Page 233 - The Art & Architecture of the Ancient Orient_Neat

PART TWO : the peripheral regions
“»tc£tssrfsr t r°miin s,"'s “-““w sk“bic««»to»k„,a
- G°,d“J laP,s- ““ll ““ fiom Bactria in modern Afghanistan, ky way of
:
Iran. Elam supplied live-stock needed continually to refresh the breeds which deceler­
ated in the unwholesome climate of the plain. In time of peace the intercourse between
Mesopotamia and Iran was lively, and the frequent wars which interrupted it supplied
the mountaineers with Mesopotamian goods, notably works of art, which could serve
as patterns for native artists; the steles of Naramsin and Hammurabi (Plates 44 and 65)
and all the known statues of rulers of Eshnunna were carried as loot to Susa and dis­
covered there in recent times. And so we find that in the Early Dynastic Period the
cur-
lent Sumerian types of alabaster statues and plaques, of seal cylinders, vessels, and
orn li­
ments were also made in Elam. The stele of Naramsin was imitated in rock-carvings by
rulers of the very mountain tribes who overthrew the Akkadian dynasty.5 The fuic vases
carved in bituminous stone during that dynasty and in the Isin-Larsa Period can also be
matched at Susa.6 Later, in the thirteenth century b.c., Elam flourished greatly. Its art
showed splendid local variants of Mesopotamian themes. At Choga Zambil, in the
neighbourhood of Susa, an unusually well-preserved Ziggurat has recently been dis­
covered.7 Instead of three staircases against one side ending in a gatehouse, the Elamite
Ziggurat has a single staircase against three of its sides and each of these staircases ends
in a gatehouse chapel which gave access to the upper stages. A life-size statue of Queen
Napirasu of Susa, a triumph of the Elamite metal-workers (Plate 175), may nevertheless
count as the most perfect realization in bronze of a plastic ideal essentially Mesopotamian
- the achieving of three-dimensionality through cylinder and cone - but which had
rarely found expression in such majesty and freedom.
Metal-work once more looms large among the remains of the kingdom of Urartu,
near Lake Van.8 Here, in the seventh century, Assyrian models were closely followed in
bronze and also in ivory carving. The bronze bull-centaur - or probably centauress -
shown in plate 174A shows all the characteristics of Urartian work. It formed part of a
piece of furniture, presumably a throne. The face was carved in ivory or stone; die horns
were inlaid, perhaps in lapis-lazuli; and other inlays enriched the front of the wing; the
other side, turned away from the beholder, was nevertheless carefully engraved with the
pattern of its feathers. Hair, garments, ornaments, all are richly rendered by metal­
workers in complete mastery of their craft. Many of the figures were originally gilt. In a
liistory of art all the works mentioned can count as peripheral to the great Mesopotam­
ian tradition, and they need not detain us; but they demonstrate the persistence of a metal
industry at a very high level in western Persia through the centuries. And it was again,
in the field of metal-working that an original and peculiarly Persian school of art
emerged in the seventh century b.c.
At this time conditions in Persia were very unstable. From about the year 1000 b.c.
groups of mounted men speaking Indo-European languages pressed into tan from
Central Asia. The Medes and Persians were among them, but move toe» ar o i 1
t
VTa ky I
invaders arrived, Air tin* via Ac Cancan*. The Cimmerian*. *

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