Материал: bardinskaia_tr_angliiskii_iazyk_v_sfere_kulturologii

and well preserved.

The cella, where the statue of the god was placed, is a narrow hall that runs the entire length of the building adjoining several chambers. The main entrance to the cella is on the southwest side though the bottom step of the staircase is on the east side. It was specially planned to force the worshipper to go around as' many corners as possible before he reaches the cella.

Billy-Goat and Tree

It’s an offering stand from one of the tombs at Ur. A billy-goat is rearing against a flowering tree. The wooden statue is covered with gold and lapis-lazuli. The wool is elaborated into abstract curls in the shape of leaves. But the horns are very realistic on their curves, length and form.

The face of the goat is covered with gold, but the eyes might be originally inlaid with coloured materials and precious stones. The billy-goat has almost demonic power of expression looking at us from between the branches of

the symbolic tree. The stem of the tree is a round stick with two main branches and five leaves; the flowers are in the form of small gold suns.

It is probably dedicated to the male God Tammuz. It was created about 2600 BC. It is kept in the University Museum, Philadelphia.

XI. Check your memory.

1.How can you interpret the name of the country “Meso potamia”?

2.When did the civilization of the Sumer arise?

3.What do you know about the origin of the Sumerians?

4.What form of writing did they develop?

5.What helps us study the Sumerian art?

6.Where were a great number of clay tablets found?

7.What was the role of human rulers - stewards?

8.How can we feel that the temple played the dominant role in the former citystates?

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9.Why did the Sumerians build an artificial mound for a temple?

10.How do we call the Sumerian temples on raised platforms?

11.What was the fate of the most famous ziggurat - Tower of Babel?

12.What is Abu Temple famous for?

13.What material did the Sumerian masters use for making the statues?

14.How did the Sumerian artists distinguish the most important gods?

15.What can you say about the bodies of the statues from Abu Temple?

16.What was the Sumerian sculptor’s sense of form based on?

17.What museum are these statues kept in now?

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UNIT 8.

AKKADIAN ART

Lead-in

1. Answer the questions.

1.How can you imagine a “steward of the god”?

2.What might be the duties of the “stewards of the go d”?

3.Have you heard about any recent archaeological successful projects?

2.Discuss with your partner.

1.Flourishing of any country depends on a successful ruler, doesn’t it?

2.Do you agree that the Tower of Babel couldn’t survive because the builders spoke different languages?

3.Hammurabi’s most memorable achievement is his law code, isn’t it?

Towards the end of the early dynastic period the Sumerian city-states began to decay. The local “stewards of the god” became reign ing monarchs. They made attempts to conquer their neighbours. At the same time the inhabitants of northern Mesopotamia drifted south until they outweighed the Sumerian stock in many places. They had adopted Sumerian civilization but were less bound to the tradition of the city-state. So, it is not surprising that in Sargon of Akkad and his successors (23402180 BC) they produced the first Mesopotamian rulers, who openly called themselves kings and proclaimed their ambition to rule the entire earth.

Under the Akkadians, Sumerian art faced a new task - the personal glorification of the sovereign. The most impressive work of this kind that has survived is a magnificent royal portrait head in bronze from Nineveh.

Despite the gouged-out eyes once inlaid with precious materials - it remains a persuasive likeness, majestic and humanly moving at the same time. Equally admirable is the richness of the surfaces framing the face; the plaited hair and the finely

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curled beard. The complex technique of casting and chasing shows true mastery. This monument could hold its own in the company of the greatest works of any period.

Modern archaeologists discovered the “Stele of Nara m-Sin” in Susa. Naram-

Sin was the grandson of Sargon. This stele is the earliest known monument to the glory of the conqueror.

The rule of the Akkadian kings came to an end when tribesmen from the north-

east descended into the Mesopotamian plain.

During the period of foreign dominance Lagash managed to be independent. Its ruler Gudea was careful to keep the title of King. He rebuilt the temple with ambitions, but nothing remains of his architectural construction. Gudea also had numerous statues of himself placed in the shrines of Lagash. About twenty examples of the

same general type have been found.

In addition to more than twenty statues, some of which bear the inscriptions, there were found two large clay cylinders which are inscribed with hymns in the ho-

nour of Bau - the goddess of the city.

The second millennium BC was a time of continuous disorder in Mesopotamia. Hammurabi, the founder of the Babylonian dynasty, was the greatest figure of the

age. He combined military force with a deep respect to Sumerian tradition. Under him and his successors, Babylon became the cultural center of Sumer. Hammurabi’s most memorable achievement is his law code. It is amazingly rational and human in concept. He had it engraved on a tall diorite stele. The top of the stele shows Hammurabi confronting the sun god Shamash. The ruler’s right arm is raised in a speaking gesture as if he were reporting his work to the divine king. The two figures give the impression of statues sliced in half.

There was the famous Tower of Babel in this city-state. The remains of it were discovered by German archaeologist Robert Coldeway in 1898 Massive monolithic remains of the amazing building were brought to light by excavation It was a tower-

like ziggurat rising in multiple stages.

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EXERCISES

I. Enlarge your vocabulary.

Try to remember correct pronunciation of the new words.

II.Form words of the opposite meaning adding prefix dis-. Translate them.

order .............................

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