Page 47 - The Art & Architecture of the Ancient Orient_Neat

CHAPTER 2
THE EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD

<CIRCA 3OOO-234O B.C.)

Introduction
.
The beginning of the Early Dynastic Period is marked by a strong artistic revival within
an unbroken cultural continuity. The Protoliterate Period did not end in decline; it had,
on the contrary, seen a dense settlement of the country, with much reclamation of land
and founding of new cities; its contacts with foreign countries had also increased, and its
1 products have been found as far apart as Persia, Egypt, and Troy. Nevertheless the
deterioration of the arts had been marked.

■

Figure 8. Brocade style seal, from Khafajc

The first phase of the Early Dynastic Period (there are three phases)1 opened with a
renewal of glyptic art (Figure 8). No attempt was made to enrich the subject-matter.
A single or double file of goats or oxen was the usual motif. This was designed in a few
lines, and the remainder of the surface was ornamented with fishes, stars, crosses,
lozenges, and the like. In other words, any additional importance which a subject might
impart is suppressed in favour of pure decoration. It is the even spacing, the intricate
interlocking of forms which is an innovation. This style is called the ‘Brocade Style’,
because the regular recurrence of small space-filling motifs and the even density of pat­
tern are characteristic of woven or embroidered stuffs, where no thread can be allowed
to pass over a long distance behind the cloth. On the seals this style was adopted because
it produced the unbroken frieze in which impressions of any length could give the effect
of completion. The principle had been known during the Protoliterate Period but lost
in its final decline. It now became the basis of new experiments.
In the stone vases the new approach is equally marked. To describe it we must follow
it into the next subdivision, the Second Early Dynastic Period, since the precise stage
reached at the end of the First cannot be determined. The vases are made of green
steatite, a material rarely used before this time. They are covered with a closely drawn

18