MESOPOTAMIA

GROUP 2
CONTENTS
• Meaning of mesopotamia
• Medium of sculpture
• Techniques
• Strategy
• Famous Sculpture’s
WHAT MESOPOTAMIAN MEANS?
• The word “mesopotamia” is formed from the ancient words “meso,” meaning between or
in the middle of, and “potamos,” meaning river. Situated in the fertile valleys between the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the region is now home to modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey
and Syria. Map of Mesopotamia.
MESOPOTAMIAN SCULPTURE
• Mesopotamian sculptures were predominantly created for religious and political
purposes. Common materials included clay, metal, and stone fashioned into reliefs and
sculptures in the round.
• The Uruk period marked a development of rich narrative imagery and increasing
lifelikeness of human figures. 
• Hieratic scale was often used in Mesopotamian sculpture to convey the significance of
gods and royalty
 THE FAMOUS SCULPTURES
• LAMASSU
• TELL ASMAR HOARD
• STANDARD OF UR
• BULL HEADED LYRE OF UR
• THE STELE OF HAMMURABI
LAMASSU

Initially depicted as a goddess in Sumerian

times, when it was called Lamma, it was later
depicted from Assyrian times as a hybrid of a
human, bird, and either a bull or lion—
specifically having a human head, the body
of a bull or a lion, and bird wings, under the
name Lamassu.
TELL ASMAR HOARD

The Tell Asmar Hoard are a collection of

twelve statues unearthed in 1933 at
Eshnunna in the Diyala Governorate of
Iraq. Despite subsequent finds at this site
and others throughout the greater
Mesopotamian area, they remain the
definitive example of the abstract style
of Early Dynastic temple sculpture.
VICTORY STELE OF NARAM-SIN

The Victory Stele of Naram-Sin is a

stele that dates to approximately
2254–2218 BC, in the time of the
Akkadian Empire, and is now at the
Louvre in Paris. The relief measures
200cm in height (6’ 7”) and was
carved in pink limestone, with
cuneiform writings in Akkadian and
Elamite.
BULL HEADED LYRE OF UR

The Bull Headed Lyre is one of the

oldest stringed instruments ever
discovered. The lyre was excavated
in the Royal Cemetery of Ur during
the 1926–1927 season of an
archeological dig carried out in what
is now Iraq jointly by the University
of Pennsylvania and the British
Museum. Leonard Woolley led the
excavations.
THE STELE OF HAMMURABI

The Hammurabi code of laws, a

collection of 282 rules, established
standards for commercial interactions
and set fines and punishments to meet
the requirements of justice.
Hammurabi’s Code was carved onto a
massive, finger-shaped black stone
stele (pillar) that was looted by
invaders and finally rediscovered in
1901.
 GROUP 2

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