X . C h e c k y o u r m e m o r y .
1.When did the Sumerian city-states begin decaying?
2.Who became reigning monarchs? Why?
3.What did the local “stewards of the god” do?
4.Why were the “stewards of the god” in privileged position?
5.What was the task for the Sumerian masters under the Akkadians?
6.Where was the royal portrait head in bronze found?
7.What kind of technique shows true mastery of Akkadian sculptors?
8.What famous monument was found by modern archaeologists in Susa?
9.Who was NaramSin?
10.When did the rule of Akkadian kings come to an end?
11.What city-state was managed to keep its independence?
12.What did Gudea do to glorify his name?
13.Where did he place his numerous statues?
14.Where was the inscribed hymn found?
15.What god or goddess was it dedicated to?
16.What do you know about Hammurabi?
17.What is the most memorable achievement of Hammurabi?
18.How could the law code survive till nowadays?
19.Who discovered the remains of the Tower of Babel?
20.How did the Tower of Babel look like?
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UNIT9.
A S S Y R I A N A R T
Lead-in
1.Answer the questions.
1.Is the art of pictorial story-telling easy to understand?
2.What do you know about the Neo-Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar?
3.Is Ishtar the goddess of love, war or victory?
2.Discuss with your partner.
1.Why do you think a figure of lion is used as a symbol of power in many states?
2.Why were military motifs used in decorative art?
3.It was Nebuchadnezzar who was famous for creating the hanging gardens for his wife, wasn’t he?
The city-state of Assur was located on the upper course of the Tigris. Under the series of able rulers, the Assyrian domain gradually expanded until it embraced not only Mesopotamia but the surrounding regions as well. At the height of its power, 1000 to 612 BC, the Assyrian empire stretched from the Sinai Peninsula to Armenia.
Assyrian civilisation used the achievements of the south but reinterpreted them tо fit its own distinctive character. Thus, the temples and ziggurats they built were adapted from Sumerian models. But the palaces of the Assyrian kings were incredibly magnificent up to their own taste.
The palace of Sargon II at Dur Sharrukin (the modern Khorsabad) was built in the second half of the eighth century B.C. It was surrounded by a citadel with turreted walls that shut it off from the rest of the town. The citadel has two gates decorated with guardian demons. Awesome in size and appearance they were meant to impress the visitor with the power and majesty of the king. It is built in bricks and stone slabs
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decorated with low relief.
Inside the palace is decorated by the long series of reliefs illustrating the conquests of the royal armies. Every event is described in detail. We can see the earliest large-scale efforts at narrative in the history of art. Thus, the Assyrian artists developed an entirely new type of art so-called pictorial story-telling. The artist’s results cannot he called beautiful, but they achieved their main purpose to he clearly readable.
The mass of descriptive details of military campaign in reliefs often leaves little space for the personal glorification of the king. The lion hunt reliefs were found in Nineveh. They show less graceful but energetic and more alive animals. Despite the shallowness of the carving, the bodies have a greater sense of volume and weight. Images such as dying lioness are unforgettable.
When the Assyrian empire came to an end, the Neo-Babylonians were the most powerful civilisation but for a short period. The best known of these NeoBabylonian rulers was Nebuchadnezzar, the builder of the Tower of Babel. The Neo-Babylonian masters not only used carved stone slabs and bricks as the Assyrians did, but improved and turned them into baked and glazed bricks. This technique had been invented in Assyria but later it was widely used for surface ornament and architectural reliefs.
Its effect becomes evident in Ishtar Gate, which has been rebuilt now from the thousands of individual glazed bricks in the State Museum in East Berlin. Everyone is amazed by the procession of bulls, dragons and other animals arranged in coloured ornamental bands.
E X E R C I S E S
I. Enlarge your vocabulary.
Try to remember correct pronunciation of the new words.
baked [ |
] обожжённый |
|
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brick [ |
] кирпич |
citadel [ |
] крепость |
descriptive [ |
] описательный |
domain [ |
] преобладать |
glazed [ |
] глазурованный |
peninsula [ |
] полуостров |
pictorial [ |
] в рисунках |
shallow [ |
] мелкий, неглубокий |
turret [ |
] башенка |
volume [ |
] объём |
Assur [ |
] Ашур |
Assyria [ |
] Ассирия |
Ishtar Gate [ |
] ворота богини Иштар |
Nebuchadnezzar [ |
] Навуходоносор |
Neo-Babylonian [ |
] Новый Вавилон |
Sinai [ |
] Синайский полуостров |
II.Form nouns from the given adjectives. Translate them.
high ..........................
long ........................
wide ..... …………..
thick ..................................
deep ..............................
shallow . ………………
III. ...... Form as many words as you can, use the given roots.
Credo ………………………………………………………….
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Quard ………………………………………………………….
Live ……………………………………………………………
Architect ………………………………………………………
Colour …………………………………………………………
IV. ... Match the words to their opposites.
1 |
. Alive |
a) suddenly |
2 |
. Inside |
b) lessen |
3 |
. Powerful |
c) pleasant |
4 |
. Gradually |
d) exterior |
5 |
. Shallowness |
e) generally |
6 |
. Readable |
f) immobile |
7 |
. Expand |
g) depth |
8 |
. Awesome |
h) defenseless |
9 |
. In detail |
i) illegible |
V. Fill in the correct word from the list given below. Use each word only once.
low ■ descriptive ■ energetic ■ glazed ■ ornamental turreted ■ guardian ■ pictorial ■ surface ■ distinctive
1. ………….. animals
2. …………… details
3. ……………. ornament
4. ……………. character
5. …………….. demon
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