra’s mummy to Hollywood’s The Mummy in 1999 and its sequels, as well as a Tom Cruise interpretation in 2017. The Three Stooges even got into the act with We Want Our Mummy (featuring King Rootentooten) in 1939 and their more mature work, Mummy’s Dummies in 1948. Abbott and Costello followed up in 1955 with Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy.

      MUMMIES, MEDICINE, AND MAGIC

      The discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922 made front-page news and spawned an Egyptian fashion craze. Women forgot their distaste for bugs and put on scarab-beetle jewelry, donned pharaoh blouses with hieroglyphic prints, and carried golden pyramid- and sphinx-shaped ladies’ compacts.

      More than a century earlier, Napoleon had triggered a global fascination with Egypt in 1798 when he led the first major scientific expedition there, while trying to conquer Egypt and Syria. Egyptology (the study of Ancient Egypt) has been almost a cult science ever since.

      Segmenting the Egyptian periods

Period Dynasty Date
Predynastic 0 4500 BC–3100 BC
Early Dynastic 1st–3rd 3100 BC–2613 BC
Old Kingdom 4th–6th 2613 BC–2181 BC
First Intermediate 7th–10th 2181 BC–2040 BC
Middle Kingdom

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