Page 41 - The Art & Architecture of the Ancient Orient_Neat

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PART ONE: MESOPOTAMIA
same type of geometric decoration arc found in pottery. The vessels arc covered with a
red wash, but on the shoulder the natural colour of the clay is left visible to form the
buff background for panels of geometric design executed in red and black. This three-
colour scheme is identical with that of the cone mosaics and of the paintings in the temple
of Al ‘Uqair.
i We have said that the stone vases reveal a change of subject as well as a change of style.
The ewer of plate 5 A introduces the theme of combat which remained a popular subject
in Mesopotamian art in all later periods. We do not know what the attack of the lions
on the bulls signifies; in later times all kinds of fantastic creatures take part in the struggle.
We do know that the Mesopotamians took a grim view of the world, and saw it as a
battle-ground of opposing powers. It is unlikely that the ewer merely depicts the trivial
occurrence of the depredations of beasts of prey among the herds; for an Elamite seal
of this period shows two equivalent groups: a bull dominating two lions and a lion
dominating two bulls (Figure 7c). A lion-shaped vase appears among the gifts of the
goddess in plate 3, A and b to whom cattle were sacred. Ishtar, in later times, was a god­
dess of war as well as of love. The terrifying nature of the divine was at all times present
to the mind of die Mesopotamians, as we know from their literature. It is probable,
therefore, that the struggle between lion and bull stands for a conflict between divine
forces, and one may surmise that the lion represents the destructive aspect of the Great
Mother, an aspect which was recognized but believed to be held in check as a rule. It is
generally restrained by two creatures, of whom one, a bull-man, has not yet been found
on Protoliterate monuments. The other figure, a naked hero, occurs commonly at this
period (Plate 6). Above he is shown holding two lions with his hands, having tucked the
tails of another pair of lions under his arms. He is hardly a mere mortal, in spite of all
the homely detail of his rope girdle and mountaineer’s shoes with upturned toes (Plate
6c).36 Nor is the victim of the lions an ordinary animal. He is a bearded bull, a mytho­
logical creature of unexplained character.37 His head, beard, and forefeet form the nar­
row side of the object in plate 6c, and the attacking lions rest their front paws on his
back. The object itself, like that depicted above, is the elaborately carved support of a
vessel used to place offerings before the gods. In plate 6, A and b the cup is visible. In
plate 6c only the lower tier of a carved support is preserved. The cup was placed on the
upper tier among further carvings which are also lost. The change from flat modelling
to high relief has here reached its extreme. The removal of all background (Plate 6c)
and the freeing of the figures (Plate 6, A and b) without destroying their peculiar flatness
illustrate a characteristic of such an experimental phase as the Protoliterate Period in
Mesopotamia (and the First Dynasty in Egypt), namely a confusion of the various cate­
gories of artistic expression, the potentialities and limitations of each category being only
gradually recognized.

Sculpture in the Round

We have met sculpture in the round used as architectural decoration in plate 4. No such
use can be imagined for the three works wliich must now be discussed. Plate 7 shows a
worn an’s head, or rather face, for the stone is flat at the back, with drill holes for attach-

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